PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2018

MATERIALS / RECYCLING 19 PET planet Insider Vol. 19 cology, I was aware of the immense task of reducing marine plastic pollu- tion. It appealed to me to work with an organisation that used reputable research, worked as an alliance and applied targeted campaigns to effect legislative changes on all levels of government. PETplanet: What are your pre- cise tasks and responsibilities as a campaigner in the Australian state of Victoria? Annett Finger: I am running two campaigns. The first, ‘Ban the Bag’, aims to get single-use plastic bags banned in Victoria. We have been promised that bags will be banned but have seen no details yet from the Victoria government. The second campaign is the ‘Container Deposit Scheme’, which is seeking to get Victoria to implement a 10 cents per container refund scheme and har- monise it with other states. My work includes research and litter data analysis, issuing of reports and media releases, contact with ministerial and depart- ment staff, and presenta- tions at schools, festivals and community gatherings. My work is incredibly diverse. As I am the sole representative of Boomer- ang Alliance in Victoria I do it all, pretty much. I work closely with our Victorian allies, such as Friends of the Earth, Plasticbagfree Victoria, Sea Shepherd, Beach Patrol and other like-minded groups, such as the Port Phillip EcoCen- tre, the Marine Mammal Foundation and Zero Waste Victoria and many others. One of the best things we achieved in the past 18 months was co-founding the Plasticfree Victoria Alli- ance. It is a ‘supergroup’ of over 80 (and growing rap- idly) organisations and businesses, who want to tackle the challenge of plastic pollution in Victoria. PETplanet: You emigrated to Australia as a German citizen in 1998. You have a doctorate in eco- logical sciences and you will soon be gaining dual nationality. How do you find the handling of post-con- sumer waste in Australia, compared with Western Europe? Annett Finger: Australians are both better and worse in regard to post-consumer waste. The worst rst: the recycling infra- structure is worse than in Europe. Much less is recycled and even less of that is processed onshore. Of course, some European reports include waste to energy under recycling, so the recy- cling rates might be overstated but Germany and Sweden, for instance, repi.com A COLOUR IDENT I TY LIQUID COLOURS AND ADDITIVES FOR PACKAGING NPE - Orlando, FL - South Hall - Level 1 - Booth S19103