Latest articles

By Mike Ritchie, MRA Consulting Group Despite clear and overwhelming evidence that our climate is changing right now, the appetite for action at a political level is diminishing. In Australia, the Climate Council was defunded, the carbon tax abolished, and a general sense seems to be settling in that climate change doesn’t really matter. Globally […]

By Adi Prasad, MRA Consulting Group Phase one of the Waste Less Recycle More (WLRM) funding package by the NSW Government has awarded $292.3 million of funding to 822 projects to date. These projects aim to process 2,230,167 tonnes of waste previously destined for landfill and create 845 jobs. The infrastructure package comprises the largest […]

by MRA Consulting Group As the NSW EPA’s WLRM extension has been announced, many grant packages are winding down, however there are still a few grant streams that are open: Resource Recovery Facility Expansion and Enhancement ($13.9million awarded to date); Organics Market Development – Stream 1: Product Quality ($189,000 awarded to date); and Community Litter […]

By Mike Ritchie, MRA Consulting Group Our waste problems are urgent. Waste is pouring out of the economy at 6.3% compound average growth rate. Waste volumes double every 12 years. Most Australian States and Territories have set recycling targets for 2020/21. For MSW the diversion target is generally 65-70% (except in the ACT where it’s […]

By Virginia Brunton, MRA Consulting Group MRA Consulting Group (MRA) together with a working group of food safety professionals and Freshcare, revised the Food Safety and Quality (FSQ) assurance code of practice (COP) and established criteria that allowed compost, produced under the Australian standard for composts (AS4454) to be used by farmers with Freshcare certification. […]

By MRA Consulting Group The Western Australian Waste Authority has recently announced its Community and Industry Engagement funding program, providing funds from the landfill levy to support waste diversion. This program is essentially open to all comers, and will provide funding for projects and events. A total of $600,000 is allocated for projects delivered by […]

By James Moverley, MRA Consulting Group Three bin waste systems are becoming the norm in many regions of Australia. Melbourne and Adelaide have moved quickly to standardise 3 bin systems for Food Organics and Green Organics (FOGO) services. The NSW government has funded 3 bin systems across NSW, with the biggest uptake of the NSW […]

By MRA Consulting Group MRA Consulting knew Leslie Mallinson was a champion in the fight against Marine Debris when she joined us last year. Her experience working with the Education team at ReefHQ Aquarium in Townsville led her to see firsthand the impacts marine debris can have on our wildlife, as sea turtles that ingested […]

By Leslie Mallinson and James Ellinson, MRA Consulting Group As round two for Bin Trim comes to a close MRA reflects on progress made in NSW, the continued State Government commitment and the in-house success MRA has experienced in reducing, reusing and recycling. Bin Trim is a NSW EPA funded program that aims to assist […]

By Mike Ritchie – Managing Director, MRA Consulting Group The problem of illegal dumping We all hear the horror stories of illegal landfill operations, cowboy waste operators dumping waste on land, the covert filling of gullies by unscrupulous transporters wanting to avoid landfill fees. These practices undermine the whole intent of our waste regulatory structure […]

By James Moverley, MRA Consulting Group Sustainability Victoria (SV) has released funding for Victorian businesses to carry out an energy assessment under the new SV Business – Boosting Productivity program. Boosting Productivity is a $3 million grants program comprising of: Energy assessments; and Industry capability grants. An energy assessment can identify and implement energy improvements […]

By MRA Consulting Group The NSW EPA has released the fourth round of the Combating Illegal Dumping: Clean-up and Prevention Program grant under the $465.7 million NSW Government Waste Less Recycle More initiative (WLRM). The new grants aim to help councils, public land managers and community groups working in partnership with councils and/or public land […]