Official Publication of the
ISSUE 79 | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2017
www.insidewaste.com.au
INSIDE
The plastic bag issue is a real bear but kudos to Woolies and Coles for taking a significant first step by banning lightweight plastic bags in their stores across Australia from July 2018. (Pictured: a sculpture made from recycled carrier bags in the UK. Credit: Kirk Laws-Chapman, Flickr CC)
24 40 years of CDS 36 Mapping the world’s waste 84 What’s on at AWRE
WMAA elects new president
National waste working group formed
PP: 255003/07055
ISSN 1837-5618
A national waste working group has been set up by the heads of EPAs (HEPA) across Australia to find ways to harmonise regulatory policies. And the group, chaired by the NSW EPA, had its first meeting in mid-July. At a Waste Management Association of Australia (WMAA) NSW industry update in July, NSW EPA director waste and resource recovery Steve Beaman said HEPA - an informal organisation - decided to form this waste working group as discussions within COAG tended to focus on issues such as container deposit schemes and plastic bag bans, and there is “a bit missing where there’s a need for regulatory policy and for the states to get together to harmonise.” Beaman said the working group
would meet “fairly frequently” and as a start, would be principle-based although the intent is to get into the details “fairly quickly” “We’re hitting all the highlights that most people have been talking about for a while, such as standardising the approaches to waste levies. There are a lot of different options that we’ll be talking about and what that means,” Beaman said. “The other states are also interested in the proximity principle so we need to think about how we can make proximity work on a national level... For instance, with waste tracking, we’ve done some interesting things like WasteLocate so we’re saying to the other states, we’re happy to give you that IP if we can
come up with a national approach. “My approach is, let’s pick five to 10 things, the things that are a pain for everyone, and [look at] how we can make it more efficient so we end up with a national approach.” Beaman also highlighted an opportunity to standardise the terminologies used in the sector. “What you’ll find is we’ll first end up with the principles and from that, we’ll work through the detail,” he said. “What has happened in the past is people have gone to the details too quickly and I want to go back to the heads of EPAs, the CEOs, and say, yes we need proximity and get their general agreement at a CEO level across the EPAs and then get into the detail.”
THE Waste Management Association of Australia (WMAA) has appointed Re.Group business development manager Garth Lamb as its new president. Lamb replaced Miranda Ransome, whose four-year term had come to an end, and he commenced the role of national president at the WMAA AGM on June 21. Lamb, whose term will last for two years, began his career in the sector more than a decade ago as a journalist and editor of Inside Waste, followed by four years working with Hyder (now Arcadis) as its national business leader for the waste and resource management team. Lamb is also an active WMAA member and in 2016, was elected as the WMAA NSW branch president. WMAA and the Board also thanked Ransome for the many years of her tireless work with the association. Ransome has been a WMAA member for more than 21 years, serving the last four years as WMAA president, and vice-president before that. WMAA said her commitment to the highest standards of responsibility, corporate governance and representing the interests of all members from all sectors had contributed greatly to building a stronger association. WMAA and the Board also thanked Geoff Webster for nominating to run for the position of WMAA national president. More on page 22.