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The Coffs Harbour Waste Conference (8-10 May 2018) is the leading conference for the waste management industry in Australia and MRA is attending. Please feel free to chat to us about China's National Sword, the Australian waste industry, the interstate transport of waste or any other waste issues you are interested in.

The International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW), celebrated every year during the first full week of May, represents a great opportunity for joining compost related workshops, seminars and activities. Abroad and in Australia, the compost industry and enthusiasts rev up the efforts to increase awareness of the importance of compost and to promote the use of compost and related products.

The NSW EPA has had the power to seek the confiscation of profits gained from breaking environmental laws since the introduction of the POEO Act. However, it has now established a method for calculating Monetary Benefit Orders and is already using these to pursue cases in court.

Mike Ritchie attended the 2019 Australian Landfills and Transfer Stations Conference and delivered a presentation on how differences in legislation, targets and data between states is hindering resource recovery in Australia.

Sustainability Victoria is providing a $4 million funding boost for major recycling projects that aim to increase resource recovery. These fourth round grants of between $40,000 and $500,000 are aimed at business and local governments that aim to increase sorting and reprocess priority materials.

Mike Ritchie will present on "Removal of food and organics from waste to landfill – prospects and issues" at ASBG's Queensland seminar in Lidcombe on 12 April 2019. Read on for the full program and to learn how to get the MRA client discount.

FOGO diversion from landfill is one of the cheapest global warming abatement options. It is also relatively easy to do and should be prioritised by Government.

MRA's Mike Ritchie has welcomed the recently released NSW ALP War on Waste policy to invest waste levy funds back into the circular economy. The Recycling and War on Waste policy released by Michael Daley and Penny Sharpe is an important step towards creating the circular economy and achieving a more sustainable balance between the economy and the environment”

Since Mike's article on Saving Kerbside Recycling was written, the Victorian EPA has temporarily closed down the three SKM MRFs in Melbourne, due to fire risk associated with stockpiles. Over 20 Councils have either suspended their kerbside recycling services or they are sending their recyclables to landfill.

On Tuesday 2 April in Melbourne and Thursday 4 April in Sydney, Dave and Mike respectively will be presenting and participating in the Targeting Zero Waste Seminars event organised by the Green Building Council of Australia. Book by 19 March using the code WASTE20 for a 20% discount.

After combining and analysing data from five distinct global meteorological and marine observation datasets, the UN warns that we might see temperature increases 3-5°C by 2100.

It has now been over a year since China introduced its National Sword policy to restrict the importation of kerbside recyclable materials from the rest of the world. The purpose of the policy was to increase the recovery of domestically generated recyclables within China and further boost its own manufacturing. The new rule is a 0.5% contamination rate in Australian exported material. Few Australian Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF) were built for that level of purity.