What is recycled in Victoria?

The composition of waste material recovered in Victoria for reprocessing in the 2007-08 financial year is presented below. At 48% of total recovery (by weight), construction and demolition waste accounted for the greatest proportion of material recovered for reprocessing, a decrease of one percentage point on last year.

Composition of material (by weight) recovered for reprocessing, Victoria 2007-08

Materials recycled in 2007-08

• Metal waste: Victorian metal waste recovery increased to around 1.35 million tonnes in 2007-08. This represents an increase of 7% or nearly 89,000 tonnes from 2006-07. An increase was reported in both the export of steel and steel recovered for reprocessing in Victoria
  Download a  fact sheet on metal waste recovery 2007-08 (285KB)
• Construction and demolition waste: Recovery of construction and demolition waste material during 2007-08 decreased by 4% (131,000 tonnes) to 3.04 million tonnes. Concrete accounted for the majority of this material (56% by weight) and remained steady with a small increase of 1% in the amount of concrete recovered. Other material categories displayed large changes from the previous year with a 70% decrease in soil / sand, and a 50% increase in plasterboard recovered
  Download a  fact sheet on construction and demolition waste recovery 2007-08 (290KB)
• Paper/cardboard waste: The total amount of wastepaper recovered for recycling in Victoria has increased by 16% to around 950,000 tonnes. Paper and cardboard packaging represent the largest proportion representing 44% of all waste paper recovered
  Download a  fact sheet on paper_waste_recovery_2007-08 (273KB)
• Organic waste: The total quantity of organic waste material recovered and diverted from landfill in Victoria during the 2007-08 financial year decreased to approximately 605,000 tonnes, down 20% from the previous year. The majority of organic waste material recovered is in the form of garden organics (51%), compared to food organics which makes up only 5% of the total
  Download a  fact sheet on organic waste recovery 2007-08 (283KB)
• Glass waste: The total quantity of glass recovered for reprocessing in Victoria in the 2007-08 financial year was almost 174,000 tonnes, a decrease of 14%. Glass containers (bottles and jars) and mixed glass waste constituted the majority of glass recovered at 94% of the total. Based on historical records, it can be assumed that the mixed glass waste category is dominated by glass containers
  Download a  fact sheet on glass waste recovery 2007-08 (267KB)
• Plastic waste: Plastics recovery in Victoria has increased by 7% to almost 119,000 tonnes for the 2007 calendar year. The report states that plastics consumption in Victoria during this period was around 424,000 tonnes, based on a per capita estimation using national overall plastics consumption data. This gives an overall plastics recovery rate in Victoria of 28%.
• Rubber waste: Over 26,000 tonnes of rubber waste was recovered in Victoria during the 2007-08 financial year, down 12% from the previous year. Tyres constituted the majority of rubber diverted from landfill for reprocessing, representing 95% of the total. 'Other rubber waste', typically tyre buffings, tread ends, uncured rubber and extrusion waste, accounted for the remainder.

Top | Last updated 27/08/2009