Ft: Jo Clay MLA,

I've worked in the recycling industry for over a decade. When I began, the buzz was all about zero waste. This focussed on the linear goal of keeping waste out of landfill. No one much minded where it went so long as it didn't cross a weighbridge. Exciting times!

The ACT set the world's first big target in the 1990s, proudly painting No Waste by 2010 on all the garbage trucks (presumably to promote their upcoming redundancy). Jurisdictions around Australia and the world followed with their own zero waste targets. But no one has ever delivered on the promise of a waste-free society.