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The ACT requires all packaging at public events be recyclable or compostable but most of it ends up in landfill (www.abc.net.au)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/canberra@aussie.zone
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The ACT was the first Australian jurisdiction to require public event organisers, vendors, and caterers to use reusable, recyclable, or compostable alternatives.

But for many vendors and waste advocates, it is window dressing, with nearly all of it ending up in landfill because there is no facility to compost it.

The ACT government says waterproof and non-stick coatings on many seemingly compostable products should not be composted, which adds to the complexity.

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[–] 4 points 4 months ago (1 child)

Even if it does end up in a landfill on the end, it decomposes faster and more cleanly. It's still a net positive.

Now you work on the next part... Increasing that recycling and composting availability.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago

    As far as I know, most compostable plastic is only compostable in a digester. It behaves like any other plastic in a landfill.

    Regardless of the service availability, it's so complicated to determine what can be recycled/composted in an area that the vast majority of material ends up in the landfill stream. The only solution my employer has found is to have a team go through all the trash after each event to sort it into the correct streams. That, plus using durable vessels that get cleaned between events, allows a venue to have minimal landfill output. We only have one client that is willing to commit to that level of effort and cost.

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