From: Butler Greg
Sent: Tuesday, 23 May 2006 1:40 PM
Subject: Productivity Commission 2006, Waste Management, Draft Report, Canberra
Dear people,
With reference to the Productivity Commission 2006, Waste Management, Draft Report, Canberra;
If the report actually looked at the way recycling markets are heading – it is beginning to pay for itself and drive more recycling. What the report doesn't seem to also be able to get right is the fact that we subsidise landfills heavily and don’t have a problem with that but recycling should pay for itself!!!  None of the lifecycle costs of extracting new raw materials to replace the resources we bury in the ground is taken into account properly – not to mention the real environmental damage we are doing and the legacy of the chemical cocktail we are leaving for our children and grandchildren to clean up. The same applies to the waste to energy principle – while it has its place it shouldn’t be a magic bullet – we need to recover as many of the resources as we can before we put the last little bits through WTE – these are finite resources and there are much better energy sources.
I am concerned that the inquiry has chosen to take this attitude – although I must say I agree about the plastic bags.
Greg Butler
ACT