Recycling rethink invites community input

​The City of Melbourne today released Current Recycling Challenges, a discussion paper that explores the issues and possible solutions for Victoria's waste and recycling industry

China recently announced it would restrict some recycling imports, causing significant and rapid change in global recycling markets.

The impact of these changes has reached the City of Melbourne, where over-supply as reduced the value of recycled materials and it now costs more to sort and process recyclables from kerbside collections.

Chair of the Environment portfolio Councillor Cathy Oke said it's important to keep recycling and minimising waste while a longer term solution is found.

"We are calling on the state and federal governments to invest in recycling infrastructure that provides cost effective and environmentally beneficial solutions," Cr Oke said.

"Improved local waste and recycling infrastructure would mean more jobs and reduced transport costs.

"In the meantime we need to continue reducing our reliance on single use items like disposable coffee cups, straws and packaging, as well as purchasing items made from recyclable materials and exploring other avenues for waste and resource recovery."

Cr Oke said feedback on Current Recycling Challenges would help inform the Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030.

"Many governments around the world are dealing with the same challenges and have announced incentives to reduce waste or ban certain plastic items. We are looking for a purpose fit solution for City of Melbourne residents, businesses, workers and visitors, so we need feedback on what will work for them.

The community is invited to submit opinions, ideas and feedback via City of Melbourne's Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy Participate website. Additional discussion papers will be released over the coming weeks.