The Waste and Recycling Industry Association Queensland (WRIQ) and the National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA) of the United States have formed an official alliance to promote and inform the industry.
The trade associations representing the interests of the private waste and recycling industry in Queensland the United States announced that they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between both organisations on 25 August.
NWRA provides leadership, advocacy, research, education and safety expertise for the waste and recycling industries in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia. In 2015, it instituted an International Affiliate Membership program to share information and best practice with the private waste and recycling industry across the world.
WRIQ Executive Officer – Member Services Cherisa Bellis travelled to the US to co-sign the agreement with NWRA President and CEO NWRA Sharon H Kneiss.
Under the terms of the MoU, NWRA and WRIQ have agreed to the mutual sharing of resources, knowledge and information to advance the interests of the private sector waste and recycling industry in the US and Queensland, Australia.
“Earlier this year, we engaged in discussions with WRIQ regarding NWRA’s experience in policy, operations and best practices serving the US industry and we found such common ground on a full range of issues facing our respective industries, which led to the formation of this unique Collaborative Agreement,” said Ms Kneiss.
“We look forward to learning from the experience of our Australian colleagues and sharing our resources to advance the interests of both organisations.”
“Our participation at WasteExpo 2016 reinforced the opportunity for both organisations to work collaboratively to advance our mutual interests,” added WRIQ CEO Rick Ralph.
“There are a wide range of areas where both organisations can learn from the experiences of the industry in both countries to advance best practices across all areas of operations of our member companies, including improving safety for our industry’s workers in both countries.”