National

Responding to Australian Government Department of Environment and Energy's request for feedback on priority issues to be considered in future Australian waste management and resource recovery, MRA has prepared a submission to the 'Updating the 2009 National Waste Policy' (NWP) discussion paper.

By Mike Ritchie – Director, MRA Consulting Group In September 2015 in New York, the 193 members of the United Nations (UN) member states agreed to the goals and objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda). The agreement outlines 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) across a range of significant global initiatives that […]

By Ron Wainberg – Technical Director, MRA Consulting Group Energy from Waste (EfW) is very well established overseas, but in Australia it has yet to get off the ground. The reasons for this are to be found in a complex combination of different historical factors: adequate landfill capacity, poor financial incentives, unfavourable public perceptions and lack […]

Over the last few months the national debate around a ban on microbeads has picked up. 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 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 […]

“MRA has once again won the Best Small Consultancy in Australia Award” as determined by Inside Waste readers said Jacqueline Ong the editor of Inside Waste. “MRA received a perfect score of 3 from a possible 3, given that it won all categories in its group” she said. The annual Consultants Review survey asks industry representatives from […]

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 […]

The Source Separated Organic Waste Method has been approved and is available for use. There is still time to register a project for the next auction under this method and claim credits for your abatement effort. The next ERF auction is to be held on the 27 and 28 April 2016. To be eligible to […]

The Australian Government has released its third round of National Stronger Regions Fund (NSRF) under the $1 billion Promoting Economic Development in Australia’s Regions program. The new grants provide a one off opportunity to local governments and incorporated not-for-profit organisations to fund priority infrastructure in local communities. The new grant funding is summarised below: Grant […]

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, […]