Recycling

By Leslie Mallinson and James Ellinson, MRA Consulting Group As round two for Bin Trim comes to a close MRA reflects on progress made in NSW, the continued State Government commitment and the in-house success MRA has experienced in reducing, reusing and recycling. Bin Trim is a NSW EPA funded program that aims to assist […]

By Dimitris Dimoliatis, MRA Consulting Group Late last week, Mark Speakman the NSW Minister for the Environment announced the extension of the Waste Less Recycle More (WLRM) initiative to 2021. This second round of funding is the continuation of phase one of the WLRM that begun in July 2013 and will conclude in June 2017. […]

By Mike Ritchie – Managing Director, MRA Consulting Group The circular economy matters… We are hearing more and more of the circular economy, an approach to resources that keeps materials away from waste, and brings them back into the productive economy. It rejects the status quo “take-make-dispose” linear economy in favour of cycling biological and […]

By James Ellinson and Dimitris Dimoliatis, MRA Consulting Group Re-use centres are a small, yet growing industry in Australia that offer a unique opportunity to tackle more than just waste. These facilities also engage in job outreach programs for disadvantaged communities, particularly for people with disabilities. Re-use centres sell used, recycled and second hand products […]

By Mike Ritchie – Managing Director, MRA Consulting Group The idea of waste as a resource is not a new one. It’s an idea that has been around for years, decades even, but it’s an idea that has struggled to get onto the mainstream agenda. Putting materials out for recycling is well accepted; reincorporating those […]

By Mike Ritchie – Director, MRA Consulting Group The decision to increase the levy to $103/t over 4 years will send a strong pricing signal to recyclers and waste generators in South Australia. To recyclers it is a signal to invest in new services and infrastructure and to grow jobs. To waste generators it is […]

By Mike Ritchie – Director, MRA Consulting Group Plastic pollution of waterways and oceans is a real problem. We need to fix it. Plastic was only invented 100 years ago and now is ubiquitous in our economies and lifestyles. It is also ubiquitous in our pollution. From microbeads to plastic bottles and fish nets plastic […]

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 […]

The new Source Separated Organics (SSO) methodology has seen tremendous uptake in the countdown to the next Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) auction. The SSO methodology provides funding to projects that divert organic waste from landfill. Twenty-seven new, expanded and/or aggregated projects under the methodology diverting source separated organics were registered by MRA Consulting Group (MRA), […]

“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 […]