Victoria’s proposed Waste Authority will provide guidance and strategic leadership on overall state-wide direction, including through infrastructure and contingency planning, according to the state government’s recently released options paper.
Read moreVIC seeks consultation on new Waste Authority and recycling Act
Sustainability Victoria has launched a new online directory, Buy Recycled, which highlights Victorian products containing recycled content.
Read moreSustainability Victoria launches Buy Recycled directory
Entries are closing soon for the Premier’s Sustainability Awards 2020 – a program of 11 categories that rewards outstanding achievements by Victorians leading the way in sustainable innovation and practices across all sectors within the state.
Read moreThere’s still time to enter the 2020 Premier’s Sustainability Awards
A new glass additive bin at Alex Fraser’s Clarinda Recycling Facility is boosting its reprocessing capability by 40,000 tonnes a year and has the capacity to double that production annually.
Recycled First aims to bring a unified approach to the application of recycled materials on road infrastructure projects. Waste Management Review homes in on the program.
Entries are now open for the Premier’s Sustainability Awards 2020 – a program of 11 categories that rewards outstanding achievements by Victorians leading the way in sustainable innovation and practices across all sectors within the state.
Entering their 18th year, the 2020 awards will be judged by a panel of climate change, science and research experts who assess applicants’ answers to five key questions.
Sustainability Victoria CEO Claire Ferres Miles said the awards play a critical role in recognising cutting-edge research, industry innovation, community connections and partnerships.
“The Premier’s Sustainability Awards are an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate outstanding Victorian businesses and individuals who have taken action to transition Victoria to a circular and climate resilient economy,” Ms Ferres Miles said.
“I encourage organisations and individuals in metropolitan and regional Victoria to consider submitting entries for the awards. This year, the application process has been streamlined to be quick and simple to complete.”
Last year’s awards program saw a record number of submissions. Winning entries included an e-waste recycling social enterprise, quality asphalt built from recycled materials and a hospital food waste initiative that collects surplus patient meals for processing and redistribution.
“Finalists take great pride to be recognised for their strategic foresight and hard work by sustainability leaders, sector peers, local communities and customers,” Ms Ferres Miles added.
“Winners tell us they benefit greatly from the increased exposure of their economic, social and environmental efforts in their business operations. The awards are a win-win for the state of Victoria.”
Entries for the 2020 awards close on Monday 20 July at 5pm.
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The Victorian Government’s Recycling Victoria strategy is the largest package of recycling reforms in the state’s history. Waste Management Review explores the policy.
Sustainability Victoria has extended its Recycling Victoria Infrastructure Fund expressions of interest period to support projects aimed at improving recycling and local reprocessing of paper and cardboard, plastics and glass.
According to a Sustainability Victoria statement, local government authorities are now eligible for the grant, with expressions of interest extended to 8 May.
“By extending the closing date of the expressions of interest we are optimistic this will be beneficial to all stakeholders and the funding program,” the statement reads.
Funding is available for infrastructure projects (new infrastructure or upgrades) that increase the capacity and capability of Victoria’s resource recovery sector and/or improve the quality of available materials for reprocessing and remanufacturing.
Eligible projects include infrastructure and equipment for new facilities, upgrades or expansions to support greater sorting and decontamination of recovered priority materials.
Additional eligible projects include infrastructure and equipment for new facilities, upgrades and expansion to enable reprocessing of materials to a higher quality suitable for manufacturers and end-markets, and infrastructure and equipment for the remanufacturing of recovered priority materials into new products.
Applicants may submit more than one application, however, each application must meet the eligibility criteria and demonstrate how its project addresses the merit criteria and objectives of the program.
“All streams of funding require a co-contribution from the applicant. Your organisation must make a minimum co-contribution of $1: $3 ratio (Government: Applicant) towards the total project cost,” the statement reads.
“Your project can receive funding from other government sources (including federal, state or local). However, this funding cannot be included in your co-contribution.”
Applicants will receive an outcome notification by June 2020, with successful applicants invited to submit a stage two business case by July. Grant recipients will be announced in December.
Funding limits:
Paper and cardboard: up to 25 per cent of total project capital cost, capped at $8 million per project
Plastics and glass: up to 25 per cent of total project capital cost, capped at $3 million per project.
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With multi-unit dwellings on the rise, Waste Management Review speaks with industry and government stakeholders about overcoming the associated waste management challenges.
Sustainability Victoria is seeking expressions of interest for the state government’s new Recycling Victoria Infrastructure Fund.
The fund is designed to ramp up recycling infrastructure, improve the recovery of valuable recycled materials and divert waste from landfill. It will initially focus on stimulating investment in infrastructure that can sort and process organic, plastic, paper, cardboard, glass, textile, and tyre waste into high-value material streams.
According to a Sustainability Victoria statement, expressions of interest are now being accepted for two grant streams: Materials (paper, cardboard, plastic and glass) and Hazardous Waste (solvents).
The Materials stream includes $28 million to target infrastructure projects that will reprocess, remanufacture and build end-market capacity for priority recovered materials. While the Hazardous Waste stream includes $11.5 million to target infrastructure projects that can improve the recycling of solvents from liquid hazardous waste.
“This immediate investment will provide support for the government’s transformation of the state’s waste and recycling system, complementing the introduction of a new four-bin system across households and a state-wide container deposit scheme,” the statement reads.
“The Recycling Victoria Infrastructure Fund will drive innovation and improve the capability of Victoria’s recycling sector. This builds on the $28 million already committed in the 2019–20 budget delivering a record investment in Victoria’s recycling infrastructure as the state embraces a circular economy and a sustainable future.”
Expression of interest will close 3pm May 8.
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