Posts Tagged ‘waste’
Sustainable Waste Management: Events for Behaviour Change
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on February 8th, 2010
Source: Metropolitan Waste Management Group
The Metropolitan Waste Management Group (MWMG) works with organisations and individuals to promote and achieve Sustainable Waste Management. Their objectives are to collaborate with metropolitan Councils, Sustainability Victoria, the Environment Protection Authority, Department of Sustainability and Environment, industry, business and the community to assist metropolitan councils to undertake individual and collective efforts to:
1. Reduce the generation of waste,
2. Maximise the sustainable recovery of materials from waste for reuse, recycling, reprocessing and energy recovery and,
3. Minimise the damage to the environment caused by waste disposal.
4. Plan, coordinate and facilitate metropolitan councils’ procurement of waste management and resource recovery services, and,
5. Strengthen organisational capacity and capability and empower others to deliver waste and resource recovery objectives and priorities
Over the next few months, they are supporting a wide range of events which showcase the breadth of their engagement with behaviour change. At the moment there are three open for registration:
Green Cleaning: Systems to Erase Waste, A Waste Wise Melbourne Network Meeting, February 18
Sita Landfill and Hallam Road Education Centre Tour, March 16
Learn about the latest waste recovery technologies which reduce the amount of household and building waste going to landfill and gain a firsthand insight into the ways that recycling can reduce landfill and costs.
Sustainability Leadership for Changing Times: A 2 Day Workshop & Retreat, May 6&7
Explore the deeper questions of Sustainability Leadership at this time on Earth; Integrate multiple intelligences, with Deep Ecology and ‘Theory U’ processes in a beautiful natural setting; Broaden your horizons, allowing you to relate to your work and your world with new eyes; This learning journey will leave you empowered and inspired to lead as we navigate unprecedented change in our society; Learning from each other, through authentic collaboration, we’ll unearth a confidence that allows for creative response to the crises we face.
Contact Ellen Regos on (03) 8698 9805 or ellen.regos@mwmg.vic.gov.au for more information.
Tags: behaviour change, education, MWMG, waste
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HazWaste Expo
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on October 15th, 2009
Source: Small Business Victoria
Building on the success of the 2008 event, HazWaste Expo 2009 brings together representatives across industry dealing with contaminated soils and hazardous manufacturing waste. The event aims to connect problems with solutions, with the ultimate goal of reducing or eliminating hazardous waste disposal, and the associated costs.
This is a free event for organisations seeking opportunities to reduce hazardous waste disposal to landfill:
Investigate technologies capable of reducing, recycling, reusing, reprocessing or avoiding hazardous waste generation.
Explore technology options for the remediation of contaminated soils.
Connect with industry associations and experts.
Discover how you can reduce your business costs through waste reduction.
Keep abreast of the latest waste issues faced by industry.
Turn your waste into a resource.
Date 8am – 12pm Tuesday November 10 2009
Entry Free
To RSVP, or for further information, contact Sustainable Solutions Unit on (03) 9695 2915, RSVP by 23 October 2009.
Tags: innovation, networks, sharing, waste
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HazWaste Expo: Call for Exhibitors
Posted in Seeking by Kate Archdeacon on September 22nd, 2009
Source: Small Business Victoria
EPA Victoria is inviting applications from interested exhibitors for the 2009 HazWaste Expo. Companies offering a range of innovative solutions for reducing hazardous waste or remediating contaminated soils are invited to apply.
This is an opportunity for companies to showcase practical solutions to eliminate or reduce hazardous waste disposal, including contaminated soil. There is no cost to exhibitors but spaces are limited.
Who should exhibit?
Companies with solutions or new technology for hazardous waste avoidance or reduction
Companies with solutions or new technology for the remediation of contaminated soil
Consultants with expertise in waste reduction and resource recovery
If your company provides a service or product that can reduce hazardous waste through avoidance, reuse, recycling, reprocessing or recovery, or if you have a waste reduction success story, submit your expression of interest to exhibit.
Applications close Friday 2 October 2009.
Download Exhibitor Information
Tags: innovation, remediation, sharing, waste
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Employees’ Project Saves 2 Million Litres
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on August 21st, 2009
Source: Smart Water Fund
Nestle Pakenham’s Smart Water Fund project has saved nearly two million litres of water in just six months, thanks to a team of environmentally minded employees. Two years ago, the Pakenham factory switched to mains water leaving two large water treatment tanks unused. The Pakenham Water Wise team, which is open to every factory employee, came up with the idea of using the 5,500 square metre factory roof for rainwater harvesting. The group recognised the 1.2 million litre capacity water tanks would be ideal for storing the rainwater.
“Recycled water cannot be used in food processing for hygiene reasons, so the challenge for the Water Wise team was to devise an innovative use for the rainwater collected,” says project manager Graham Ellils. The rainwater is used to supplement mains water for factory’s cooling towers, which are used for freezing ready-made meals and consume 11 million litres of water a year. The project also included the development of a HACCP plan for rainwater re-use in cooling towers. The project captured 1.765 million litres of water in six months last year during a period of below average rainfall, and during a non-drought year has the potential to capture and save up to five million litres of water.
Source: Smart Water Fund
Tags: behaviour change, community, waste, water
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Soil & Organics Recycling in Gippsland
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on August 20th, 2009
Source: Smart Water Fund
A new waste plant that will process 3000 tonnes of contaminated soils, 13,000 tonnes of organic waste and up to 20 megalitres of liquid waste a year has opened in Gippsland.
The Soil and Organic Recycling Facility (SORF) at Dutson Downs, 20km south-east of Sale, will manufacture high-quality compost that will be used for pasture improvement, land rehabilitation or beautification projects.
Contaminated soils retrieved from disused petrol stations or gas works can be treated and recycled at the SORF as an alternative in many cases to landfill disposal. Other wastes, including animal fats and petrol-based pollutants, will be converted (using naturally occurring microbes) into their component parts – carbon, water and beneficial soil organics. The plant will also recycle liquids such as waste oils and washdown water from factories, food processors and machinery plants – including car washes.
Gippsland Water Managing Director David Mawer said: “Contaminated water is a valuable resource that previously has gone to waste. This new plant can now take 20 megalitres a year. That’s water that once it is treated, can be reused for agricultural purposes.” “We believe industry will soon recognise the usefulness of this facility and it has been planned to further increase in capacity as demand grows.” Mr Mawer added. The SORF is within Gippsland Water’s existing Resource Recovery Facility, which occupies 250Ha of the 8000Ha Dutson Downs site.
Source: Smart Water Fund
Tags: new systems/services, recycling, waste, water
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Zero Waste Week
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on June 12th, 2009
Could you survive a week without throwing anything away? An invitation from the Ethical Consumer Guide to join the “Zero Waste Week” trial. Can we live with zero rubbish for one week? It’s a basic concept, yet may be not-so-basic to implement. Join us on a “Zero Waste Week” trial, where together we attempt to reduce our household rubbish for seven days. For some people this will mean not having anything that is not able to be recycled in curbside collections, while for others it may mean no packaging waste including recyclables. For all, it will mean preparation as the things we buy affect the rubbish we end up with.
The proposed date is the last week of July, 26th – 1st.
The next planning meeting is Thursday 18th June.
Find out more including RSVP details.
Tags: community, consumption, ethical consumer guide, Events, waste, zero waste
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Tiffins – Light lunch or midday meal
Posted in Models, RDAG by Devin Maeztri on April 29th, 2009
‘Tiffin, an Anglo-Indian term meaning ‘light lunch or midday meal, originates in Mumbai,India, where everyday hundreds of thousands of office workers receive hand-delivered meals prepared by their families.
These meals arrive in airtight containers that are stacked one atop the other for easy delivery by tricycle. The Tiffins business replicates this Indian model in Melbourne providing city workers and residents with meals on (tricycle) wheels. Cooked by chefs from fresh seasonal ingredients, this service is environmentally-friendly as it does not consume energy through transport or by reheating meals and prevents waste by using reusable containers with reasonable portions preventing much food wastage.
To find out more about Tiffins visit their website at www.tiffins.com.au.
This is from “Social Innovations in Victorian Food Systems”, case studies by Ferne Edwards.
Tags: community, Food, fresh food, transport, waste
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FareShare – Rescuing food, feeding people and helping the planet
Posted in Models, RDAG by Ferne Edwards on April 12th, 2009
FareShare (formerly One Umbrella) is a small not-for-profit community organization that rescues food that would normally go to waste to combat hunger in Melbourne. It was the first organization of its kind when it was founded in 2001 by a handful of people with support from the social justice not-for-profit and philanthropic sectors. In 2007-8, FareShare gave away over 180,000 meals and a further 190 tonnes of food.
The estimated benefits of FareShare’s food recovery activity in 2008-9 alone amounting to 400 tones of rescued food is the avoided emissions of 620 tones of greenhouse gases (or the annual equivalent of switching off 953 refrigerators for a year), a water savings equivalent to the annual consumption of 96 households and a saving in landfill disposal equivalent to the annual generation of 730 households (OFarrell 2008).
Tags: consumption, Food, hunger, integration, Models, social justice, waste
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Glenda Lindsay, Sustainable Cities Round Table Sustainable Sharing, 26th February 2009
Posted in Sustainable Cities Round Tables by Virginia on March 19th, 2009
Glenda Lindsay, volunteer of Yarra Neighhbourhood Orchard Edibles Swap, introduces another pilot project that she’s involved with: The Compost Mates Pilor Project. The project aims to tackle the problem of food wastage by collecting food wastes and to turn it into compost. Her talk is titled “Feed de Soil, dat Feed de Plant, dat Feed us too“.
Tags: compost, Food, Models, plant, Sustainable Cities Round Table, sustainable sharing, waste
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Kate Luckins, Sustainable Cities Round Table on Sustainable Sharing
Posted in Sustainable Cities Round Tables by Virginia on March 19th, 2009
Kate Luckins (formerly Pears), founder of The Clothing Exchange, was the first of the 3-minute presenters at the Sustainable Cities Round Table on Sustainable Sharing. The title of her presentation was “Releasing fashion waste from closeted detention; the tale of The Clothing Exchange“. You can view her presentation and slides below.
Tags: clothing exchange, fashion, Models, Sustainable Cities Round Table, sustainable sharing, waste
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