Australia's kerbside recycling system in crisis following China ban

Recycling industry in Victoria and NSW on verge of collapse, Senate inquiry told

Australia's kerbside recycling systems are at risk of collapse, a Senate inquiry has heard. China's ban on importation of recyclable rubbish has left councils and state governments in Victoria and New South Wales scrambling to find space to stockpile growing mounds of waste.

An estimated half of Australia's recyclable waste was going to China before the ban, the hearing was told, although the precise share of waste exported was not known.