As we head into the festive season, I have reflected on what has been an incredibly productive year at Recycling Victoria. 

Recycling Victoria was created to provide leadership, stewardship and oversight of Victoria’s waste, recycling and resource recovery sector to support a strong and resilient circular economy with robust market investment and growth.   This is focussed on maximising the ongoing use and value of products and materials that supports Victoria’s sustainability and economic aspirations.

In 2024 we continued to work closely with industry, local government and state government partners and I am grateful for their support as we build a strong circular economy in Victoria. 

A year of firsts 

It has been a year of ‘firsts’ as we delivered the inaugural Circular Economy Risk, Consequence and Contingency (CERCC) Plan as well as the inaugural Circular Economy Market Report.

I was pleased to announce the release of the Victorian Recycling Infrastructure Plan (VRIP) at the Waste Expo in October.    

The VRIP is a major step forward in sector planning because it offers investor confidence in our long-term vision for waste, recycling and resource recovery infrastructure in Victoria.   

To further highlight investment opportunities and support, we also produced an Investment Prospectus in partnership with government agencies who facilitate Victorian business growth.  

The VRIP has been very well received with hundreds of industry and local government representatives attending online and face to face briefings held across the state. 

Another significant milestone was the first anniversary of Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme (CDS Vic) on 1 November, which coincided with the return of 1 billion containers.

An important part of Victoria’s circular economy reforms, CDS Vic ensures a cleaner environment and economic benefits through the provision of material for the remanufacturing sector, the generation of 597 new jobs and more than $950,000 donated to date not-for-profit groups.

Moreover, it is positively engaging millions of Victorians and building confidence in recycling systems more generally.

We were also pleased to establish the Waste to Energy Scheme with the issuing of 4 existing operator licences in May and calling for expressions of interest in cap licences this week.

The Scheme encourages investment that supports diversion of residual waste from landfill, while avoiding risks to recycling outcomes in the future. 

In addition to these achievements, we made significant progress on the development of Household Waste and Recycling Service Standard and a Strategic Procurement Framework to be released next year.  

Stakeholder engagement 
None of these achievements would be possible without the support of our stakeholders in industry, local government and our partners in state government.  

Formal consultation - Engage Victoria
This year we have had the benefit of hearing from stakeholders through formal consultations on the:

This valuable feedback has enabled us to improve on drafts and consider stakeholder concerns and ideas. 

Out and about
Recycling Victoria’s executive leadership team was pleased to visit the Loddon Mallee and Hume regions to meet with local government representatives and look forward to strengthening regional connections in 2025.  

During the year, we also had the privilege of visiting industry sites to learn more about how businesses are contributing to a circular economy and future investment aspirations. 

And it was great to meet so many people at the Waste Expo in October, a high energy event that was packed with interesting presentations, big machines and innovations in recycling and resource recovery. 

Working together

It was a busy year with our regular committees and forums with 4 meetings each of the Recycling, Resource Recovery and Waste Industry Group and Local Government CEO Forum.

We were also grateful for the input of our expert bodies, the Recycling Victoria Advisory Committee and the Local Government Advisory Committee. 

I’m also very proud of Recycling Victoria’s dedicated, talented and hardworking staff, who have worked with many stakeholders across Victoria, to achieve great outcomes this year.   

Together with industry, investors and our government partners, Recycling Victoria will continue to lead the transition to a world-class circular economy in Victoria.  

✨ Wishing you all a happy and safe festive season, we look forward to working with you again in 2025.