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Aussies love to recycle, but...
07/02/2008 15:04 - (SA)
Canberra - Australians have become a
nation of waste recyclers and water misers but continue to be
among the world's highest per person carbon emitters, a
snapshot of the country found on Thursday.
The worst drought in a century and concerns over global
warming have prompted Australians to change their habits on
recycling and water use, with 99% of homes recycling
waste paper, plastic and glass, up from 91% a decade
earlier.
But Australia, which signed the Kyoto Protocol on climate
change last November, continues to rely on coal for
electricity, and fossil fuel for transport, making Australians
high per person emitters of greenhouse gases, blamed for global
warming.
"While Australia only accounts for around 1.5% of
global greenhouse gas emissions, its carbon dioxide emissions
per person are relatively high," the Australian Bureau of
Statistics said in its 2008 Year Book, released on Thursday.
It said 17.5 tons of carbon gas were emitted for every
Australian, compared to an average 11.1 tonnes per person in
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
countries.
Setting a limit for greenhouse gas emissions
Under the Kyoto Protocol, Australia has been set a target
of limiting greenhouse gas emissions to 108% of 1990
levels between 2008 and 2012.
The government has consistently said the country is largely on track to meet the target.
The Year Book said in 2005, carbon emissions from the
energy sector, which accounts for about 70% of the
nation's emissions, had increased by 36% on 1990 levels,
while industrial processing emissions had increased 16.6%.
But emissions had fallen 7% in the waste sector, and
by about 75% in the land-use and forestry sector, due to
the growth in carbon sinks and forests.
The Book found despite the growth in recycling, the amount
of waste was growing, with about 1 600kg of waste
for each of Australia's 21 million people, up 32% since
1997.
But, Australians recycle eight times more waste than in
1997.
Much of the country remains in drought and water
restrictions are in place in most cities, increasing awareness
of water shortages and leading to an 8% drop in
household water use over the first four years of drought to
mid-2005.
- Reuters
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