11-03-2020
National Plastics Summit
Thoughts from the 2 March 2020 Event In this episode of Plastics Revolution, we’re doing something a little bit different. Last week, host Tammy Ven Dange was at the National Plastics Summit at the Parliament House in Canberra, Australia. This event was sponsored by the Australian Government and the invite said (paraphrased) “this Summit seeks to accelerate solutions to the proliferation of plastic waste, and activate the actions agreed to by states and territories last year in the National Waste Policy Action Plan.” There were 200 people invited from various industries. This included consumer products companies like McDonalds and Officeworks to plastics manufacturers, waste management companies, recyclers and packaging companies. There were also a number of government officials, not-for-profits and experts from academia there as well. As far as format goes, the day was largely divided into 5 concurrent sessions around various topics which were advertised as round tables. They were held once in the morning, and again after lunch. While there, Tammy had the opportunity to randomly interview participants about solutions they were proposing, and what they thought of the event. Before we hear what they have to say, let us clarify the separation of duties between the federal and local governments – which is often referred collectively as the COAG or the Council of Australian Governments. It is the local governments that are actually responsible for waste management and recycling services for their communities. The federal government has national authority for legislation, taxation and budget distribution. They also have significant purchasing power for their own needs. A huge thanks to Minister Sussan Ley and the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment for inviting Tammy to the National Plastics Summit, and for also allowing us to conduct these interviews. Also, thank you to the attendees who shared their thoughts with me for this podcast. Sorry that we weren't able to include everyone. So, let’s hear now what some of the attendees had to say about the National Plastics Summit. You can read a partial transcript of this episode on Tammy’s blog. Credits Hosted by Tammy Ven Dange Produced by Jonny Puskas Theme Music by Joseph McDade All Rights Reserved 2020