Prime Minister Scott Morrison has vowed to do more to tackle plastic waste in the world's oceans, saying the export of waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres will be banned.
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Mr Morrison says only about 12 per cent of materials are properly recycled in Australia and he wants that to change.
Along with state and territory leaders, he has laid out a plan for the country's environment ministers to improve the recycling system.
"There will be no export of plastics and paper and glass to other countries where it runs the risk of floating around in our oceans," he said in Cairns after the COAG meeting on Friday.
"This stuff won't change unless you say: 'There's going to be a point in time where you're not going to be able to put this stuff in a ship and send it off to someone else'.
"We've got to start thinking about what we do when that happens, I would like that date to be as soon as is practicable."
Australia exported nearly 4.5 million tonnes of waste last year, with the vast majority of it going to Vietnam, Indonesia and China.
It cost $2.8 billion to send all this waste overseas.
While NSW has the most people, it exported less waste than Victoria and Queensland, and only just more than Western Australia which has about a quarter of the population.
Mr Morrison says the export changes will occur with industry partnership and consultation, with environment ministers to now develop a timeline.
"We want this to be a seamless change, but it's going to be a change," he said.
The prime minister believes it will create jobs in a bigger local recycling industry.
"There is the work on the science but there is also the work on the economics, because we want to see this introduced as an opportunity," he said.
Head of the Australian Local Government Association, David O'Loughlin, said councils have been waiting for national leadership on the issue for some time.
"We've got households right across the nation who do their best to make sure they sort their waste out at home, put it in the right bin," he said.
"Their confidence of late has been dented when they found out that their recycling hasn't been recycled as well as hoped."
Half of the plastic waste created could be used up if it's put towards the mix for making roads, he added.
The federal government says instead of being sent overseas, waste could be turned into new packaging, plastics into furniture or railway sleepers and glass into road surfaces.
It is exploring using waste in energy plants to power Australian homes.
Mr Morrison says it's also important for Australians to consider how they are generating waste.
AUSTRALIA'S WASTE EXPORTS
* 2.4 million tonnes of metals
* 158,700 tonnes of plastics
* 1.3 million tonnes of paper and cardboard
* 286,000 tonnes of other waste
* 135,700 tonnes of hazardous waste
WHOSE WASTE?
* Victoria - 1.3 million tonnes
* Queensland - 940,000 tonnes
* NSW - 873,000 tonnes
* WA - 825,000 tonnes
* SA - 322,000 tonnes
* NT - 31,000 tonnes
* Tasmania - 6100 tonnes
Australian Associated Press
