Waste

By Mike Ritchie – Landfill charges in Sydney are going to increase from $200 a tonne to $300 in the next four years, courtesy of the landfill levy, rising landfill costs and inflation. The same trend is happening in Victoria, Queensland and other major cities as a result of government policies, particularly levies, stricter environmental […]

By Mike Ritchie, MRA Consulting Group Global warming is the problem  Global warming, due to anthropogenic (your and my) emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), is a reality that all but a few fringe dwellers, now accept. In a natural system plants photosynthesis CO2 from the atmosphere, expire oxygen and take up soil nutrients. Plants are […]

By Mike Ritchie – The WMAA has moved to strengthen the voice of the waste industry in forming a National Carbon Committee. It is important that potential contribution from the waste industry is recognised in any scheme and is not lost in the debate about the major emitters like power stations. The waste industry has the ability to produce, at relatively […]

As levies rise throughout Australia, here are the essential tips on how to get the best waste collection service possible. Industry veteran Mike Ritchie gives the low down. Companies regularly ask for advice on the ‘best’ and most cost-effective recycling and waste management systems, particularly in a rapidly changing market with lots of innovation going […]

Efforts to “demystify” the proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme dominated early discussions at the WasteQ conference in Brisbane. Delegates heard from a range of speakers, who raised almost as many questions as they answered. The take home message for councils was there remains a great deal of uncertainty surrounding carbon regulation, and they need to […]

By Angela Dorizas – The waste management industry has called for government intervention and investment in alternative waste technologies to prevent carbon pricing from crippling local communities. Speaking at the New South Wales Sustainable Development Conference in Sydney, state president of the Waste Management Association of Australia, Mike Ritchie, warned that without government intervention the increasing volume of […]

By Katrina Vella – Liverpool is to have a cleaner future with the opening of the SITA waste treatment plant in Kemps Creek. Liverpool residents generate 70,000 tonnes of waste a year with just 16 per cent being recycled. The plant will be able to recycle 82 percent of this. The $50 million facility, which will be fully operational in July, […]

By Mike Ritchie – Reusable material being dumped into landfill is the real problem. Australians use more than four billion plastic bags a year and most of these end up in landfill. But they represent only 20,000 tonnes of waste or 0.1% of Australia’s landfill waste. Read more

By Christine Ahern – Mike Ritchie from SITA Environmental Solutions says $4 billion of investment in national waste management infrastructure will be needed in order to meet state government waste reduction and recycling targets. He also called for governments to prioritise the phasing out of degradable organic carbon to landfill. Read more

By Mike Ritchie – Reusable material being dumped into landfill is the real problem. If you’re left holding a handful of plastic bags after you do a big supermarket shop and you don’t feel guilty, then you might be as impervious as the plastic bag itself is to breaking down in the environment. Read more