Mike at Coffs Waste 2021
Event
6 May 2021

Mike at Coffs Waste 2021

Once more, MRA made its presence felt at the Coffs Waste conference.

Bin colour matters
Circular Economy
9 April 2021

Bin colour matters

Federal Environment Minister Susan Ley supports standardised waste collection systems, including a common bin lid colour across Australia. We propose to also standardise the colour of the bin's body to maximise recycled plastic use.

Is FOGO inevitable?
Circular Economy
9 April 2021

Is FOGO inevitable?

More and more councils now collect FOGO at the kerbside. Will three bins become the new standard?

Open letter to Australia’s Mayors – Why waste matters to your carbon footprint
Circular Economy
1 March 2021

Open letter to Australia’s Mayors – Why waste matters to your carbon footprint

The single biggest greenhouse gas emissions decision you will make as Mayor, is “Are we still sending organic waste to landfill?”

MRA welcomes Tas waste levy
Landfill
10 February 2021

MRA welcomes Tas waste levy

MRA welcomes the announcement by the Tasmanian Government on the introduction of a waste levy in Tasmania.

Reviewing the Review From Rubbish to Resources – Building a Circular Economy
Circular Economy
24 December 2020

Reviewing the Review From Rubbish to Resources – Building a Circular Economy

Karinne Taylor critically reviews the House Committee on Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources report “From Rubbish to Resources: Building a Circular Economy”.

Organics revolution needs a nudge
Circular Economy
15 December 2020

Organics revolution needs a nudge

Landfilled organics result to significant GHG emissions and a waste of valuable nutrients. Banning the landfilling of household and commercial food and garden waste would stimulate jobs growth, divert millions of tonnes from landfill, generate compost, sequester carbon in soils and reduce Australia's GHG footprint.

Why we should have a national landfill levy
Policy
10 December 2020

Why we should have a national landfill levy

Australians want to take care of the environment. We have set a national resource recovery target of 80% by 2030. How do we achieve these goals? Well, we cannot go wrong with a nationwide landfill levy.

When is waste “waste”?
Policy
27 November 2020

When is waste “waste”?

Waste is ‘waste’ by definition of the fact it is discarded. The generator has to pay someone to get rid of it. Ιt will only become a ‘resource’ when it is separated, sorted, cleaned-up and is available as an input to another process.

Landfill levies drive Australian recycling and resource recovery
Policy
23 November 2020

Landfill levies drive Australian recycling and resource recovery

Landfill levies may be blunt instruments but they have also shown their effectiveness in Australia. Waste generators have a binary decision to make. Recycle or landfill. More often than not, it comes down to price. To meet our 80% diversion from landfill target, we need to make the answer to that question simple and ever present.

Container deposit schemes are creating new opportunities for kerbside recycling
Recycling
8 November 2020

Container deposit schemes are creating new opportunities for kerbside recycling

In the days before CDS, containers made up half of the volume of most Australian kerbside bins. Post-CDS, yellow top bins are not as full anymore. That creates opportunities for new products to go into the yellow bin system. Mike Ritchie discusses our options for increasing recycling.

The role of landfills in a circular economy
Circular Economy
2 November 2020

The role of landfills in a circular economy

Waste is like a river that flows downhill to the cheapest price. Landfills are like big vacuum cleaners - they suck up waste and resources indiscriminately. If we continue to supply cheaply priced landfills, then that is where our waste will go. There will always be a place for well-run landfills. But if we want to create a circular economy, then the first and most obvious thing we need to do, is stop the one-way flow into landfills.

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