Mike Ritchie

Landfills
 Closing, Landfills, Latest News, Legislation, Levies

NSW landfill crises – time lapse

Sydney landfills are filling very fast. We are heading for not just a problem but a real disposal crisis. Just imagine the state of the economy and public health if we could not collect and dispose of household and commercial waste. Hopefully you are getting pictures of Naples during the strikes in your heads – piles of rubbish, rats and other vermin, public health outbreaks and social discord. Read More
MRA
 Latest News

MRA turns 15

MRA Consulting Group celebrates its 15th birthday this year. And what a journey it has been. In those few years MRA has established itself as a leading consultant in waste management, resource recovery and Circular Economy. MRA has grown from a team of two working from a garage to 40 people, with representation throughout Australia and internationally. Read More
surcharges
 Features

Charges and surcharges – using price to drive down landfill

Everybody hates surcharges on credit and debit cards, and it is pleasing to see the Reserve Bank of Australia recommending they be dumped on all transactions, including on my morning coffee. The basic reasoning is worth repeating. While the RBA accepts that transaction and accounting costs are real, they should be charged elsewhere because the surcharges are acting as a deterrent to spending. Read More
Councils, FOGO, Latest News

FOGO finding its place in Australia’s MUDs

By: James Cosgrove and Mike Ritchie
In 2025, Australians are getting serious about food waste; and it’s not just limited to suburban dwellings. Across the country, important steps are being taken in high-rise apartments, unit blocks, and townhouses with the goal to make food and garden organics (FOGO) recycling a part of everyday life. For several years now, kerbside collection for single dwellings (standalone homes), where food scraps and garden clippings are turned into compost instead of being disposed to landfill, has been recognised as the obvious and simplest target for rolling out FOGO.However, FOGO in multi-unit dwellings (MUDs – e.g. townhouses and residential flat buildings (RFBs)) has proven a stubborn challenge for proposed, new, and existing medium to high-density living.
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Methane
 Circular Economy, Features, Gas capture, Landfill gas capture, Landfills

The rising challenge of methane emissions from waste

By: Mike Ritchie and Ilan Levy Nadelsticher, MRA Consulting Group Methane is one of the most powerful greenhouse gases driving climate change, responsible for nearly 30 per cent of global warming. Over a 20-year period, it is far worse than carbon dioxide, warming the planet 84 times more. A major source of methane comes from waste – especially decomposing organic matter in landfills – which accounts for 18 per cent of human-caused methane emissions. Read More
Plastic packaging
 Opinion, Packaging, Plastics

Recycling plastic packaging will not fix plastic pollution

Single use plastic packaging is very useful stuff. It makes our modern lives easier. There are two key issues with plastic packaging that we need to focus on – litter (pollution) and recycling. In that order. Unfortunately, most of the discussion about plastic packaging is about how much is or is not being recycled or how much recycled content is being added into packaging manufacture. Read More