AWT

Australia has lifted recycling and recovery dramatically, but the tonnes going to landfill keep climbing.

Greater Sydney will run out of landfill capacity by 2030 unless urgent action is taken.

NSW is at a crossroads on residual waste and Frank Klostermann, with input from MRA's Ron Wainberg, unpack the “who, what, where, why and how” of the new NSW Waste and Circular Economy Infrastructure Plan.

There's no such thing as a zero-waste society. There will always be residuals that can't be reused, recycled, or recovered. So, what do we do with them?

One might wonder what NSW, the most populous state with the highest waste levy, has in the way of approvals for energy from waste in 2022. 

Sydney has three options to avoid a looming waste crisis – boost recycling by increasing the waste levy to $200, build new landfills, or allow more energy recovery projects, says Mike Ritchie of MRA Consulting Group.

Australia generates 2.4 million tonnes of plastic every year. It comes in all shapes and polymers. Car parts, sofas, drink containers, medical equipment, pallet wrap and single use packaging. You name a product in the economy and sure enough it will have plastic in it or in its supply chain.

Tasmania’s Parliament just passed the Waste and Resource Recovery Bill 2021, introducing a landfill levy and with it, bringing the state into line with other Australian jurisdictions.

There is only one technology that we know of that can reliably suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and sequester it. Photosynthesis. It is what every plant on the planet does every day.

MRA’s Mike Ritchie was interviewed by Kevin Warner on waste in Australia, the current landscape for energy from waste and what the road ahead looks like.

Could smaller scale be a viable and preferred alternative for metropolitan Australia instead of larger scale incinerators and challenge the misconception of WtE facilities being “big hungry beasts”?

Sustainability Victoria recently opened the Bioenergy Infrastructure Fund grants offering a total of $750,000 in funding for government organisations (including state, local and federal), community organisations, businesses and social enterprises over two streams; Infrastructure and Business case or feasibility/technical study.