Waste & Resource Recovery

Where to from here, WA?
 Australia, Features, Online Subscription, Victoria, Waste & Resource Recovery

Where to from here, WA?

Bringing together some 25 people, which included CEOs and chairs of regional councils, Keep Australia Beautiful, and private waste operators, the WIA for the first time, offered the sector’s stakeholders an opportunity to speak to the shadow minister about a dozen or so topics and outline their views on the various waste and resource recovery activities in the state.

“From our perspective, it provided opportunities on both sides. One, it gave the shadow minister the opportunity to discuss directly with the heads of industry what it is he’s considering for the waste industry if he were to become the environment minister,” Tim Piper, director at the Australian Industry (Ai) Group, which established the WIA, told Inside Waste. Read more

Support for C&D reforms; calls for better enforcement
 Australia, Features, New South Wales, Online Subscription, Waste & Resource Recovery

Support for C&D reforms; calls for better enforcement

In October, the EPA released a suite of reforms in a bid to improve the quality and quantity of reusable C&D waste materials in the state, including the removal of the Proximity Principle, implementation of minimum inspection, sorting, recovering and handling standards, proper processing of C&D waste, and increased penalties for the unsafe transport of waste.

Consultation closed on November 17 and both the Waste Management Association of Australia (WMMA) as well as the Waste Contractors & Recyclers Association of NSW (WCRA) have submitted their recommendations and it appears that they are on the same page. Read more

The Bower goes from strength to strength
 Australia, Features, New South Wales, Online Subscription, Waste & Resource Recovery

The Bower goes from strength to strength

Established in 1997, The Bower Reuse & Repair Centre began when a group of Sydney residents got together with aspirations to establish a reuse centre for household items.

They secured funding to build a warehouse – Sydney’s first straw bale construction – and over the years, The Bower has become an environmental charity and cooperative committed to stopping usable items from going to landfill.

In the past two years alone, The Bower has diverted around 291,108 tonnes of household furniture and goods away from landfill for reuse with their collection services workshops in Marrickville and Parramatta. Read more

The factors that lead to better compaction
 Australia, Features, Online Subscription, Waste & Resource Recovery

The factors that lead to better compaction

Speaking candidly to Inside Waste, Cat industry specialist Ayden Piri noted that Australia and New Zealand citizens generate some 3kg of waste per person per day, which equates to more than 30 million tonnes of waste every year.

“This large volume of waste has forced nations to build almost 400 landfills in these countries. The cost to build a landfill in the region varies from AU$5 million to AU$8 million per million cubic metre (100x100x100 meters space) so it’s quite costly to build a new landfill,” Piri said. Read more

So you want energy from waste?
 Australia, Features, Online Subscription, Waste & Resource Recovery

So you want energy from waste?

Under its legislation, the CEFC has access to $2 billion a year for five years and it is currently in its fourth year. To date, the CEFC has accessed $8 billion, of which it has invested about $2 billion. And among its target client sectors sits waste, bioenergy, and agriculture.

“Our funding is not use it or lose it. We’re not under pressure to do deals that aren’t ready to be done. But at the same time, part of our role is to accelerate the markets. The point there is that we’re not capital constraint, we’re project constraint,” Henry Anning, director – CEFC Corporate and Project Finance told delegates who attended the conference. Read more

Is this the end of the Proximity Principle? Probably not.
 Australia, Features, New South Wales, Online Subscription, Waste & Resource Recovery

Is this the end of the Proximity Principle? Probably not.

Last month, the EPA released draft construction and demolition waste reforms, which included the removal of the Proximity Principle that would impact other waste streams as well.

NSW EPA executive director, waste and resource recovery Steve Beaman, who spoke at a Waste Contractors and Recyclers Association of NSW (WCRA) breakfast briefing on November 8 on the C&D reforms, told attendees that the plan to remove the Proximity Principle was largely because people were “mucking around with it” and it became a challenge for the EPA. Read more

Is Australia ready for EfW?
 Australia, Features, Online Subscription, Waste & Resource Recovery

Is Australia ready for EfW?

Manning, who chaired day one of the Waste Management Association of Australia’s (WMAA) national energy from waste conference on October 25 and 26, will be speaking at the Bioenergy Australia Conference in Brisbane this month on the potential for EfW in Australia.

She said her message to the delegates at the forthcoming conference will reiterate the consistent themes, topics and messages relayed at WMAA’s event. Read more

Absence of waste issues in draft plan "beyond belief"
 Australia, Features, Online Subscription, Queensland, Waste & Resource Recovery

Absence of waste issues in draft plan “beyond belief”

Released last week, ShapingSEQ seeks to “promote the things that SEQ residents value like a connected region, affordable housing, protecting our natural environment and our unique lifestyle”. It notes that by 2041, SEQ’s population is expected to have increased by two million people.

“One of the most important issues facing South East Queensland is the provision of diverse and affordable housing. The new ShapingSEQ broadens this to include the idea of affordable living. Affordable living is about more than just the cost of a house it’s about how we interact with services and engage with our community,” Deputy Premier Jackie Trad said. Read more

Building momentum to drive improvement
 Australia, Features, Online Subscription, Waste & Resource Recovery

Building momentum to drive improvement

Come October, Venhoek will celebrate his first anniversary as CEO of Suez in Australia and New Zealand. He told Inside Waste he “really liked” Australia’s ambition and drive, as well as the acknowledgement from clients, stakeholders, and colleagues that the industry could change for the better.

Venhoek is an industry veteran, entering the sector in 1992 after spotting an advertisement in the newspaper in the Netherlands for “an interesting job” in waste. Read more

Industry "blindsided" by waste tracking charges
 Australia, Features, Online Subscription, Queensland, Waste & Resource Recovery

Industry “blindsided” by waste tracking charges

The charge is associated with the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection’s Connect service launched last month.

Connect includes the ability to track waste online, which Environment Minister Dr Steven Miles said would make it more efficient for operators to lodge regulated waste transport data and track their operations in an easy-to-use online platform.

The department has produced a few tutorial videos to help the sector, including waste transporters, receivers, and generators, better understand their obligations. Read more