-
3 days ago | 
insidewaste.com.au | Mike Ritchie
Single use plastic packaging is very useful stuff. It makes our modern lives easier. There are two key issues with plastic packaging that we need to focus on – litter (pollution) and recycling. In that order. Unfortunately, most of the discussion about plastic packaging is about how much is or is not being recycled or how much recycled content is being added into packaging manufacture. These are interesting but largely misplaced arguments. Why? Because we don’t have a resource scarcityfor plastic.
-
2 weeks ago | 
waste-management-world.com | Mike Ritchie
When it comes to sporting rivalries, the annual Rugby League showdown between the Australian States of New South Wales and Queensland is up there with the best of them. Mike Ritchie, director of MRA Consulting Group, highlights the different approaches to waste management and recycling being adopted by the two neighbours, and examines the very different outcomes.
-
2 weeks ago | 
waste-management-world.com | Mike Ritchie
Mike Ritchie explains why other Australian States should take a leaf out of the Victorian Government’s waste planning reforms… Since the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Waste and Resource Recovery Governance Reform in Victoria in 2013, Victoria has pushed ahead rapidly with a strategic infrastructure approach to waste infrastructure reform.
-
2 weeks ago | 
waste-management-world.com | Mike Ritchie
The circular economy is an approach that feels obvious, even overdue. The sort of thing that has been talked about for decades but still isn’t happening to any real scale. Our economy is still built around take-make-dispose, and economists will hesitate to describe such a situation as “market failure”. Insofar as they consider the problem at all, they look at the decisions of each of the actors in the marketplace and consider these decisions to be rational.
-
2 weeks ago | 
waste-management-world.com | Mike Ritchie
MRA Consulting’s Mike Ritchie explains how waste operators should use Section 143 Notices to protect themselves from inadvertently breaking the rules. We all hear the horror stories of illegal landfill operations, cowboy waste operators dumping waste on land, the covert filling of gullies by unscrupulous transporters wanting to avoid landfill fees. These practices undermine the whole intent of our waste regulatory structure and when detected attract huge fines.
-
2 weeks ago | 
waste-management-world.com | Mike Ritchie
The duel challenge is to manage resident expectations and the timing of the service integration. Proactive councils that consult with their community and conduct comprehensive research into best practice, particularly for hard waste collection, are more likely to minimise community concern.
-
2 weeks ago | 
waste-management-world.com | Mike Ritchie
Mike Ritchie, Director at Australian waste management consultancy, MRA Consulting Group, introduces the latest State of Waste report highlighting current waste, recycling and energy recovery trends in Australia.. On 16 February 2016, the Australian population reached 24 million people. Waste generation rates are a function of population growth, the level of urbanisation and per capita income and Australians now produce about 50 million tonnes of waste each year, averaging over 2 tonnes per person.
-
2 weeks ago | 
waste-management-world.com | Mike Ritchie
Mike Ritchie, director of Australian Waste Consultancy MRA Consulting Group, explains the extent of the problems posed by plastic pollution in the waterways and calls for action to tackle the problem…Plastic was only invented 100 years ago and now is ubiquitous in our economies and lifestyles. It is also ubiquitous in our pollution. From microbeads to plastic bottles and fish nets plastic pollution is everywhere.
-
2 weeks ago | 
waste-management-world.com | Mike Ritchie
Mike Ritchie argues the case for having an award for those who implement the unsexy and boring but really important waste reforms…Our waste problems are urgent. Waste is pouring out of the economy at 6.3% compound average growth rate. Waste volumes double every 12 years. Most Australian States and Territories have set recycling targets for 2020/21. For MSW the diversion target is generally 65-70% (except in the Australian Capital Territory where it’s 85%).
-
2 weeks ago | 
waste-management-world.com | Mike Ritchie
MRA’s Mike Ritchie explores the ever present risk of fire at waste facilities in Australia and explains some of the steps to mitigate it... The waste and recycling industry is, sadly, becoming known for its large blazes. This is not to suggest that Australian recycling facilities are badly run. They are not. It is, however, a sector that is at risk from fires. There isn’t good data on how many fires occur in recycling plants around Australia.
