The pandemic had a significant impact on waste generation in Australia. Household waste increased 20% during 2020, reversing a long-term decline.31
The reasons were working from home, higher levels of takeaway food delivery and online shopping.
This led to substantial increases in paper and plastic packaging waste and single-use waste, and to increased organic waste in some parts of Australia.32 Conversely, commercial waste declined in 2020, mainly because there were fewer office workers. Workplaces shifted to online and digital-based working during the pandemic, accelerating a pre-existing trend towards paperless offices.33
This shift in volumes from commercial to municipal waste has placed additional pressure on a sector that is already adapting to the waste export ban. It also puts households at the centre of the transition to a circular economy, which may bring forward policy reform.
Compounding these changes is that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a reduction in oil and pulp prices, which in turn has driven down the price of recovered materials such as plastic resins.34
Having a lower price for recovered materials reduces the economic viability of recovery facilities, which were already marginal before the pandemic.
All these factors may impact Australia's ability to achieve the Australian Government's national target of reducing waste to landfill by 80% by 2030.35