MWRRG welcomes new CEO

The MWRRG Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Jillian Riseley to the role of Chief Executive Officer. Jill is a passionate advocate of sustainability and an accomplished executive and non-executive director with more than 20 years’ experience in leadership roles in the corporate and not-for-profit sector. Read more here

Message from CEO Jill Riseley

Firstly, I’d like to thank everyone who has made me feel so welcome in my new role as CEO. It is an incredibly dynamic time to join MWRRG. It’s been a hectic first month, meeting and discussing the important issues facing our sector with the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio, the waste portfolio, local government and industry.

Councils among winners at Victorian organics industry awards

We were pleased to sponsor the Australian Organics Recycling Association (AORA) Victoria 2019 Awards Dinner earlier this month. Our new CEO Jill Riseley presented the award for Outstanding Local Government Initiative to Bass Coast Shire, for their food waste recycling program. Read more here

Congratulations to Premier’s Sustainability Awards finalists

Congratulations to the finalists in the government category at this year’s Premier’s Sustainability Awards. We are proud to be a sponsor to celebrate leadership and excellence by all levels of government in delivering outstanding sustainability outcomes through policies or initiatives. It’s an opportunity to showcase the important role that councils play in delivering a more sustainable future.

City of Melbourne working towards a zero-waste future

The City of Melbourne has recently adopted an ambitious new waste and resource recovery strategy that seeks to accelerate movement towards a circular economy and improve the beauty and liveability of the city. Read more here

Proposed Regulations and Environment Reference Standards now open for public comment

On 1 July 2020, new environment protection laws will come into effect. The new laws will be supported by proposed Regulations and Environment Reference Standards (ERS) developed by Environment Protection Authority Victoria and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.

The Regulations and ERS are now open for public comment, closing on 31 October.

Update on upcoming plastic bag ban

The Victorian Government’s ban on lightweight plastic bags begins on 1 November 2019. The ban applies to all retailers and includes all lightweight plastic shopping bags which have a thickness below 36 microns, including degradable, biodegradable and compostable bags.

WA mechanic offers free services to people who collect litter from local beach

A mechanic from Freemantle is offering free vehicle services to people who collect litter from a local beach to encourage the community to take responsibility for their local environment.

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

‘E-waste to a better place’ Forum tour – 10 October

The next Metropolitan Local Government Waste Forum tour will be held on Thursday 10 October and will showcase facilities that are recycling and reprocessing e-waste into new products. For more information please contact metro.forum@mwrrg.vic.gov.au

2019 Victorian Waste Education Conference

The full conference program is now available for the 2019 Victorian Waste Education Conference, to be held in Geelong from 15-16 October. Featuring a high-quality line-up of speakers including Natalie Isaacs of 1 Million Women, ‘Reinventing Waste Education: Turning challenges into opportunities’ aims to inspire and support waste educators across two days of thoughtful, innovative, interactive and strategic discussion on ways to engage communities on waste. Read the program and purchase tickets here. 

• In a new podcast, Infrastructure Victoria’s Project Director Elissa McNamara and Sustainability Victoria's Director of Resource Recovery Matt Genever chat about recycling and resource recovery in Victoria, the sector’s current challenges and the opportunities that lie ahead. Listen here.  

• Environment Protection Authority Victoria’s Officer for the Protection of the Local Environment (OPLE) pilot project has been expanded to include 10 more councils across the state. Read more about the OPLE project here. 

• The August edition of Sustainability Victoria’s ‘Recovered resources market bulletin’ is available. Read the bulletin here. 

• Congratulations to the City of Wyndham for being named the Sustainable City of the Year at the Keep Victoria Beautiful Sustainable Cities Awards 2019 on Friday 6 September. Frankston City Council won the Resource Recovery and Waste Management Award, and City of Greater Dandenong won the Litter Prevention Award. Thanks to Keep Victoria Beautiful for an excellent event, it was inspiring to see so many great initiatives from councils and communities across Victoria, and we commend all those involved. Read more here. 

Resource of the Month – Litter Hotspots Program resources

Learn more about the tools and programs that councils and communities used to reduce litter entering Port Phillip Bay, as part of the Litter Hotspots Program. The case studies and project reports cover a diverse range of projects and litter issues across waterways, parks and retail districts. View the resources here