the racism of australia’s waste politics

The Racist Politics of Australia’s Waste Management

Madeleine Rowell, USyd Waste Fighters Society President 2020

In a society that is becoming increasingly aware of the environment, the materials we use and where they end up are creeping into the forefront of mass environmental-consciousness. Sure, Coles and Woolies have banned plastic bags at the checkout, but the pressure remains on individuals to make personal changes. Businesses get off without reprimand, and the associated politics is largely ignored.

So-called Australia’s massive output of waste (67 million tonnes per year on average) is not just a case of an individual’s poor choices at the supermarket. Whilst the ‘zero waste’ movement (in which people attempt to use and dispose of as little waste as possible) has begun to take off, a lifestyle without waste is expensive. Toxic and non-biodegradable materials remain cheaper to produce than recycled goods — large-scale corporations who make up the majority of this waste production have little incentive to remove plastics from their supply chains. As countries such as China and Indonesia are now accepting far fewer recyclables from Australia, the government must finally accept responsibility. However, landfill sites continue to increase in size as consumers are taught to put their faith in the power of recycling, but the government lacks the appropriate infrastructure to recycle these materials. Ecocide remains convenient and economically viable.

Waste management under a capitalist and colonial regime has been ruining native land and displacing First Nations people for decades. As the government remains complicit in dumping massive amounts of waste into landfill sites, we must step back and question what this means. Not only are landfills a significant source of greenhouse gases as organic waste decomposes anaerobically, but sending waste to landfill means dumping on stolen country. Linked to this is a fundamental disregard for sacred lands, all for the sake of the economic greed of powerful corporations under a capitalist regime. We have ignored the harm caused by our country’s deplorable waste management for too long, and we need to recognise those who are suffering.

The burden of waste management currently rests on the wrong shoulders: those of the individual. The colonial grip that still holds every aspect of this country right down to waste management remains largely intangible to the population. We need to recognise that this land was stolen, and that dumping waste on it is a crime: we were never given permission.