Message from the CEO

CEO Rob Millard takes a look back at 2018.

Cleanaway opens facility for food and garden organics

We were pleased to attend the official opening of Cleanaway’s South East Organics facility in Dandenong South on 27 November. The facility is designed to process over 100,000 tonnes of food and garden organics each year as part of the South East Organics Processing Contract.  Image (L-R): Stan Krpan (Sustainability Victoria), Rob Millard (MWRRG), Tim Piper (AI Group).

Education Network follows organic waste from paddock to plate to park

The final Education Network event of the year was a ‘Paddock to plate to park’ tour demonstrating the benefits of using recycled organics in regenerative agriculture, and showcasing examples of councils using compost for parks and gardens.

Industrial cooker increases FareShare’s capacity to cook recovered food

Funding provided by MWRRG as part of a pilot commercial and industrial waste partnership project assisted FareShare to purchase a new 250 litre steam kettle for its Melbourne kitchen. Read more here

Tour explores opportunities in the expanded polystyrene industry

We recently toured a number of expanded polystyrene (EPS) facilities in order to learn more about opportunities to increase the recovery of EPS in Victoria. Read more here

Workshop supports councils plan for kerbside food and garden organics collection service

On 29 November, we held the first in a series of workshops for local government on planning and implementing food and garden organic collection services. Attendees heard from a number of councils at different stages of their implementation journey, including Boroondara, Banyule, Darebin and Yarra. Presenters discussed modelling performance of a food and garden organics system, and social research and media tactics for councils. For more information about the material covered in the workshop please contact Program Coordinator Gayle Seddon on 8698 9805 or email gayle.seddon@mwrrg.vic.gov.au.

Melton includes DumpInData app in collection contract to combat illegal dumping

Melton City Council has become the first municipality in Victoria to require their hard waste and illegal dumping collection contractors use the DumpInData app for recording data on dumped rubbish. Read more here

Reminder: Council e-waste education program funding applications due 4 January

Councils are reminded to submit their applications for funding to support the implementation of the state-wide e-waste education program by Friday 4 January. Application forms, FAQs and supporting information for the non-competitive grants of $10,000 have been emailed to council e-waste representatives. Funding can be used for supporting community engagement activities including staging events, displays and printing of campaign collateral.

For queries and advice, please contact Team Leader Programs, Zandy Powell on 8698 9809 or email Zandy.Powell@mwrrg.vic.gov.au.

Detox Your Home recovers household chemicals across Melbourne

In late November, Sustainability Victoria held Detox Your Home events in Mornington and Hoppers Crossing. Almost 70% of attendees were using the service for the first time, and close to seven tonnes of hazardous household chemicals were recovered and diverted from landfill.

Updated Guide for Waste Management and Recycling in Multi-unit Developments released

Sustainability Victoria has released a final version of the Better Practice Guide for Waste Management and Recycling in Multi-unit Developments. This complements our Improving resource recovery in multi-unit developments (MUDs) toolkit, designed to assist councils to adopt and implement waste management planning considerations for multi-unit developments (3 storeys and below) into their planning approvals process.

Bio toilet turns waste and food scraps into fuel

This month’s story was shared by MWRRG Contracts Administration Officer Dee Stanton and showcases an innovative example of anaerobic digestion.

To mark World Toilet Day (November 19), an Israeli start-up has launched a bio toilet that converts toilet waste, food scraps and leftovers into cooking fuel. United Nations World Toilet Day aims to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.

If you have a weird or wonderful waste news story to share, please email web.editor@mwrrg.vic.gov.au. 

Metropolitan Local Government Waste Forum 2019

The meeting dates for the Metropolitan Local Government Waste Forum (Forum) for 2019 have now been confirmed. They are 21 February, 9 May, 8 August and 14 November.

If your council has not yet submitted its Forum delegate nomination form, please ensure it is done by 31 December 2018. If you have any questions about the Forum nomination process or meetings, please contact Stakeholder Engagement Adviser Stan Vermeeren on 8698 9829 or email stan.vermeeren@mwrrg.vic.gov.au.

• Australia’s Environment Ministers have agreed to a new National Waste Policy based on circular economy principles at the eighth Meeting of Environment Ministers (MEM). Ministers also agreed to strengthen the national action plan to address waste priorities including reducing plastic pollution, supporting industry development, increasing demand for recycled materials through procurement, and a national approach to waste policy and regulation. Read the Ministers Agreed Statement here.
• Sustain: The Australian Food Network has released its 2017-18 Annual Report. In 2017-18, Sustain worked collaboratively with a number of metropolitan Melbourne councils including Cardinia Shire Council, the City of Melbourne, the City of Darebin, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council and the City of Moreland on multi-stakeholder projects that aim to achieve Sustain's mission to enable meaningful and powerful connections to enable the emergence of a flourishing, sustainable and healthy food system. To find out more about Sustain and their work, read their Annual Report.

New case studies are now available on RMIT University’s Recycling Incubator website. The website was developed by design students to help build demand for recovered materials for the creation of new sustainable products and services. The Recycling Incubator project was established with the support of our pilot commercial and industrial waste partnership program. https://www.recyclingincubator.org/

‘Where can I recycle’ tool

Visit Sustainability Victoria’s website to find out how you can have a great low waste holiday season. For any unavoidable waste that can’t be recycled in your kerbside bin, check out the ‘Where can I recycle’ tool on our website to find your local transfer station, and what can be recycled there. Use the ‘Where can I recycle’ tool