Several news stories this morning described the unintended effects of climate change regulations on Australian paper recycler Visy.

“The company, renowned as one of the nation's greenest, says the government's proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) would force it to immediately close two recycling and paper manufacturing plants, News Limited newspapers report.

'The CPRS does not recognise the carbon benefits from recycling, leading to severe collateral impacts on Australia's domestic recycling/remanufacturing industries,' Visy said in its submission to the government.” (The Australian)

These types of stories underscore the urgent need for standardized protocols and methodologies for quantifying the GHG benefits of recycling.