Karratha and Exmouth Tidy Towns Triumph
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Congratulations to the City of Karratha and Shire of Exmouth who reigned triumphant in their Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities Awards categories.
This year, 27 community finalists competed across eight categories in the Keep Australia Beautiful Council's annual awards. Gascoyne Junction township in the Shire of Upper Gascoyne took out top honours as the State Winner.
The Shire of Exmouth received the Community Containers for Change Award with more than 1.64‑million containers recycled and $164,000 raised by the community. The City of Karratha won the General Appearance Award for its extensive works to beautify high‑traffic areas in the City.
More information about the winners is available on the Keep Australia Beautiful Council WA website.
Image Credit: Keep Australia Beautiful Council.
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The WasteSorted Community Education Grants recipients for 2022 have been announced.
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Congratulations to the Cities of Busselton ($3,235), Gosnells ($15,113) and Joondalup ($13,035), and Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale ($19,908) who will join a range of Western Australian businesses and community groups in sharing $150,379 to help tackle waste issues and improve recycling.
The WasteSorted Community Education Grants will go towards educational workshops and events, as well as creating recycling guides and books for children. The projects promote reducing, reusing and recycling, and changing daily habits.
Learn more about the successful projects and visit Waste Authority website for further details on future funding rounds.
Image Credit: AdobeStock 74439962.
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Decarbonisation of Waste Webinar
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The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) is leading the development of the WA Sectoral Emissions Reduction Strategies (SERS) to guide emissions reductions towards achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
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Decarbonisation is the term used for removal or reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) output into the atmosphere. SERS will address all sources of emissions. These include emissions from electricity, industry (including resources and manufacturing), transport, buildings, agriculture, waste and land use.
SERS is being developed through a coordinated, whole‑of‑government process and overseen by the Ministerial Taskforce on Climate Action. Local Government and industry stakeholders involved in the waste and wastewater sectors are invited to attend a webinar that will introduce the SERS and seek feedback to understand the challenges or barriers to decarbonisation in these sectors.
When: 1:30pm to 3:00pm on Monday, 12 December 2022.
Where: Online. Join the meeting here.
A questionnaire will be circulated to stakeholders following the webinar. The questionnaire will ask questions about current and future energy needs, and the technologies needed to achieve net zero by 2050.
Information about WA’s plan for a low‑carbon future can be found on the WA Government website.
Image Credit: AdobeStock 503991061.
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Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group
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The Federal Minister for the Environment and Water has announced the establishment of a new Ministerial Advisory Group to guide Australia as it transitions to a circular economy by 2030.
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The establishment of the Group follows the Environment Ministers Meeting in October 2022, where all Australian environment ministers agreed to work with the private sector to design out waste and pollution, keep materials in use and foster markets to achieve a circular economy.
Professor John Thwaites AM will chair the Group, with membership including Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Cathy Foley and outgoing chief executive of CSIRO, Dr Larry Marshall. With more than 70% of a product’s environmental impact determined at the design stage, the Group will focus on how products are designed, manufactured and used across all sectors of the economy.
Including efforts to solve challenges around:
- Regulatory, commercial and other barriers to a more circular economy
- Best practice initiatives that show promise for adoption and expansion in Australia
- Circular economy research, development and innovation needs
- Effective measurement and communication about progress towards Australia’s circular economy.
Read the media release here.
Image Credit: AdobeStock 311274188.
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Basketballs and Bands Win in EMRC
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The Gidgegannup Basketball Club and Parkerville Community Band have been announced as recipients of the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council’s 2022 Community Grants Program.
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Since 1997, the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council (EMRC) has been proudly supporting the communities neighbouring the Red Hill Waste Management Facility through their Community Grants Program.
Each year the Program has a pool of $15,000 available to support not‑for‑profit organisations and community groups to complete projects that enhance sustainability, social, cultural and recreational outcomes for the Red Hill area. In the 2022‑23 Program, the EMRC offered grants of up to $3,000.
Read the media release here. For more information on the Community Grants Program, visit the EMRC website.
Image Credit: Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council.
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A new campaign to tackle roadside litter has been rolled out across Western Australia, providing travellers with free compostable litter bags.
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The WA Naturally Thanks You Campaign is a $400,000 litter prevention program funded by Main Roads, and coordinated by the Keep Australia Beautiful Council, to help motorists dispose of litter correctly.
With roadsides among the most littered sites in WA, a 9‑month trial found the initiative reduced roadside litter by as much as 70% at some locations. The reusable 'keep bags' will be available at roadhouses along major highways. The Campaign also includes roadside signs, advertising at service stations, as well as social media.
Read the media statement here.
Image Credit: Keep Australia Beautiful Council.
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Major supermarket retailers will cooperate in a Soft Plastics Taskforce to explore solutions to address the immediate effects of REDcycle suspending its return‑to‑store soft plastics recovery program.
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On 25 November 2022, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) granted an urgent conditional interim authorisation to Coles, Woolworths, ALDI and program partners. Authorised participants can engage in meetings of the Soft Plastics Taskforce, which will consider, and seek to develop and implement, a short‑term solution for the storage, transportation, processing, recycling and/or management of soft plastics to minimise the volume that may end up in landfill.
The ACCC is also engaging with various industry stakeholders and representative bodies to ensure clarity and transparency in communications to minimise the risk of consumers being misled by representations about the recycling of soft plastics.
Read the media release here.
Image Credit: AdobeStock 292874133.
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HHW Program
The Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Program was established to provide Western Australians with a safe, and free, disposal option for unwanted household products that contain chemicals or substances that can be harmful to people or the environment. Find out more here.
Image Credit: WALGA.
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Bin Tagging Program
The Bin Tagging Program focuses on reducing contamination and increasing resource recovery from kerbside bin systems by using a combination of information provision, incentives and enforcement. Click here to find out how your Local Government can get involved.
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WALGA COVID-19 Updates
Read the latest sector-relevant information as it relates to COVID-19. These ad-hoc communications are released as State Government announcements are made. Click here to access the archive. To register to receive these updates via email, click here.
Image Credit: WA Government.
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Waste is the Word
Want to share your waste management successes, promote a new project, have a key question answered or collaborate with other Local Governments? We want to include your waste management issues in our next newsletter.
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Resources
WALGA operates prequalified supply contracts to access goods and services at market preferential rates. We have Preferred Supplier arrangements in place for a range of Waste Management, Parks and Gardens, and Environmental services to support service delivery and sustainability within the sector.
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