Deb Polson leads tour of plastic waste management in NZ

What happens when you drop these common items at an Outlook transfer station or recycling centre in Victoria? 📦Cardboard Taken to a Visy or AUSTRALIAN PAPER RECOVERY PTY LTD facility to be recreated into new packaging. 🧹Clean Fill, Rubble, Concrete and Street Sweepings This waste is taken to Mainstream Recycling, Veolia or Sycle, screened tested and processed into reusable product. 🍃Greenwaste and Untreated Timber The green waste is taken by Repurpose It, Veolia or Cleanaway Waste Management to be reprocessed for mulch/compost and offered for resale or used across commercial or council operations. 🛢️Waste Oil and Cooking Oil Decanted on or offsite (depending on facilities) and collected in bulk by JJ's Waste & Recycling - Australia to be cleaned at their facility and resold to industries around Australia. 🤘Metals We segregate the ferrous and non-ferrous metals onsite and Norstar or InfraBuild collect these to process and recycle at their facility. 🧯Gas bottles and Fire Extinguishers Degassed or decanted at a licenced Cleanaway or evoro facility and either recycled or certified to be reused. 🤍Whitegoods Any items that require degassing are done so onsite by a certified contractor and then the whitegoods are recycled through Ecofeet. 🧪Chemicals Taken to a Cleanaway or Evoro licenced facility to be treated and disposed of sustainably. 🚗Tyres & Mattresses Mattresses and tyres are received and processed at Vic Waste Solutions, where they are sorted for contamination, then shredded which removes the steel. The mattress foam is bailed and exported as RDF (refuse derived fuel). At Outlook, we’re always looking for smarter ways to manage waste – finding innovative solutions that keep materials out of landfill and give them a new life through reuse and recycling. ♻️ Huge shout out to our waste stream recyclers as well as our contract partners in Victoria - Melton City Council, Ballarat City Council, Solo Resource Recovery and Veolia for working together every day to create cleaner, greener and more sustainable communities!

In case you missed it: Australia has taken a major step towards responsible battery recycling with the launch of the world’s first ‘battery-in-devices shredding’ (BIDS) plant. 🔋 Supported by a $2 million grant from the Victorian Government’s Circular Economy Infrastructure Fund – Hazardous Waste, the plant uses specialised shredding and separation technology to extract batteries from devices and recover more than 90 per cent of valuable materials, including metals and plastics, for reuse. https://lnkd.in/gWY4Gpw9 #recycling #technology #Australia #circulareconomy

🗑️ The Great Plastic Paradox: When Communities Care (But Only Sometimes) Community engagement is the backbone of sustainable waste management - and boy, do we have some stories to tell! 📊 Over the past 8 months, our GCRU-funded awareness project reached 133 TLOs across 33 wards in Pokhara. The result? We've successfully received segregated plastics from 15 wards... with some wards treating us like their favorite pizza delivery service (high frequency!) while others seem to have ghosted us after the first date. 😅 Here's the reality check: We thought door-to-door plastic collection would be like Netflix delivery - everyone wants it, everyone's ready. Instead, we discovered it's more like trying to coordinate a family dinner - theoretically everyone agrees it's important, practically it's chaos! 🏠➡️🚛 The plot twist? The communities that ARE engaged are absolutely crushing it! But as a business, we've learned that sustainable waste management isn't just about having good intentions - it's about creating systems that actually work. Our humble request to communities: Let's make this a monthly block party! 🎉 Gather your neighbors once or twice a month, and we'll come collect your segregated plastics together. Think of it as a "Plastic Party" - except instead of awkward small talk, we're saving the planet! Because here's the truth: Good waste management starts at home. It begins when YOU decide to separate the: ♻️ Reusable (that yogurt container that's now your leftover storage hero) 🔄 Recyclables (the plastic bottles living their best second life) 🗑️ Dumpable (the stuff that's truly ready to say goodbye) The current practice is already praiseworthy - but imagine if we could scale this up! Let's prove to the world that Pokhara doesn't just have beautiful mountains and lakes, but also beautiful waste management practices! Challenge accepted, Pokhara? Let's turn waste segregation from a chore into a community achievement. After all, if we can organize festivals, we can definitely organize our plastic! #SustainableWasteManagement #CommunityEngagement #Pokhara #GCRU #WasteSegregation #EnvironmentalImpact #CleanCommunity #PlasticRecycling #Nepal #UNDP Nepal #Green Road Waste Management What's your community doing for waste management? Share your success stories (and hilarious failures) in the comments! 👇

Go Eco supports calls to rethink how Kirikiriroa manages waste – but warns simply focussing on reducing costs, misses the opportunity to invest in better social and environmental outcomes. “True savings – come from reducing waste before it ever reaches the kerb” says Kelli Pike, Pou Para Kore Lead.  Waste contracts have traditionally focussed on disposal and recycling, which are “bottom of the cliff” measures.  Go Eco have been long term advocates for community led resource recovery and building capacity and capability to develop enterprises that create local economic impacts and returns through employment, training and investment in healthy environments and thriving communities.  We also operate a Food Rescue service, which redistributed over 370,000 kgs into the community last year.  While reducing organic matter from going to landfill is a priority area, we are developing community based reuse systems for events.  Last week our team supplied over 2000 plates and bowls to support para kore at Koroneihana.  “Being able to offer reusable serveware not only reduces waste to landfill, but provides opportunities to educate our communities on the importance of returning food scraps to soil and effective recycling”. As Hamilton City Council considers the future of its waste contracts, Go Eco is urging decision-makers to look beyond bins and trucks. Instead, investment should go into community partnerships that keep resources in circulation – reuse, repair, composting, and community-led recovery. Xtreme Zero Waste in Whaingaroa recently celebrated 25 years in operation.  They remain a leading example of what can be achieved when a community model is put in place.  Their landfill diversion rate is 75%, but they also invest $2 million back into local wages, contracts and spending on local businesses each year.  With the current contract ending in 2028, now is the time to design a fairer and more resilient model. “Cities like Auckland are showing what’s possible with a Zero Waste 2030 vision and a growing network of community led Zero Waste Hubs that cut landfill volumes, create jobs, and return value locally. Kirikiriroa can do the same – and better” “Kirikiriroa deserves more than cheaper dumping fees. We need a system that looks after people, the environment, and future generations.” https://lnkd.in/givgGUbc

McDonald's recently released its 2024-2025 Purpose & Impact Progress Summary Report, outlining progress toward its global packaging and recycling goals. 📦 Packaging progress: On McDonald's goal to source 100% of its primary guest packaging from renewable, recycled or certified materials by the end of 2025: 90.9% of McDonald’s primary guest packaging comes from renewable, recycled, or certified sources; with fiber-based guest packaging leading the way at 98.99%. ♻️ Recycling access: In markets with advanced infrastructure, 86.9% of restaurants offer customers the opportunity to recycle and/or compost packaging. Guest packaging is collected in customer facing bins for back-of-house or off-site sorting for recycling or composting, utilizing existing local waste infrastructure systems. 📌 While McDonald’s acknowledges challenges in identifying commercially scalable renewable, recycled or certified sources for certain packaging items, including linings and lids for hot fiber-based packaging, their transparency and focus on fiber-based packaging and recycling are noteworthy and of particular interest to PPEC and our members. 🔗 Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/g2sPrGuq

Building Victoria’s Circular Future I am proud to share that our Wollert Waste-to-Energy project has been granted a Waste-to-Energy Cap Licence by Recycling Victoria. This milestone is central to our vision of a Circular Precinct at Wollert—a next-generation hub that goes beyond traditional waste management to integrate recycling, recovery, and energy innovation. Designed with decarbonisation pathways embedded from the outset, the precinct will: - Enable industrial symbiosis, where materials and energy flow between industries to minimise waste and emissions - Deliver long-term community and environmental benefits, through responsible recovery of resources and diversion from landfill - Serve as a cornerstone for Australia’s circular economy transition Over the past few years, Cleanaway has been leading investment in Victoria to build the infrastructure needed to support this transformation, including: - Plastic bottle-to-bottle recycling facilities in Laverton, Altona and Albury with PACT, Coca-Cola, and Asahi - State-of-the-art Material Recycling Facilities (MRFs) that lift recovery rates and quality - Soft plastics recycling feasibility study in partnership with Viva Energy Now, with Wollert Waste-to-Energy, we can responsibly manage what sits at the bottom of the waste hierarchy—converting non-recyclable materials into energy while reducing landfill reliance. Together, these initiatives form a connected network that positions Cleanaway as both a waste sector leader and a decarbonisation enabler for Australia’s future. Thank you to our teams, partners, and communities for supporting this journey. Recycling Victoria Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions

Cleanaway continues to invest in the infrastructure needed to underpin Victoria’s transition to a circular economy. Our vision is to establish a Circular Precinct – a future hub integrating advanced recycling, resource recovery, and energy solutions. The Wollert Waste-to-Energy facility forms a cornerstone of this vision, applying proven technology to safely and responsibly manage residual materials that cannot be recycled.   Read more from our EGM - Energy-from-Waste Preet Brar on how the Wollert Circular Precinct will play a pivotal role in shaping Victoria’s sustainable future.

Strong support for Go Eco (Waikato Environment Centre) reimagining how waste could become a social and environmental opportunity, not a burden to be fixed with bigger trucks and bigger bins

Why the Waste Sector is at a Turning Point — And What Your Business Needs to Do Now Have you been keeping an eye on the latest updates in the UK waste & recycling world? Because things are changing faster than you might think — and it’s going to impact warehouses, retailers, garden centres… anyone who handles fibre, packaging, or general commercial waste. Here are a few developments that caught our attention recently, and why your business should care: 📰 What’s Going On Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) kicks in this October — Under this scheme, businesses (especially those producing packaging) will be charged based on the type, weight, and recyclability of what they put out. More recyclable materials = lower fees. Hard-to-recycle stuff = higher cost. Simpler Recycling and associated regulations are placing stricter requirements on how businesses handle different streams of waste — not just cardboard/paper, but mixed dry recycling, food waste, etc. Segregation, documentation, and accountability are being enforced more closely than ever. 💡 What This Means for You If you manage a warehouse, a chain of retail units, garden centre, or any business generating fibre and packaging waste, these changes have real implications: ✅ Separate bins, good sorting, and clear records will save you money and regulatory hassle. ✅ The cost of poor recycling (or lack thereof) is going up — either through direct fees under EPR, or through more expensive waste contractors. 🔧 What You Should Do Now Here are some practical steps we recommend for getting ahead: Carry out a waste audit — What types of fibre & packaging are you producing? How clean is your separation? Review your waste collection partners — Are they transparent about where your waste goes? Do they offer traceability or rebates? Sort more proactively — Separate cardboard/paper from other dry recycling; consider food waste streams if applicable. Document everything — weights, volumes, collection frequency — you’ll need this for compliance under EPR and related rules. Start budgeting for the shift — While some changes may increase costs in the short term, better sorting & recycling often lower net waste spend in the long term. 📞 Let’s Talk About Making the Transition Smooth At Enava, we’ve been working with businesses across the UK to prepare for exactly this. Whether it’s refining their cardboard recycling system, identifying where they can earn from waste streams, or helping them stay compliant under the new rules — we’ve got experience. If you want to: 1. Know what EPR will mean for your operation 2. Run through a free audit of your waste flows 3. Find out how your current waste costs could be reduced 👉 Drop us a message or call 01446 795 430 #UKRecycling #EPR #BusinessWaste #WarehouseOperations #SouthWalesBusiness #CardboardRecycling #Sustainability #EnavaInsights

Polyco, Swellendam Municipality partner to advance #recycling and circular economy https://lnkd.in/emj-bY8P #sustainability #packaging #investment #MiddleEast #wastesorting #Africa #circulareconomy #regulations #Plastic #News #regulations #innovations #greeneconomy