Coffs Waste 2019 recap
By MRA Consulting Group
The Coffs Waste 2019 conference has been and gone, running from 14-16 May at Opal Cove Resort in Coffs Harbour. As always, it was a well attended conference, attracting 645 delegates from around Australia and abroad to three days of proceedings.
More than 80 exhibitors were there to display how they are advancing the waste industry through novel machinery and services.
MRA made a substantial impact, presenting in five of the almost 100 sessions over the three days. On the second day, Dee Davidian presented on The cost of abandonment of bulky waste. The last day of the conference was a busy day for MRA with Mike Ritchie Mike Ritchie chairing the State roundup – policy & strategy Panel Discussion and facilitating the CDS session, Virginia Brunton Busting the FOGO myths (Organics & FOGO Stream) and Ron Wainberg wondering What’s going on with waste management in NSW (Regulation Stream).
Asked to summarise his thoughts, Mike Ritchie said:
“The Coffs conference provided a unique opportunity to get all policy makers on the same stage at the same time. It was clear that the “ship of state” is moving towards Resource Recovery and principles underlying the circular economy. It was also clear that States are operating on different timelines and with different priorities.
On the positive side all States are moving towards market based pricing and policy interventions to drive Resource Recovery.
There is considerable room for improved coordination among States and with the federal government. One key initiative would be for the States and Territories with the federal government to produce a six monthly update on implementation of the National Waste Policy and other agreed actions. This would provide clarity to stakeholders on the direction and speed of reform.”
This was, once again, an excellent conference.
As always, we welcome your feedback on this, or any other topic on ‘The Tipping Point’.
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