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In this Issue
- From the Minister
- Who's Who
- Waste Knot Want Knot
- Murdoch University Takes Composting Further
- Towards a Zero Handicap
The Vision
Towards Zero Waste in Western Australia.
The Goal
That all Western Australians live in a waste free society.
The Principles
Prevention - to avoid the creation of waste.
Recovery - to efficiently recover, retreat and reuse all wastes.
Disposal - to responsibly manage waste into the environment.
Znippets
Over 970,000 tonnes of material (roughly 484 kg per person) was recycled from Western Australia in 2004/05. Find out more in the recently published Review of Total Recycling Activity in Western Australia.
Key Dates
The next round of the Strategic Waste Initiatives Scheme (SWIS) is expected to be advertised in late June 2006.
The next round of the Community Grants Scheme (CGS) is expected to be advertised in early August 2006.
This year's Waste and Recycle Conference will be held from the 19th to the 22nd of September at the The Esplanade Hotel, Fremantle.
Recent Publications
Consultant's Reports:
Next Issue
The next issue of Zeroing In is due for publication in August 2006.
A Word from the Minister
Welcome to the first edition of ‘Zeroing In’ - the official newsletter of the Waste Management Board of Western Australia.
Australia is one of the largest per capita producers of waste in the world. According to recent figures, Western Australia is falling well behind most of the other national jurisdictions with just 23% of all our waste being recycled. This is well below the national average of 46%. Clearly we are confronted by a serious issue that will be best addressed by individuals across all sectors – government, business/industry and community – taking personal responsibility.
The Waste Management Board’s Strategic Direction for Waste Management in Western Australia articulates a vision of moving towards Zero Waste. It sets out a framework for policy and programs that target prevention, recovery and safe disposal, shifting the focus away from the management of waste.
Vital to realising this vision is an appropriate level of funding. Earlier this year the Board sought input and comment from a broad cross-section of stakeholder groups for its proposal to raise the landfill levy. This process found overwhelming support for a progressive increase.
The Carpenter Government has recognised the need for an increase in the levy and has approved an incremental rise that will bring Western Australia in line with other States.
The increases will also provide resources to undertake a wide range of policy and program initiatives, support partnerships, research and data collection and progress effective communication and behavioural change strategies to devise the changes towards achieving our Zero Waste goal.
The levy increases will also provide funding for Zero Waste Incentive Schemes (ZWIS) encouraging groups and individuals to develop projects that will reduce solid waste to landfill.
In conjunction with the website www.zerowastewa.com.au, ‘Zeroing In’ now provides all stakeholders with timely and up-to-date information about the work of the Board and the opportunity for sharing and promoting the achievements of Zero heroes across the State.
I congratulate the Board and staff within the Department of Environment and look forward to working alongside them to ensure a sustainable future for our State.
HON MARK McGOWAN MLA
MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT;
RACING AND GAMING
Who's Who - Chairman of the Board
Chairman of the Waste Management Board Mr Noel Davies believes that the new changes in the landfill levy will allow real progress to be made toward achieving Zero Waste.
Mr Davies said a lot of energy in the past decade had been spent debating whether WA needed a landfill levy at all, and the level at which such a levy should be set.
“From a personal point of view I am pleased to see that the debate has come to an end,” he said.
“For the first time we will have the resources to make a real change working with stakeholders to spend the money strategically and to get results.”
Mr Davies said the Board’s plans for the financial windfall anticipated as the result of the levy increase were focused on improving WA’s chances of moving towards Zero Waste. Specifically, the board would work on raising public awareness of the need for waste reduction, attempting to get a similar level of awareness to that of the importance of recycling.
“Public awareness of Zero Waste is low. There is the whole message of waste avoidance that needs to be made," he said. "We don’t believe we can get to where we want to go without it.”
Mr Davies said partnerships with local governments had shown promise and they were increasingly incorporating the Zero Waste message in their own environmental programs.
“Regional and local governments have shown interest and we are starting to get some penetration,” he said.
“We are not as engaged with industry yet, as they are harder to reach.
“While selective areas are aware, small and medium enterprises are really focused on running hard and making a dollar. We will probably allocate the greater proportion of funding to promoting the message to them in order to get the balance right.”
Mr Davies said the Board was not going to spend any extra money unwisely – indeed, the size of the expected increase would allow it to allocate larger sums towards projects that would pay off.
The Board would also be looking for local governments or stakeholders to match funds, to ensure the money went further. But he said that small regional or rural projects would not be forgotten.
“There is no one solution to waste, we have got to progress on a number of fronts,” he said.
“We plan to be much more strategic – allocating larger lumps of money rather than two or three thousand here or there. We are trying to make sure money is spent in a strategic way rather than a scattergun approach, but we will continue to support rural and remote areas.”
The Strategic Waste Initiatives Scheme
The Strategic Waste Initiatives Scheme is aimed at providing support and encouragement to business and industry, local government, community groups and individuals in tackling priority waste issues.
Waste Knot Want Knot
The City of Swan and several partners will receive one of this year’s biggest Strategic Waste Initiatives Scheme grants, as they attempt to solve the problem of timber heading from Malaga’s industrial district to landfill.
It is the second grant for the City and its partners, Ernst and Young and Jobs Australia, but will allow the group to move from a conceptual solution to one that might be strong enough to encourage business to get on board.
Murdoch University Takes Composting Further
Delving into the finer details of worm farms – or vermicomposting, to those in the know – led Murdoch University’s Dr Jaya Nair to the realisation that the low-cost and effective waste recycling systems could not be used for many types of common kitchen waste.
Acidic and meaty waste in particular appeared to disagree with the hard-working invertebrates, and kitchen wastes also gave off powerful odours and attracted flies and other pests during composting.
Dr Nair and the Murdoch’s Environmental Technology Centre will use a $93,000 grant from the Strategic Waste Initiatives Scheme to develop a simple onsite technology to treat food wastes from restaurants, fast food outlets and housing estates using both composting worms and effective bacteria.
Towards a Zero Handicap
For most people, waste management isn’t the first thing that springs to mind when teeing up at their local golf course. But for former Melville City Councillor David Dale and his wife Mary, a lifelong love of the sport combined with a passion for environmental issues has earned a sizable Strategic Waste Initiatives Scheme grant to turn the microscope on the issue.
David won the support of the Scheme with a proposal to conduct field trials at Perth golf clubs to prove the benefits of using water and energy more efficiently. At the same time, a waste management audit of forty country golf clubs aims to highlight best practices and the importance of local community-based support programs.
View the summary of all successful applications from the 2005 round of the Strategic Waste Initiatives Scheme.
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