Recycling

According to the 2016 National Waste Report, Commercial and Industrial waste (C&I) represents 20 MT of the 53 MT of waste generated in Australia (or 40% of generation). It also represents 34% of all waste sent to landfill (or 7.2MT out of 21MT) and achieves a 64% recovery rate compared to C&D (64%) and MSW (51%). Not bad in the scheme of things.

The Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) believes that China National Sword offers a once in a generation opportunity to 'reset' Australia’s recycling systems to achieve improved resource efficiency and enhanced economic outcomes. ACOR has summarised its approach under three key focus areas: investment, improvement and innovation.

By  MRA Consulting Group Sustainability Victoria has opened a $1M Recycling Industry Transition Support (RITS) package, a component of the $13M support package for councils and the recycling industry announced on 23 February 2018 to support the industry following the implementation of China’s National Sword. The new grants aim to support Victoria’s resource recovery sector […]

Waste Recycling is under threat from many directions and urgently requires practical and cost effective solutions. Actions are underway to better manage this international issue, but there are many local challenges.

The introduction of National Sword restrictions on the import of recyclables to China has permitted some commentators to call for recyclables to be used in Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities. Several have proposed EfW as a solution for plastic, paper and cardboard. While EfW is higher up the waste hierarchy and beneficial over landfill (it recovers the full energy value), I caution against this line of argument.

If you haven’t heard it already, the household recycling industry is in all sorts of trouble. 2018 is going to be a troubled year for most MRFs (Materials Recovery Facilities) and therefore their council clients. The Chinese National Sword policy has bitten and bitten hard. National Sword is the Chinese government’s mechanism to restrict import licences for recycled product and limit contamination rates of those recyclables to less than 0.5%.

Australia’s recycling sector is primed for continued growth. It must in order to keep up with waste generation, which is growing at a compound annual rate of 6.2%, that is 6x population growth and 2.5x economic growth. The market is there, and it is being serviced through a combination of regulatory intervention and technological innovation.

The NSW EPA has released its fourth stage of Improved Systems for Household Problem Wastes - Community Recycling Centres grants under the $337 million NSW Government Waste Less Recycle More initiative (WLRM).

The waste and recycling industry is, sadly, becoming known for its large blazes. This is not to suggest that Australian recycling facilities are badly run. They are not. It is, however, a sector that is at risk from fires.

Australia has a significant and growing challenge in how it manages its waste. Tonnages continue to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 6.2%, six times faster than population growth, and 2.5 times faster than GDP growth. Landfill costs are increasing due to landfill levies and landfill scarcity.

Queensland recently released its 2016 Waste and Recycling Report. The report refers to a number of incremental gains in landfill diversion, but the headline number is the 40% leap in the tonnes of waste received at Queensland landfills from interstate.

By Mike Ritchie, MRA Consulting Group Product Stewardship (PS) schemes are one of several ways to drive waste out of landfill and back into the productive economy. They “encourage” industry to fund the collection and recycling of their goods once they reach the end of their productive life. Products which lend themselves to PS systems […]