Key outcomes of the Waste Authority’s 24 June 2020 meeting
The Waste Authority considered and approved revised position statements on the Waste Hierarchy and Waste to Energy. The Waste Authority first released position statements on the Waste Hierarchy and Waste to Energy in 2013.
The revised Waste to Energy position statement includes both thermal and non-thermal treatment. The revised position statements build on the 2013 position statements to align more closely with key concepts in the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030 (the Waste Strategy 2030) such as circular economy and materials recovery.
The revised position statements will be published on the Waste Authority website.
An update on the WasteSorted behaviour change campaign was noted by the Waste Authority. The Minister for Environment recently approved the creative concepts and approach for State wide communications to support consistent messaging on waste avoidance, resource recovery and appropriate waste disposal behaviours. The creative concepts are now being refined following key stakeholder feedback. It is anticipated that the WasteSorted behaviour change campaign will commence in late 2020.
The Waste Authority approved a proposal to align selected existing Waste Authority programs to this WasteSorted messaging. This follows a review of the branding and approach from the WasteSorted and Own Your Impact platforms. The Waste Authority considered that a single brand is more resource efficient and will provide consistency in communications. Programs funded by the Waste Authority will transition to WasteSorted branding during 2020-21.
An update on the status of actions under the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Action Plan 2030 for the fourth quarter 2019–20 was discussed. The majority of actions are on track, with some actions unavoidably delayed due to COVID-19 impacts shifting immediate priorities.
The Waste Authority noted the 2018-19 Census of Western Australian local government waste and recycling services (the Census) and the Recycling Activity in Western Australia 2018-19 (RAWA) consultant’s report. The reports provide data that is used to measure progress towards targets contained in the Waste Strategy 2030, inform waste policies and actions, and to meet the State’s reporting requirements to the Federal Government. The Census and RAWA reports will be provided to the Minister for Environment for noting prior to being published on the Waste Authority website.
The Waste Authority received a summary of the outcomes from recent online workshops held during April to May 2020 to support the roll out of Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) collection services. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and the Waste Authority, with support from the FOGO Reference Group, delivered a series of online sessions to hear from various speakers about FOGO, and share experiences, challenges and success stories. The sessions were considered very valuable and will greatly assist the FOGO Reference Group in determining its process for working through key issues, with a focus on supporting the implementation of the FOGO rollout plan. Recordings from these sessions can be found here.
An update on the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) waste export bans was noted by the Waste Authority. The Commonwealth has agreed to provide funding to Western Australia to support its focus to develop plastics and tyre processing capacity, and waste infrastructure in the regions of the State, with further details yet to be released. The Commonwealth has also announced its intent to develop further arrangements for paper and cardboard to stimulate market responses to State based processes. Details of a call for expressions of interest in paper and cardboard recycling grants was released by the Minister for Environment on 26 June 2020 - see here for details.
The Waste Authority received an update on emerging opportunities to use recycled materials in major transport infrastructure projects, and the role of the South West Sustainability Waste Alliance in the Bunbury Outer Ring Road (BORR) project.
The next meeting of the Waste Authority will be held in Bunbury on 18 August 2020 to coincide with visits to local waste and recycling facilities.