The company says while it is not opposed to the scheme, it should not be disadvantaged for its early action in reducing emission. Visy claims more than 86 per cent of its emissions are generated from its recycled paper manufacturing activity.

Visy’s main Australian manufacturing plants use Grid-based electricity and are therefore highly exposed to the proposed scheme’s emissions charges.

Tony Gray, director of sustainability at Visy says, “Visy continues to be concerned that there is no recognition within the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) architecture for credits for the greenhouse gas-abatement or avoidance benefits of its domestic recycling/remanufacturing.

“Since 2000 Visy has reduced its carbon emissions by around 22 per cent per tonne of paper produced.”

While Visy acknowledges that waste paper recycling does generate emissions it adds that avoided landfill emissions due to paper recycling are significant. While there is currently recognition in Australia of the impact of degraded fibre in landfill in terms of methane emissions, there is limited recognition of the avoidance benefit in processes converting degradable paper fibre, according to the company.

Gray continues, “As a result Visy gets no recognition for the highly significant contribution it makes to landfill methane avoidance. That is to say that the policy makers recognise the significant carbon intensity of paper re-manufacture, but not the highly significant carbon avoidance benefits of waste paper diversion from landfill.”

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