Councillors support Save Our Recycling Campaign

18 March, 2019Posted in: Community
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Wingecarribee Shire Councillors have thrown their support behind a state-wide campaign to invest more money into waste management and recycling.

Coordinated via Local Government NSW, the Save Our Recycling campaign seeks to instigate a statewide approach to recycling and ensure the waste levy collected from councils by the State Government is fully reinvested back into the purpose for which it was collected.

Wingecarribee Shire Mayor Councillor Duncan Gair said the campaign sought to distribute the cost of waste and recycling equitably across all tiers of government.

“At present the NSW State Government collects hundreds of millions of dollars each year through its Waste Levy,” explained Councillor Gair.  “However only a small portion of this levy is in turn reinvested into waste recycling.”

At a local level Wingecarribee Shire Council paid $5.6 million in waste levies between the 2013 and 2018 financial years.

“However over this same five year period we only received $947,998 in return from the State Government to assist with waste management and recycling infrastructure, programs and education,” said the Mayor.

“The rest of the funds were returned to the NSW Government’s consolidated revenue.”

Councillor Gair said that the issue was not a party specific political issue, but rather, an issue that all parties should commit to.

“Along with other councils from across NSW, in the lead up to the State Election, we’re asking that all candidates commit to reinvesting the monies collected via state waste levies back into local waste and recycling programs,” he said.

“We believe that should this occur, not only will we reduce the amount of waste generated but also help to create new jobs and industries.”

The Save Our Recycling campaign mirrors sustained lobbying by Council in relation to the inequitable levying of the metropolitan waste levy rate to Wingecarribee Shire Council which is otherwise treated as a regional Council.

For more information about the Save Our Recycling campaign visit www.saveourrecycling.com.au.