Waste

The Auditor General’s Report on the effectiveness of the National Waste Policy Action Plan has found that it sets the right targets but is poorly enacted at all levels of government.

By: Mike Ritchie, MRA Consulting Group In 2019, Australia’s environment ministers and the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) agreed to the National Waste Policy and Action Plan (NWPAP). For the first time, all Governments were committing to collective action on recycling, waste management and the creation of a more Circular Economy. Our governments finally agreed […]

The NSW EPA has released the draft Climate Change Policy and Action Plan that aims to set the framework for halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (from 2005 levels), zeroing emissions by 2050, and improving NSW’s resilience to climate change impacts.

In, NSW Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041, the State's most recent waste strategy, the NSW Department of Planning, Infrastructure and Environment has stopped talking about the waste hierarchy and started talking about the circular economy

Australia’s National Plastics Plan 2021 was released a year ago. Sadly, it looks like most of its targets will be missed. Nevertheless, the Plan provides a strong foundation for tackling plastic waste in Australia.

Sydney has three options to avoid a looming waste crisis – boost recycling by increasing the waste levy to $200, build new landfills, or allow more energy recovery projects, says Mike Ritchie of MRA Consulting Group.

The COP26 climate change summit took place between 31 October and 13 November 2021 in Glasgow. The reason we needed this summit is that we are very efficient at pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere but singularly useless at getting it back out again.

The COP26 climate change summit took place between 31 October and 13 November 2021 in Glasgow. The reason we needed this summit is that we are very efficient at pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere but singularly useless at getting it back out again.

The NSW Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041 has ambitious targets to achieve an 80% average recovery rate from all waste streams, triple the plastics recycling rate and halve the amount of organic waste sent to landfill by 2030. 

As of 1 July 2021 resource recovery facilities in Victoria are captured under new Environment Protection Regulations. Facilities that trigger the requirements must apply by October 2021 for a licence or permit or by 2 January 2022 if the activity needs a registration. If you do not make an application, you can no longer operate.

The NSW Department of Planning, Infrastructure and Environment has recently released a series of draft measures aimed at reducing timeframes for State Significant Development Projects and improving the standards of environmental reporting.

Australians want to take care of the environment. We have set a national resource recovery target of 80% by 2030. How do we achieve these goals? Well, we cannot go wrong with a nationwide landfill levy.