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NWRIC welcomes Coalition waste policy
The National Waste Recycling Industry Council (NWRIC) has issued a statement of support for the Coalition’s proposed waste and recycling policy.
NWRIC CEO Rose Read said the Coalition’s recent policy announcement would help facilitate a cleaner environment for all Australians.
“The announcement reveals a federal election which has seen the biggest tri-partisan commitment to waste and recycling in Australian history,” Ms Read said.
“The Coalition’s promises follow equally welcome commitments by the Labor Party and the Greens.”
Ms Read highlighted the Coalition’s $100 million Australian Recycling Investment Fund, Product Stewardship Investment Fund, $20 million investment in new and innovative solutions to plastic recycling and commitment to continue working with state, territory and local governments on opportunities to get more recycled content into road construction.
Ms Read said while party commitments vary in focus and values, the lead up to the election has seen a recognition of the waste and recycling challenges facing Australia.
“This is welcome news for all Australians because irrespective of who they vote for, they all put their bins out,” Ms Read said.
“Furthermore industry’s priorities are clear, more jobs, better services and less pollution – there is really nothing to disagree with about delivering this essential community service.”
NWRIC is concerned however about the lack of targets for government procurement of recycled goods, incentives to producers to increase recycled content in their products and packaging or willingness to drive state harmonisation of waste regulations and levies.
“Having six states and two territories enforcing different laws, levies and standards limits industry investment in innovative waste management and resource recovery infrastructure and services essential to building a circular economy,” Ms Read said.
“Good policy combined with funding is the key to effective outcomes and greater certainty for industry investment.”
Ms Read said for the proposed Product Stewardship investment to achieve meaningful outcomes, it must be underpinned by smart, simple regulations that create a level playing field and ensure full producer engagement.
“The National Waste Recycling Industry Council is calling for the appointment of a National Waste Commissioner to drive these necessary reforms and a tri-partisan approach to harmonising the regulations framing our industry,” Ms Read said.
“This process has been a clear success for work health and safety and heavy vehicle laws.”
Ms Read said every household and business in Australia purchases waste services and most purchase recycling services.
“The Commonwealth can cut costs for all Australians and stimulate industry investment by driving collaboration between states, industry and producers and essential regulatory reforms,” Ms Read said.
“It is critical that whichever party wins the upcoming federal election that they work proactively with industry to create jobs, serve communities, protect workers and reduce pollution.”
Earlier in the election cycle NWRIC similarly praised Labor’s policy commitments, specifically noting the development of a national container deposit scheme, National Waste Commissioner and the $60 million investment in a National Recycling Fund.
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2018 NSW State of the Environment report released
The NSW EPA has released its 2018 State of the Environment report – available for the first time on a purpose built interactive website with the capacity for regular data updates.
EPA CEO Mark Gifford said the report will be used to inform decision makers and the wider community about essential elements of the environment.
“There have been a number of key environmental improvements across NSW in the 25 years since the first State of the Environment report was handed down in 1993,” Mr Gifford said.
“The report highlights areas where government, community and industry efforts are leading to benefits, with less household and industry waste going to landfill, a significant decrease in litter, good air quality, and renewable energy generation rising rapidly.”
The report lists two indicator status’ as moderate, total waste generation and per person waste generation.
Total and per person solid waste disposal, total and per person solid waste recycled and litter items per 1000 meters squared are listed as good.
Mr Gifford said the report also shows how the NSW economy has shifted to become less resource intensive and more services based, resulting in positive environmental outcomes.
“This shows that economic growth and a better environment can be mutual goals,” Mr Gifford said.
“Electricity generation has seen a strong increase in the use of renewable, low emissions sources, from 11 per cent in 2014 to 16 per cent in 2017. Over the three years to June 2016, total NSW and ACT energy consumption declined by almost six per cent.”
According to Mr Gifford, the report shows population growth continues to be a key driver of changes to the environment.
“By 2036 the population of NSW is expected to grow to 9.9 million people with the majority of this growth expected to be in Sydney, which brings challenges for our environment and resource use,” Mr Gifford said.
“Climate change continues to pose a significant threat, counteracting these effects requires collaborative action at a state, national and global level to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build the resilience of the environment for the future.”
The report will be used by government and the community to monitor environmental indicators and track progress.
“Having the report released every three years means all agencies can continue to work together on environmental improvements now and into the future,” Mr Gifford said.
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VWMA partners with EPA for waste and recycling training
The Victorian Waste Management Association (VWMA) is partnering with Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) to develop a training package that seeks to equip operators with information and tools to better manage fire risks.
The training course will be delivered by VWMA as part of its industry training program to be modelled on the Management and storage of combustible recyclable and waste materials – guideline.
The training will equip operators with information and tools to understand the fire hazards associated with their activities and take steps to reduce risk. It will include the management and storage of combustible recyclable and waste materials in a manner that protects the environment and human health from the risk of fire.
EPA sees the partnership with VWMA as an important way of ensuring ongoing implementation of the management and storage of combustible recyclable and waste materials – guideline and will be seeking to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach.
VWMA Executive Officer Mark Smith highlighted that last year’s VWMA State Conference saw a commitment from the association to work with insurance sector and legal firms, consultants and government to tackle rising insurance costs and the risk of fire at sites.
“This announcement today lays the foundation for us to move forward. Members can expect further information about additional services we will be rolling out at our state conference on 30/31 July,” Mr Smith said.
“Figures from DELWP reveal more than 100 recycling facility fires have happened in the last 10 years, with the largest costing Victorian Government over $110 million. We want to reduce instances of fires and work with insurance companies to show that the sector is making inroads to lift standards.
“Participating in this training will demonstrate a waste and resource recovery operator’s willingness and commitment to identify and manage risk. It will also support business lower their risk profiles, which will increasingly be expected if the sector wants to remain insurable.”
EPA CEO Cathy Wilkinson said that through extensive engagement with industry and local government, EPA has developed practical guidelines on how to comply with the Victorian Government’s Waste Management Policy (Combustible Recyclable and Waste Materials).
The VWMA and EPA recognise the need to promote better practice through a shared commitment to drive industry leadership in the preventative management of combustible recyclable and waste materials. The VWMA aims to support its members and the waste and resource recovery sector to reduce the frequency, scale and severity of fires at waste and resource recovery facilities.
In a statement, the VWMA noted that the Victorian waste and resource recovery sector provides over 23,000 direct and indirect jobs across over 1200 businesses and is an essential community service supporting all the waste management needs of every Victorian business and household.
Currently, the sector is responding to changes in the regulatory environment around fire risk and management following new government policy introduced after several major fires.
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Qantas and SUEZ operate world’s first zero waste flight
The first commercial flight to produce no landfill waste took off this morning, as part of Qantas’ plan to cut 100 million single-use plastics by end-2020 and eliminate 75 per cent of its waste by 2021.
With support from SUEZ, all inflight products on board QF739 flying from Sydney to Adelaide and staffed by cabin crew from the Qantas ‘Green Team’, will be disposed of via compost, reuse or recycling.
Qantas Domestic CEO Andrew David said the trial flight was an important milestone for the national carrier’s plan to slash waste.
“In the process of carrying over 50 million people every year, Qantas and Jetstar currently produce an amount of waste equivalent to 80 fully-laden Boeing 747 jumbo jets,” Mr David said.
“We want to give customers the same level of service they currently enjoy, but without the amount of waste that comes with it.”
Mr David said this flight would typically produce 34 kilograms of waste, with the Sydney to Adelaide route producing 150 tonnes of waste annually.
“This flight is about testing our products, refining the waste process and getting feedback from our customers,” Mr David said.
“About 1000 single-use plastic items were substituted with sustainable alternatives or removed altogether from the flight, including individually-packaged servings of milk and Vegemite.”
According to Mr David, alternative products used during the flight include meal containers made from sugar cane and cutlery made from crop starch, all of which are fully compostable.
“At the end of the meal service, Qantas cabin crew collected items left over for reuse, recycling or composting in multiple waste streams,” Mr David said.
“Customers used digital boarding passes and electronic bag tags where possible, with staff on hand to make sure any paper passes and tags were disposed of sustainably.”
SUEZ Australia and New Zealand Director of Sustainability Justin Frank said SUEZ is proud to be supporting Qantas in meeting their waste reduction targets.
“SUEZ and Qantas have collaborated for over 15 years now and we’re looking forward to continuing to help them achieve their targets of diverting waste from landfill, using sustainable products and avoiding use altogether,” Mr Frank said.
“SUEZ is working with Qantas on other diversion and recycling measures throughout their operations, including head office and lounges to assist them with their waste reduction goals.”
Qantas lounges at Sydney Airport’s domestic terminal went ‘green’ for the duration of the flight.
“In its effort to remove 100 million single-use plastic items every year by the end of 2020, Qantas and Jetstar will replace 45 million plastic cups, 30 million cutlery sets, 21 million coffee cups and four million headrest covers with sustainable alternatives,” Mr David said.
“Airlines are legally required to dispose of some materials permanently, such as quarantined food from international flights – Qantas will work with suppliers and government to reduce the volume of this waste.”
The zero-waste flight was also 100 per cent carbon offset.
“Qantas operates the largest carbon offset scheme in the aviation industry, with a passenger offsetting their flight every minute,” Mr David said.
“From mid-2019, customers will earn 10 Qantas Points for every dollar spent offsetting their travel from Australia, which is the highest standard earn rate of any frequent flyer initiative.”
Additionally, Qantas last year operated the first biofuel flight between Australia and the United States using biofuel processed from mustard seed and in 2012 operated Australia’s first biofuel trial flights.
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European Bioplastics rejects biodegradable study
European Bioplastics released a statement rejecting claims made in a University of Plymouth study titled Environmental deterioration of biodegradable, oxo-biodegradable, compostable and conventional plastic carrier bags.
The Australian Organics Recycling Association and the Australasian Bioplastics Association have endorsed the statements.
European Bioplastic Chairman Francois de Bie said the findings were misleading as most bags used for study were not biodegradable according to European Union definitions.
“According to European Bioplastic, the bag defined as biodegradable was labelled as such according to the standard ISO 14855, which is not a standard on biodegradation, but merely specifies a method for the determination of the ultimate aerobic biodegradability of plastics, based on organic compounds, under controlled conditions,” Mr Bie said.
“The study actually highlights the importance of correct labelling and certification.”
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