Dates for the diary

• 31 August — Nominations close for the Waste Innovation & Recycling Awards  (deadline extended)
• 1–30 Sept — National Biodiversity Month
• 29 Sept — International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction
• 14 October — Metropolitan Local Government Waste Forum meeting

Metro news

Recycling Collaborative Procurement project update

MWRRG’s recycling collaborative procurement project is shifting scope from securing long term infrastructure contracts to a short term service provision. The revised scope involves establishing a panel of contractors from existing commingled recycling processing operators. Short term contracts will be negotiated with the option to extend (e.g. 3+2+2 years). 

‘Bindance’ Film Festival delivers industry insights for councillors

While an actual Metropolitan Local Government Waste Forum bus tour was off the cards in August, councillors and waste officers were instead treated to a lively online festival of videos and presentations from industry experts to learn more about what happens to household waste and recyclables after they’ve been picked up from the kerb. The ‘Bindance’ Film Festival attracted more than 100 people and generated animated discussion between participants and industry experts. 

Glass reprocessing generates discussion at Forum tour

Glass collected from Victorian households can be recycled indefinitely into new glass packaging, attendees heard at a recent Metropolitan Local Government Waste Forum virtual tour, the ‘Bindance’ Film Festival. With councils preparing to roll out separate kerbside glass bins, and the upcoming introduction of a container deposit scheme driven by Recycling Victoria: a new economy, participants were keen to hear more about these new services.

Waste Innovation & Recycling Awards – nominations extended

Nominations for this year's Waste Innovation & Recycling Awards have been extended until Tuesday, 31 August. We're sponsoring the Women of Waste Award to celebrate the contributions of women to reducing waste and increasing resource recovery as we shift towards a more circular economy. We’re proud to be an organisation where women are strongly represented—but we know more needs to be done to encourage women into the sector and celebrate their achievements. Find out more about the Prime Creative Media Waste Innovation & Recycling Awards here.

Portfolio news

Recycling Victoria campaign material now available

The first campaign materials for Phase 1 of the Recycling Victoria Household Education and Behaviour Change Program are now live on Sustainability Victoria’s campaign asset library. The materials ensure councils can effectively implement changes to their household recycling services and help residents understand these changes. The initial materials include flyers, bin stickers, fridge magnets, posters and images. All materials include pdf versions, editable design files and instructions for graphic designers to adapt the materials to suit your local needs. If you have any queries or need any support, please contact campaigns@sustainability.vic.gov.au.

Gippswide Kerbside – Gippsland organics processing tender open

Our colleagues at Resource Recovery Gippsland are seeking a suitable contractor(s) to provide processing services for kerbside food and green waste to Gippsland’s councils. The tender is part of the Gippswide Kerbside project, a collaborative procurement approach to collecting and processing kerbside waste.

The food and green waste tender is the first of four Gippswide Kerbside tenders to go to market and will be open from 10 August to 8 September 2021. Further information can be found at www.resourcerecoverygipps.vic.gov.au.

Be informed

• Charitable Recycling Australia has created a set of social media tiles and posters on the environmental benefits of the charitable reuse and recycling sector. Councils are invited to use the resources, available here. 

Waste warriors

Council spotlight

Weird and wonderful waste news

Resource of the month

Community and stakeholder engagement guide

Our refreshed Community and stakeholder engagement guide will help you gain and maintain a social licence to operate. A social licence is the acceptance continually granted to an organisation by the local community or other stakeholders for the business to operate. Councils and industry alike find the guide a useful reference, and now that it’s been refreshed it is even easier to use.

Read Director Communications and Engagement Slavka Scott’s new blog about the guide.

The Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Implementation Plan sets out four strategic objectives which underpin all of MWRRG’s activities:

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