CSIRO, Australia’s national science research agency, recently released a report “Circular economy roadmap for plastics, glass, paper and tyres. Pathways for unlocking future growth opportunities for Australia”. It looks at “a circular economy, with an objective of reducing total waste generated in Australia by 10 per cent per person by 2030”.
For each of the consumer products mentioned in the title it presents the current situation, and a 2030 circularity scenario as a Sankey diagram. Here is the one for plastics in Australia 2018 and 2030.
Flows are in million tonnes. In 2018 only 4% of plastics were recycled. This is projected to increase to 50% in a circular economy scenario, even with a slight overall increase in annual plastic use from 3.41 Mt to 3.76 Mt.
