With the ambition to create a more circular economy, Western Australia’s state government has made some important progress towards the implementation of a ban on all e-waste items from entering landfill.
The state government has committed $14 million to support the ban which will be used to fund infrastructure and strategies to facilitate the diversion of appliances and devices. The majority of this funding will go towards building out the network required to collect, store, and process e-waste in WA.
Western Australia’s electronic waste infrastructure is still in its infancy, however clearer messaging to consumers and greater investment will support the growth of the sector to achieve more circular outcomes.
An exact date for implementation is yet to be announced, however the state government has pledged that a state wide ban will be in action by 2024.
Public consultation was collected to investigate how the ban implementation will be designed. Feedback from industry and the community closed on 31 March 2023, with responses now being used to facilitate the final stages of planning.
This will align with a number of other changes to be introduced to transition the state towards a cleaner, low-carbon future.
To better reflect current operating costs and to encourage diversion from landfill, the levy for general waste will increase to $85 per tonne from 1 July 2024. This rate will be imposed on waste generated in metropolitan Perth, including its disposal within the city or elsewhere in the state.
As part of the phased approach to dealing with consumer plastics, several items will be added to the banned list of single use plastics on 1 September 2023. They include:
- Expanded polystyrene packaging (loose)
- Cotton buds with plastic stems
- Microbeads
- Expanded polystyrene cups and trays for raw meat and seafood
- Degradable plastics
Consumers and businesses should be finalising their plans to phase out these items before the date of the ban to ensure they meet the new regulations.