Staff Writer

Carbon emissions

Carbon emissions of Australian plastics to 2050

By Yong Lin, Kyle O’Farrell
and Joe Pickin
Since the 1950s, plastic use has grown dramatically, generating innumerable improvements in packaging, medicine, engineering, consumer goods and many other products. However, our global reliance on a group of synthetic materials that are not part of natural systems is also responsible for significant impacts on human health, plants and animals, and the environment more widely in the form of carbon emissions. Read More

Why plastic piping is great for recycling

Plastic piping has transformed the way we live, delivering essential services and utilities to our homes and communities. With the increased focus on reducing our environmental footprint and transitioning from a lineal to a circular economy, plastic pipes have many advantages over alternative materials and are becoming preferred material of choice to replace and upgrade pipes throughout the world.   Read More

Richard Kirkman: Why the waste sector needs a reset

By Richard Kirkman Three years ago, I landed on these shores fresh from working for more than 25 years for the utilities sector in Northern Europe.  I have seen many positive changes in the resource recovery landscape since I arrived, but there remains, in my opinion, the need to pivot the ambition of the circular economy supply chain, and this will mean change for all those involved.  But this change will create a massive opportunity for commercial growth and environmental gains.  Read More
Procurement tenders

Parameters of waste procurement need to change

By Katherine Driscoll Since the world started changing – through the COVID-19 pandemic – with restrictions and shortages, the procurement of waste services has not been exempt from new challenges. In addition to the pandemic, there have been a number of other new challenges, such as the merger and rearranging of significant waste infrastructure ownership, government elections, the progress of state and national strategies, to name a few.  Read More