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Australians may be using more toilet paper made from recycled material than a decade ago, but are still one of the biggest producers of waste in the world. The Age reports that a survey on the nation‘‘s recycling rates by environmental group Planet Ark, reveals Australians are recycling more than ever before.
But it reveals that Australians are throwing away 3.3 million tonnes of food a year – a quarter of the country‘‘s food supplies – because they buy too much. Planet Ark commissioned Roy Morgan Research to ask 500 Australian adults about their recycling habits.
Newspaper recycling is up from 52.7 per cent a decade ago to 74.5 per cent, with Australians recycling almost two billion newspapers a year. More than two billion aluminium cans are also recycled every year – 600 million more than 10 years ago.
Planet Ark founder Jon Dee said Australians were also performing well when it came to toilet paper. "We‘‘ve come a long way with recycling in the past decade," Mr Dee says in a statement. "Back in 1995, toilet tissue made from recycled paper was poor quality and didn‘‘t work well for consumers. Today, 8,000 tonnes of office paper waste is turned into . toilet tissue every year and the softness and strength of recycled toilet tissue has improved considerably."
However, the biggest manufacturer had to import recycled paper from overseas. Each Australian was responsible for generating 2.25 kg of waste every day, making the nation one of the biggest per capita producers of waste in the world. Mr Dee said this resulted from Australians throwing away 3.3 million tonnes of food annually – a quarter of the country‘‘s food supplies – because they bought too much.
Only 11 per cent of office paper is being recycled, meaning almost nine out of every 10 sheets are being thrown away.
Mr Dee also said Australia was failing when it came to mobile phones, glass and printer cartridges – 18 million cartridges were being thrown into landfills every year.
"Forty-eight per cent of Australians told Roy Morgan Research they are confused about what can and can‘‘t be recycled," Mr Dee said.
"As a result, rubbish like drinking glasses and plastic bags are wrongly being put into our recycling bins, causing real problems for recycling companies."
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