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Blink and you missed it. This month the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology released the updated State of the Climate report 2014. It is the update on climate change research from Australia’s independent scientific and weather authorities. And it is sobering reading. I find it amazing that our leading scientific bodies can make, what are […]

A review of WA’s Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2007 (WARR Act) is set to create an opportunity for new recovery infrastructure in Perth. The WARR Act is the principal legislation for waste management in Western Australia. It is subject to a statutory review within five years of its commencement. Starting in July 2008, […]

The Northern Territory EPA has released its inaugural Waste Strategy. While the strategy is a great first step for the region, there is still much more to be done. But first, let’s talk about the context for the strategy. The NT has a number of characteristics which make it unique. It has a very a […]

Waste and environment consultancy MRA has launched a new service to help councils benefit from the Emissions Reduction Fund. The service will involve MRA acting on behalf of councils to help them prepare and make ERF bids for landfill abatement projects. Environment Minister Greg Hunt has high hopes for these sorts of aggregation schemes, which […]

With your help, we’ve been working hard to recover valuable resources in the Murray Murrumbidgee region. As the year comes to a close, we’d like to highlight some of the network’s recent developments. Albury Workshop A successful workshop with over 40 attendees was held in Albury on August 25th. From this workshop MRA identified three […]

With the Emissions Reduction Fund passing the Senate, industry can expect a 15-fold increase in scale of emissions reductions projects. The Emissions Reduction Fund is national scheme which provides $2.55 billion over three years to purchase emissions reductions. This $2.55 billion is budgeted to cover 2014-15 to 2017-18. Based on the average budget expenditure, this […]

The most cost effective way to recover food and green waste, which account for more than 60% of an average household’s garbage bin, is via a three bin system with food and green waste (FOGO) in the same bin… but should nappy waste be included the mix? About 15 councils across Australia currently run FOGO […]

Australians are the best household recyclers in the world. Our domestic kerbside recycling rates are second to none. But even so, we still put about 15-30% of all recyclables into the wrong bin. That is, into the garbage bin instead of the recycling bin. By Mike Ritchie. In NSW, this loss of recyclables accounts for […]

The first round of Waste Less Recycle More infrastructure grants came to a close in early March, with consultants and applicants alike breathing a sigh of relief as schedules, cost benefit analyses and application forms were submitted to the Environmental Trust for appraisal. The opportunities promised by the WLRM package are immense. Traditional waste service […]

Victoria’s Metropolitan Waste Management Group (MWMG) has a new name to reflect its expanded role as part of an amendment to the Environment Protection Act, which also led to the amalgamation of regional waste groups. The amendment, effective from August 1, means that the group’s role will now cover all waste streams, adding commercial and […]

Community engagement and the waste hierarchy were the running themes of the 2014 Energy from Waste Symposium held in Lorne, Victoria last week. According to NSW EPA director waste and resource recovery strategy Steve Beaman, those who attended the Waste Management Association of Australia (WMAA) event were already energy-from-waste “evangelists” who agreed with the direction […]

The Waste Management Association of Australia (WMAA) has released a brief document on the intricacies of the carbon policy and how it might affect the sector. Produced by Norton Rose Fulbright, MRA Consulting Group, Transpacific Industries Group and Cleanaway and Blue Environment, the fact sheet focuses on current issues amid the policy turbulence and uncertainties […]