Award coverage for a business that undertakes recycling activities depends on the:

• industry that the employer is in
• type of materials being recycled, and
• type of work the employee performs.

For award coverage the term ’recycling’ doesn’t have a fixed meaning. What it means depends on how the term is used in a particular award. This is why different awards can cover businesses that are involved in recycling activities.

The information below provides general guidance about coverage for businesses that undertake recycling activities. Employees and employers may wish to seek independent advice about their own circumstances.

Industry award coverage

An industry award can cover an employee of a business undertaking recycling activities if:

• their employer operates in the industry covered by the award
• there’s a classification which matches the employee’s qualifications, duties and responsibilities.

If more than one award can apply, employees are covered by the award classification that best fits their duties and their working environment.

Industry awards that cover recycling activities include:

• Cement, Lime and Quarrying Award
• Timber Award
• Local Government Award
• Manufacturing Award
• Water Award
• Waste Award.

The following information outlines how award coverage is considered for recycling activities under the Waste Award and the Manufacturing Award.

Waste Award

The Waste Award can cover an employer in the waste management industry.

The waste management industry means performing any of the following actions in relation to any waste materials:

• collecting
• transporting
• handling
• recycling, and
• disposing.

Waste materials can be in any form, for example wholly or partly manufactured, solid, liquid, organic, biological or medical. The term also includes all domestic, trade and industrial waste.

Example

Rehka operates Rubbish Renaissance, a business that sorts and transports used materials like paper, cardboard, soft plastics, and cans to recycling depots for processing. She also offers a disposal service for materials that can’t be recycled.

Memphis is employed by Rubbish Renaissance as a process worker to sort through the materials and remove contaminants.

Rubbish Renaissance is covered by the Waste Award. They’re operating in the waste management industry, collecting, transporting, and handling waste materials. Memphis is classified as a Level 2.

Manufacturing Award

The Manufacturing Award can cover a business that recycles materials and manufactures a product from those recycled materials, rather than the Waste Management Award.

Example

Becca maintains equipment for Ferrous Bueller Pty Ltd, a business that recycles scrap metal to produce rebar, mesh and wire products. She has a Certificate III in Engineering. She believes she may be covered under the Waste Award, because her employer is recycling waste materials.

Becca wants to check her break entitlements, so she talks to her employer about her award coverage. Her employer explains that the business applies the Manufacturing Award to her role. This is because the primary industry of the employer is manufacturing products made from steel, and the requirements of her role can be classified in the Manufacturing Award.