Policy

The recent Ministerial Roundtable on plastics could not agree whether to ban, price or leave Single Use Plastic Bags (SUPBs) for another day. We use approximately 6 billion SUPBs each year, of which 2 percent are recycled[i]. SUPBs are being, or have been, banned in South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT, the Northern Territory and in […]

Published by Sustainability Matters What do you see as the single biggest challenge facing your industry in the year ahead, and why? The biggest challenge for recyclers is the mixed government market price signals around recycling, waste management and carbon. Some States are pushing ahead with strategic approaches to waste management by setting targets, establishing […]

Last November, MRA argued the need for a national ban on microbeads. We said they were pernicious and a pollutant that should never have been permitted in the first place. It is nice to know US President Obama reads The Tipping Point. He has just announced a federal ban on microbeads across all American States, […]

Voluntary action by every individual helps to grow recycling rates; an extra milk bottle in the recycling bin; installing a home composting system, all contribute. Australia leads the world in household recycling rates. In the business sector most of the economically viable streams are already being recycled (cardboard, paper, metals and plastic) although there is […]

Plastic, in all its forms, can be a pain in the neck for waste managers. It is light, voluminous and not worth very much. But, small bits of plastic like microbeads found in common cosmetics such as face washes, exfoliants and toothpastes, have been really wreaking havoc on waterways and soil systems across the world. […]

In our recent article ‘Is it time for a landfill ban on polystyrene?’, we referenced New York City’s decision to ban single-use polystyrene foam containers and packaging. The decision meant the end of polystyrene throw away coffee cups. Unexpectedly, on 22 September, Justice Margaret Chan, of the New York Supreme Court overturned the ban citing […]

You’ve seen it in nearly every movie set in a New York winter – the movie’s main character bundled in a coat, clutching a cup of hot “kwa-fee” – in a polystyrene foam cup. However, as of July 1st 2015, a ban on single-use polystyrene foam food and beverage containers (take away containers, food trays, […]

The NSW Government announced in February 2015 that it had a preference to introduce a container deposit scheme (CDS). That announcement was endorsed by the opposition. So what is the State of Play beyond NSW? The QLD government has said it will model its system on the NSW model; NT has now introduced its own […]

If you stash a handful of plastic bags in the cupboard after your weekly supermarket shop, then this article is for you. The NSW Greens have announced an election pledge to ban the single use plastic shopping bag. Many other States and Territories have already gone down that path via bans or 10 cent fees. […]