Waste

One of the most interesting Coffs Waste sessions this year was the COAG panel discussion addressing the forthcoming export bans on glass, plastics, paper and tyres where Minister Trevor Evans made a number of interesting key points.

The National Waste Action Plan 2019 was agreed by Federal, State and Local governments setting national targets and actions for reducing waste to landfill. To achieve this, industry, waste generators and local government need the right market signals and regulations to drive the necessary investment.

MRA managing director Mike Ritchie recently sent Minister Kean an open letter recognising the State's successes in waste management and identifying key concerns and potential solutions for supporting resource recovery post COVID-19.

The Federal ban on exports of recyclables requires that over 100 new processing facilities be built to process the 1.3MT of recyclables that we previously exported. Getting approval for waste facilities can be hard, expensive and time consuming. Esther Hughes provides a few pointers for making the process as painless as possible.

Getting a planning approval for a waste facility is a long and excruciating process, especially in NSW. Now, the NSW Government is trying to combat the economic downturn brought about by COVID-19 by cutting down red-tape to speed up the planning process and stimulate the construction industry.

Everyone working in waste and recycling knows that getting a planning approval for a waste facility is a long and excruciating process, especially in NSW. Mike Ritchie looks at why this is the case and puts forward 3 ideas for NSW to get its mojo back.

Could smaller scale be a viable and preferred alternative for metropolitan Australia instead of larger scale incinerators and challenge the misconception of WtE facilities being “big hungry beasts”?

MRA believes there are huge jobs, resource and carbon opportunities in recycling and waste management. In its submission to the Inquiry into Australia’s Waste Management and Recycling Industries, MRA has identified some of the key requirements for capturing these opportunities.

Projections show Australia is very unlikely to meet its current 2030 carbon reduction targets, with recent reports of increasing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from all sectors other than the electricity and agriculture industries. Australia needs to do more and the waste and recycling sector can lead the charge in emissions reduction.

One billion single use coffee cups are sent to landfill every year. Sounds like a lot but this represents less than 0.0004% of the waste generated in Australia per year. So, what can we do to deal with coffee cups so that we can focus on significant streams like organics (particularly food), which represent around 50% of all waste to landfill in Australia?

MRA's Mike Ritchie was invited to join the Ideas 2170 panel run by Liverpool City Council and Western Sydney University at WSU’s CBD campus on 19 November 2019. Mike and the panel discussed key waste streams and options for improving waste management outcomes for local councils.

The Australian Commonwealth has achieved a first. A Minister for Waste (and Environmental Management) was announced by the Morrison Government. In the 200 years since colonial settlement we have not had a Minister with Waste in their title. I hope that ushers in a period of attention and reform.