Circular Economy
Closing the loop on our resource use through recycling and reuse is an essential step towards a circular economy. Western Australia currently lacks the recycling infrastructure to process many recyclable waste products including, plastics, glass and other common materials.
Currently, Western Australia’s electronic waste (e-waste) goes into landfill. Instead, we could establish a dedicated e-waste recycling facility and ensure that valuable minerals like steel, plastic, non-ferrous metals, gold and silver are not lost.
Construction and demolition waste accounts for almost half of our total waste stream but has the lowest recovery rate. Instead, we could repurpose this waste and use it as
a recycled road base.
Local repair labs could also be an important part of our communities. Rather than household items being thrown away, they can be repaired or repurposed. A program of local repair labs across the state would reduce waste, create jobs, and connect people back in with their local communities.