Nation ‘cutting back on waste’

We have finally as a nation embraced the notion of waste reduction — for the first time since records began, the volume of household and business waste recycled and "recovered" has exceeded the amount going to landfill.

In its National Waste Report 2012, published yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency gives two reasons for this improvement — and it’s not just the economy.

While the fall is linked to declining personal consumption as the economy contracted between 2007- 2012, it also, the EPA says, “indicates a trend towards improved waste prevention in the country”.