Waste and Recycle Conference another success

The Waste Authority was the Gold sponsor for this year’s Waste and Recycle Conference, held between the 15-18 September at the Esplanade Fremantle and was again deemed a highly successful one with over 530 delegates attending over the four days.

The Conference was themed “The Business of Risk or just plain Risky Business?” and was designed to tackle the changes in market price of recycled commodities and how waste and recycling was valued by community, industry and government both socially and economically. Keynote speakers present at the event included Sandra Cointreau (World Bank, Solid Waste Management), Dr Lisa Skumatz (Principal and Founder, Sera Inc), Professor Dexter Dunphy (University of Technology, Sydney), Lieutenant General Peter Leahy, AC (Director, National Security Institute, University of Canberra) who participated in workshops and gave conferences detailing of their experiences.

The program included workshops on the Carbon Economy, Strategic Waste Management Plans, Contracting for Best Practice; and a forum run by the Waste Authority on the draft Waste Strategy for Western Australia. The event also included varying tours to Midland Brick, Instant Waste Management, Anaeco and Mindarie AWT facilities, Mindarie Landfill and the City of Wanneroo MRF.

One of the notable workshops for the Waste Authority included the Strategic Waste Management Plan (SWMP) which was aimed at those involved with the program, their experiences with the planning and implementation, and opportunity to comment on programs that could be implemented in the future. Feedback from the workshop included difficulties with planning for long term infrastructure and variations in expenditure for waste program implementation. However overall the outcome was positive towards the first year roll out of the SWMP and that DEC staff provided valuable support and that the funding/approval process was refreshingly swift and simple.

The main workshop of this year’s conference was “Managing the Ups and Downs: Contracting for a Risky Business”. The workshop involved focus group discussions on how relationships between the community, Local and State Government and Business relating to recycling contracts could lead to uncertainty and become problematic. Among many of the issues raised, popular views included fluctuating product quality, costing and market changes, contamination (pre and post pickup), the importance of including education in contract management; and legislation to assist and protect Small to Medium Business Enterprises (SME’s) and Local Government. There was also a case. It was discussed that with more efficient contractual arrangements in the waste industry, the collection, processing and marketing of recycled materials could become a more robust and resilient industry, thus having the potential to withstand future market fluctuations and capitalise on opportunities to better help diversion from landfill.

Photos from the Waste and Recycle Seminars, facility tours and Pirate Conference Dinner: (click to enlarge)

                            

                          

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