The recently established Australian Landfill Owners Association (ALOA) has solidified its structure, opening state chapters and calling for nominations to the board. Meanwhile nominations for the top spots at the Waste Management Association of Australia (WMAA) have closed ahead of an April election, with two-way battles shaping up for both the president and VP roles.

Two consultants will be vying for the WMAA presidency, with Queensland waste industry veteran, former state president and former national VP, David Moy, lining up against Sydney-based Dr Ron Wainberg, head of Hyder Consulting’s waste division and the current VP of WMAA.

The battle for the vice president position will be the one to watch, however, as it shapes up as a referendum on the future direction of WMAA.

It will pitch SITA’s Mike Ritchie – outspoken resource recovery advocate, carbon committee chair and NSW branch president – against vocal Melbourne-based consultant Max Spedding, current chair of WMAA’s national landfill division and long-time member of WMAA’s executive board.

Voting ballots will soon be sent to WMAA members, with votes due back in early April ahead of the April 21 national AGM, where results will be announced.

Meanwhile the lobby group ALOA, which only formed in late November, has been quickly gaining prominence on the Australian waste landscape, driven by industry concerns over emissions trading.

It has now called for nominations for board members by March 27. There are two vacant director positions, with the three existing directors being Colin Sweet from Thiess, Brian Fox-Lane from Boral Waste Solutions and Ken Kanofski from WSN Environmental Solutions.

Max Spedding is the association’s secretary, while Elisa De Wit from law firm Deacons has recently been appointed as a “skill based director”.

State Chapters have now been formed in SA and NSW, while a meeting of the Brisbane chapter is planned for March 17. The Adelaide chapter has already made a submission on the state’s proposed environment protection policy on resource recovery, while the Sydney chapter is “currently undertaking a review of the landfill levy”.

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