Funding awarded for PVC remanufacturing project
A partnership between CSIRO, Think Fencing Pty Ltd, Vinyl Council of Australia and NWRIC is being funded to work with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compounders and manufacturers in a project to reduce waste and innovate for product redesign and reuse.
National Waste and Recycling Industry Council (NWRIC) CEO Rose Read welcomed the funding announcement, which was one of ten projects announced this week to be funded under the Recycling Victoria Research and Development Fund.
“This is an important step forward in increasing the recovery and reuse of PVC and aligns with NWRIC’s priority of building Australia’s resource recovery sector.
“This project is a great example of collaboration between manufacturers, recyclers and researchers and will result in helping Australian recyclers meet market demands for recovered materials locally and overseas and improve the quality of recovered materials as tradeable commodities,” Ms Read said.
National standard for waste data released
A national data and reporting standard for waste has been released by the Federal Government.
The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment commissioned Blue Environment to develop the standard which was developed in consultation with industry and state and territory governments.
National Waste and Recycling Industry Council (NWRIC) CEO Rose Read welcomed the standard’s development and encouraged its adoption.
“This national standard is excellent, and we urge every state and territory government, local governments and other organisations as well as NWRIC members, to adopt this standard as a matter of urgency.
“It’s important that we have access to more accurate and timely data at a local, state and national level and this standard will enable us to achieve that.
“Good data is important to help us understand how effectively we are managing waste, recovering resources and transitioning to a circular economy,” said Ms Read.
Funding guidelines released for Healthy Soils Fund
The Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley has released funding guidelines for the Food Waste for Healthy Soils Fund which aims to increase recycling of domestic and commercial organic waste.
In the 2021-22 budget the Federal Government announced the $67 million Food Waste for Healthy Soils Fund which will be matched 1:1:1 by states and territory governments and industry participants to build new and/or upgrade existing organic waste processing infrastructure and capacity.
National Waste and Recycling Industry Council (NWRIC) CEO Rose Read welcomed the announcement that applications for funding were now open, with organics one of the largest waste streams and an important area of focus if there is a chance of reaching 80% resource recovery by 2030.
“The National Waste Report 2020 showed 14.2 Mt of organic waste was generated in 2018-19 with an estimated 6.85 Mt deposited in landfill.
“Halving this volume to landfill by 3.42Mt per annum will be a significant contribution to the estimated 12Mt to 15Mt of waste we need to divert from landfill annually to achieve 80% resource recovery by 2030,” said Ms Read.
Ms Read encouraged businesses and state and territory governments to assess their own organics recycling capacity and apply for funding.
“The Food Waste for Healthy Soils Fund is key to improving soils, increasing the recycling capacity for organic waste, creating jobs and driving economic growth.”
There will be two application rounds under the fund, the first closing on 17 December 2021 and the second closing on 31 March 2022.
Australian plastics flows and fates study released
The Australian Plastics Flows and Fates Study 2019-20 National Report has been released, providing a comprehensive picture of the consumption, flow, and recycling of plastics in Australia.
The report also provides an assessment of the state of reprocessing markets and helps to inform product stewardship developments.
Commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE), and state government agencies in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and WA, the core dataset published annually in this report is collected through a detailed survey of Australian plastics re-processors, Australian resin manufacturers and importers, and extensive interrogation of Australian Customs data.
The survey is a valuable tool for promotion, knowledge of the industry and forward planning, including policy development and the tracking of policy outcomes to further improve plastics resource efficiency.
Waste Expo Australia heads online in 2021
Waste Expo Australia will be holding its 2021 conference online with NWRIC CEO Rose Read presenting in the session on Waste Policy and Innovation on 19th October.
Ms Read will present on ‘Getting to 80% Resource Recovery Rate by 2030’ and discuss if the
policy, regulatory and financial settings right to drive the systemic changes needed to reach 80% Resource Recovery by 2030.
“I will be providing an assessment of how the National Waste Policy Action Plan, associated funding through the RMF along with state and territory governments initiatives are stimulating the necessary systemic changes and investment to ensure we can achieve 80% resource recovery by,” said Ms Read.
Other speakers in the session which is being chaired by Mike Ritchie, MD of MRA Consulting include:
- Ministerial address by Hon Lily D’Ambrosio, Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes, Victorian Government on the ten-year plan to boost recycling, reduce waste and create jobs
- Lee Miezis, CEO of the EPA in Victoria on stronger powers to prevent harm from pollution and waste
- Claire Ferres Miles, CEO at Sustainability Victoria on Commodities not waste- designing a circular value chain of regenerative resources
The Waste Expo Virtual Conference will be held online from 19- 21 October 2021.