Waste management - project details
Projects completed in 2006
Demolition and refurbishment waste minimisation
Review of Earthworks in Southern Sydney Councils
Projects completed in 2004
Beyond Recycling: an integrated waste management framework for local government
National Packaging Covenant Review
Projects completed in 2002
Independent advice on container deposit legislation in Northern Territory
Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority: waste minimisation and management strategy
Projects completed in 2001
Independent review of container deposit legislation in New South Wales
Waste management and minimisation strategies for Australian Technology Park
Projects completed in 2000
Review of submissions for recycled organics tender
Total Environment Centre - submission to the Alternative Waste Management Inquiry
Waste Management Strategy - University of Technology Sydney
Wingecarribee Shire waste services review
Projects completed in 2006
Demolition and refurbishment waste minimisation
University of Technology, Sydney
Examined economic and other waste minimisation issues arising from a demolition and refurbishment undertaken at the University of Technology, Sydney's (UTS) Kuring-gai Campus. The aim was to identify how waste minimisation techniques could be applied to achieve reduced costs of waste disposal, increased rates of recycling and associated reduction in waste to landfill for UTS.
Review of Earthworks in Southern Sydney Councils
Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils
SSROC engaged ISF to undertake a preliminary review of practitioners perspectives on the implementation of the Earthworks program in the Southern Region of Sydney. Earth Works is a training course for members of the community who express an interest in minimising waste. It is a community education activity adapted and developed by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) from a program that ran during the 1980s in Seattle, USA. The course focuses on equipping people with the knowledge and practical skills to minimise waste at home, at work and in their recreational activities. Whilst the EPA (now DECC) remains the central contact for the course in NSW, individual Councils choose whether to run the programme, and how to use and adapt the materials. As a result, the implementation of Earthworks varies markedly across Council boundaries, and over time. The review process involved facilitating a workshop with waste and sustainability education officers from member Councils to reflect on both operational and strategic strengths and weaknesses of their Earthworks programmes. The review synthesised the results of the workshop and identified the main options identified for the future of the programme including a centrally supported sustainability focused Earthworks.
Projects completed in 2004
Illegal dumping in NSW
Environment Protection Authority (NSW)
The Institute was engaged by the Environment Protection Authority to research the nature, extent and causes of illegal dumping in NSW and the mechanisms used to control it. ISF conducted in-depth consultations with a range of stakeholders (state government, local government, industry and NGOs) and surveyed all NSW councils as well as a literature search. The aims were to establish the range of information, experience and control activities available relating to illegal dumping behaviour from the full range of local and international literature/studies and to bring together all existing information held by government agencies, NGOs and councils on the nature and extent of illegal dumping problems in NSW in metropolitan, country town and rural areas.
Beyond Recycling: an integrated waste management framework for local government
Local Government Association of NSW, Shires Association of NSW
Most communities want their councils to maximise both the variety and volume of materials collected as well as the frequency of collection. The Institute was asked to undertake research and produce Beyond Recycling which guides councils through the process of developing an integrated waste management strategy. The focus is on assisting councils in setting up workable and meaningful community consultation processes so the community can be involved in decisions on what to collect, and how. Beyond Recycling empowers councils to make more pragmatic, corporate decisions about their recycling services, which are well understood and endorsed by their communities. The study also looks at ways to draft and structure contracts to minimise risk to councils and costs to their communities. Beyond Recycling was launched at the Local Government Association's 2004 Annual Conference held in Armidale in October 2004. The report is in two parts: Part A: Developing an integrated waste management strategy and empowering the community (3.9MB PDF) and Part B: Recycling in context - the current situation (3.5MB PDF)
National Packaging Covenant Review
Nature Conservation Council of NSW
The NSW Nature Conservation Council, with funding from the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation, commissioned the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology, Sydney, to carry out an independent review of the National Packaging Covenant and the National Environmental Protection Measure for Used Packaging Materials ('the Covenant system'), in December 2003. This review was intended to evaluate the Covenant system's effectiveness in achieving both its stated objectives and broader environmental and social outcomes, including reduction in generation of packaging waste, specifically reduction in virgin materials used in packaging and a reduction in packaging material disposed to landfill. The research provided support for its lobbying for reform of the Covenant system and contributed to ongoing debate about the Covenant. Download/view report.
Projects completed in 2002
Independent advice on container deposit legislation in Northern Territory
Department of Lands, Planning & Environment (NT)
ISF was engaged to undertake an independent assessment of a proposal on a self-funded container deposit system submitted by Keep Australia Beautiful, NT, review the relevant documents and provide independent advice on Container Deposit Legislation.
Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority: waste minimisation and management strategy
Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority
The Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority (SHFA) engaged ISF to undertake a review of current waste management practices and estimate the composition and total volume of waste for each of its waste facilities. This was achieved through meetings with SHFA staff, visual inspections of the site, and informal interviews with tenants, cleaners and garbage collectors. A literature review was also undertaken to estimate the composition of the waste streams by business type.
Projects completed in 2001
Independent review of container deposit legislation in New South Wales
Hon Bob Debus, MP Minister for the Environment
The NSW Minister for the Environment, the Hon Bob Debus commissioned the Institute's Director, Dr Stuart White to conduct an Independent Review of Container Deposit Legislation (CDL). The study included a review of extended producer responsibility principles, a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis and unique social research. The Review was released in February 2002 and referred to the National Environment and Heritage Protection Committee (a committee of state and commonwealth environment ministers) by the Minister. Read the executive summary and/or download/view the three volumes of this report:
Volume 1: Extended Producer Responsibility: Principles, policy and practice in NSW
Volume 2: Costs and Benefits of Container Deposit Legislation in NSW
Volume 3: Consultation and Social Research
The costs and benefits of alternative recovery programs were documented by the US group, BEAR (Businesses and Environmentalists Allied for Recycling) in their report Understanding Beverage Container Recycling . The Multi-Stakeholder Recovery Project (MSRP) is one of BEAR's central efforts to move towards its 80% recycling goal. In this project, stakeholders from throughout the beverage and recycling value chain are working together to identify innovative strategies to increase beverage container recycling consistent with a set of eleven guiding principles. Container Deposit Legislation was adopted by Hawaii in April 2002, the 11th US state to do so. For information on US Bottle Bills and their impact see the Bottle Bill Resource Guide.
In April 2002 the Beverage Instustry Environment Council, on behalf of the Australian Packaging Industry, commissioned Access Economics to write an assessment of the completed Independent Review and Professor Stuart White responded to the issues raised in this critical assessment of the Independent Review. The submission (Executive Summary) to the Independent Review commissioned by The Beverage Industry Council was written by C4ES Pty Ltd . Stuart White has written a response to the issues raised in this submission.
Container Deposit Legislation has been operating in South Australia since 1978. The Arid Lands Environment Centre (ALEC), based in Alice Springs ran some highly successful trials for a drink container deposit system at both the Alice Springs Show in July and the Yeperenye Festival in September 2002. The sustainability of recycling in the Northern Territory was examined by Dr Siva Ram Vemuri from NTU in April 2002 and the impact of implementing container deposit legislation in the ACT was examined by the Centre for Environmental Solutions in August 2002.
Waste management and minimisation strategies for Australian Technology Park
This project required the development of a waste minimisation and management strategy for the Australian Technology Park to achieve a reduction of waste to landfill in line with the NSW Government's reduction of waste to landfill target. The main components of the project were a waste survey of tenants (approx. 125 tenants), waste audit, strategy workshops and the development of least cost options for waste minimisation and management at the ATP.
Projects completed in 2000
Review of submissions for Recycled Organics Tender
Environment Australia
ISF was part of the Technical Advisory Panel to review submissions received for the Recycled Organics Expressions of interest invited by Environment Australia. The project involved reviewing around 40 submissions.
Total Environment Centre - submission to the Alternative Waste Management Inquiry
The Total Environment Centre (TEC) received funding to assist in the preparation of submissions by community groups to the NSW Government's Alternative Waste Technologies and Practices Inquiry. The aim of the Inquiry is to prepare a report on accelerating alternatives to landfill and maximising waste avoidance and reuse. Environment groups are particularly concerned about establishment of mega-tips (city and country) for Sydney's waste and are focusing on environmentally acceptable alternative technologies and policy tools.
Waste Management Strategy, University of Technology Sydney
This report provides the results of an analysis of waste generation at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). The report examines the current approach to cleaning, waste collection and waste disposal at UTS, and describes changes to the existing structure which would result in sizeable cost savings in the management of waste at UTS, and a substantial decrease in waste production.
Wingecarribee Shire waste services review
In February and March 2000, the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) conducted the Service Review and Community Consultation component of the Wingecarribee Shire Waste Services Review. The project was conducted for the Macarthur Waste Board (MWB) and was assisted by MWB, Wingecarribee Shire Council (WSC) and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). The purpose of this project component was to review the effectiveness of WSC's waste services in terms of community perception, environmental impact and financial performance. This evaluation was intended lead to recommendations to assist the development of WSC's new waste management contracts in 2001. The entire review covered domestic collection services, including domestic garbage, kerbside recycling, garden waste and hard waste collections services. The project consisted of a number of studies to evaluate the environmental, economic costs and benefits, and social perception of WSC's current waste management strategy.
