Community Alliance Party

The Community Alliance Party is committed to reducing the amount of waste generated by the ACT government, business, and residents.

The ACT Government launched a ‘no waste’ strategy in 1996, with the admirable aim of no waste going to landfill by 2010 through a program of re-use, recycling, and ‘no waste’ of resources. Despite genuine community support for the strategy’s aims, the target will not be achieved.

The Alliance will work with communities, organisations and governments to develop a practical strategy for further reducing waste in the workplace, school, environment, and home.

‘No waste’ initiatives

• The Alliance will ensure that government leads the way in reducing waste in the ACT through increased support for the ‘No Waste’ unit, and better waste avoidance practices by ACT Government departments.
• The Alliance considers waste to be a resource and will support research into ways to economically recycle 'difficult' materials.
• The Alliance will develop a strategy for waste avoidance and minimisation by government, industry and households in the ACT in collaboration with these groups.
• The Alliance will work with non-profit organisations to ensure that they are offered appropriate assistance to facilitate the reuse of unwanted goods.
• The Alliance will investigate the feasibility of introducing an organic waste recycling service, especially for residents without gardens, and encourage those with gardens to do their own composting.
• The Alliance will investigate ways of increasing the level of recycling by households that are part of multi-unit developments.
• The Alliance will develop a program to assist ACT business to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill from that sector.

Regulation

• The Alliance will work with communities and retailers to phase out the use of disposable plastic bags.
• The Alliance supports strict enforcement of regulations and heavy penalties for those responsible for illegal pollution or dumping of waste materials in the ACT.
• The Alliance supports the strict enforcement of regulations on ‘junk mail’.
• The Alliance supports mandatory reporting of emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants associated with energy use.
• The Alliance will support strong measures to deter the inappropriate disposal and dumping of toxic waste in the ACT.

Education

• The Alliance supports the extension of the ‘Wastewise’ and ‘Waterwise’ programs – now renamed AuSSie – to every school in the ACT.
• The Alliance supports public education programs that promote re-use, recycling, and ‘no waste’ of resources in the ACT, including the introduction of a ‘No Waste Week’.