Waste Management in Australia: International Lessons

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Executive Summary

Today, waste management is not only an environmental problem that has to be solved by the government. It is a social, political, economic, and health issue that cannot be ignored by public and private organisations in the whole world. Each activity of people could lead to the creation of waste. Therefore, it is impossible to stop making waste in order to protect the environment and personal health. However, it is possible to create effective waste management systems, educate people, investigate the current achievements, and consider the opportunities available. In this report, the waste management system of Australia is investigated in order to clarify what international lessons could be offered. This country is chosen because of two reasons.

First, Australia is the country where the government pays enough attention to the challenges caused by waste. However, not all people and even political parties understand the important of such steps. Therefore, it is still necessary to think about the improvements that could be offered and the changes that could be made. At the same time, the Australians have already achieved a lot in protecting the environment at the national and international levels. This report is based on the publications offered by the Department of the Environment and Energy and the governmental activities the description of which could be found online. The worth of this report is the possibility to compare Australia with other countries and identify its strong and weak aspects of the waste management system.

Introduction

Australia is the country where its citizens pay much attention to the questions of waste management and the necessity to generate solid waste using the best technologies and effective processes. Solid waste is a general term that is used to cover such types of waste as domestic, municipal, and household (Pichtel 2014). For a long period of time, the issues of waste and its spread in different countries worldwide were not frequently discussed because of the inabilities to understand how crucial the presence of waste in human lives. Today, the representatives of industrial societies face a real challenge in the form of massive waste quantities that turn out to be the result of lifestyle choices, technological progress, and economic growth (Pichtel 2014).

The Australian government and the Department of the Environment and Energy, in particular, offer the National Waste Policy that aims at developing effective approaches to the solution of waste management problems in Australia (About the national waste policy n.d.). The lessons and examples demonstrated by Australia and explained in the report could help other countries look at their waste management policies and programs from another point of view, identify its strengths and weaknesses, and choose the correct direction. This report is based on the extensive literature survey of the waste management sector in Australia and helps to develop an understanding of the achievements made by the country in the chosen sector.

Australian Waste Management Background Issues

According to the statistical data, in 2016, more than 24 million people live in Australia (Ritchie 2016). This unexpected population boom makes people unable to observe the details that should matter and neglect the activities that have to be taken in order to improve a human life. Such factors as constant population growth, a high level of urbanisation, and the inabilities to change the indicators of per capita income during the last several years (Murphy 2016) could be used as the explanation of why the citizens of Australia cannot gain control over the produced amounts of waste. The investigations of independent consulting groups and the Australian government show that the rise of the population cannot be even compared with the rise of waste generation because the numbers remain to be impressive indeed. For example, at the beginning of the 2000s, waste generation was increased by approximately 31% (Australian government n.d.).

The beginning of the 2010s, waste generation added 28% more to the already reached points (National waste reporting 2013a). Finally, in 2016, 50 million tonnes of waste is produced by the population that proves the increase in approximately 170% (Ritchie 2016). The current situation in Australia is not dramatic. Still, there is a need to understand that the changes in one sphere of life have to make the government think about the importance of changes in other spheres of life to keep the required portion of the balance. Therefore, the achievements of the country in the technological, agricultural, economic, and legal fields would be defined as successful only in case the government and the citizens of the country could deal with the questions and challenges of waste management.

Australian Waste Management at the International Level

Though solid waste management is the issue that has to be discussed and solved by every country independently, this is also a global problem and has to be analysed taking into consideration the international achievements and indicators. Many developed and developing countries pay their attention to the problem of waste in the world. Their governments underline such indicators as the importance of recycling, landfill, and incineration rates in order to understand how it is possible to stop polluting the earth.

Figure 1: World Statistics: Waste vs. Population.

Nowadays, the calculations by the World Bank show that the population of the earth should be bothered with the questions of waste management because its constant growth leads to the growth of waste that creates much harm to the earth and people on it (See Figure 1). For example, in 2010, it was defined that 2,9 billion urban residents generated about 0,68 billion tonnes of waste annually (Hoornweg & Bhada-Tata 2012). In 2025, it is planned to reach the following points: 4,3 billion urban residents would generate approximately 2,2 billion tonnes of waste annually (Hoornweg & Bhada-Tata 2012).

The World Bank also divides countries according to their incomes. Such classification helps to identify the possibilities of the countries and the expectations of people. For example, the representatives of high-income countries are the USA and the UK, Cuba is the country with upper middle income, India has a lower-middle-income level, and lower income is observed in such country as Haiti.

Though it is hard to find out the numerical data about the current situation of waste management in such countries as Cuba or Haiti, it is evident that the countries continue learning to recycle and pay their attention to such issues as landfilling, generating, and incineration (Cruz 2014). The citizens of such countries as the United States, the United Kingdom, India, and Australia create numerous reports and handbooks in order to investigate the current ecological and environmental problems and find out the best solutions (See Figure 2).

Figure 2: Waste Management by Countries.

Besides, the countries with different incomes demonstrate different approaches to the solutions of waste problems and challenges. It is important for all countries to set a certain number of recycling targets and promote the development of cleaners and low waste-producing processes in order to make people think about the levels of pollution (Williams 2013). Recycling remains to be an informal sector in low-income countries. Therefore, much material for recycling is imported. Middle-income countries have high recycling rates. In addition to imports of materials for recycling, recycling markets are developed (Hoornweg & Bhada-Tata 2012). High technologies to sort and process waste are used in long-term recycling markets. Australia is the country where 52% of all waste is recycled. The promotion of landfilling is also possible because of the generation of more than 48 megatonnes of waste annually (Ritchie 2015). These are the serious numbers that cannot be neglected.

Landfilling is another important process of the waste management system. Low-income countries open numerous landfills where different waste could be stored. As a rule, air and water pollution is developed, and health impacts cannot be neglected. Landfills of middle-income countries undergo certain environmental controls. High-income countries have sanitary landfills and categorise waste in regards to its possible harm to citizens. In Australia, people continue to open new landfills in order to have enough places to transport citizens’ waste to. Landfills could produce leachate, a toxic liquid that could contaminate land and waterways (Clean Up 2015).

Finally, incineration is the type of waste treatment when waste is burned either with energy recovery or without (Eurostat 2016). The main disadvantage of this approach is the possibility of air pollutants’ emissions. However, not all countries could allow this method to be used by their citizens. For example, such countries as Haiti, Cuba, and other countries with not high enough income level cannot afford incineration because of high operation costs, the importance of appropriate technologies, and high amounts of inerts that cannot be controlled. Middle-income countries could use incinerators, but they cannot avoid the presence of possible financial and operational challenges as well. Besides, they cannot cope with the increased air pollution problems. Rich countries could allow themselves the creation of specialised incinerators that are located far from rural areas in order to regulate emissions. In Australia, waste incinerations are practised to reduce the volumes of waste, improve landfills, and promote the development of renewable electricity (Bell & Bremmer 2013).

Waste Management Provision

Waste management problems are frequently discussed by the citizens of Australia at the governmental and public levels. On the one hand, there is the government that has to take responsibilities for the successful delivery of waste management policies and the explanation of waste services that could be offered (National waste reporting 2013c). On the other hand, there are a number of public and private organisations the goals of which include the discussion of waste management aspects, the collection of thoughts, and the evaluation of the opportunities available. The Australian government divides waste management business into several spheres or sectors (National waste reporting 2013c), and each sector is supported by certain public and private organised (See Figure 3).

All these operations could be improved by a number of additional steps and policies that help citizens understand their roles in waste management. Besides, people have to be properly educated in order to make the correct decisions and contribute the sphere of waste management in Australia. Therefore, economic incentives and legal aspects have to be clarified in the report as well.

Economic Incentives in Waste Management

In Australia, waste management influences society, environment, politics, and economy included. Waste is defined as all those things thrown out by society away because of no longer uselessness and vainness. In addition to the fact that waste pollutes the environment, people forget one simple truth that waste creates a certain economic burden in society in the form of unnecessary loss of natural resources and the necessity to develop the reforms and policies that could save people (Yi & Li 2014).

From the economic point of view, the Australian government spends billions of dollars annually. For example, in the period 2009-2010, the Australian households spent $1,6 billion on the development of waste management recyclable and unrecyclable services (National waste reporting 2013a). At the same time, waste management business brought incomes in different forms: $3,3 billion to GDP and $8,6 billion in income.

Law and Waste Management in Australia

Waste management is the responsibility of the government and the state to regulate the presence of waste on the land and to develop appropriate legislation and policies. The international agreements and national strategies could be used to help local governments to provide recycling services, improve the household waste collection, operate landfills, and educate people. Australia participates in numerous conventions at the international level. Therefore, international conventions, agreements, and acts help to create a certain framework for waste management activities in the country. Among the existing variety of legislations that could be used to manage waste in Australia, the following acts play a very important role:

National Environment Protection Council Act 1994 discusses the conditions under which organisations and people have to work and clarifies that polluters have to pay and bear the cost of containment (National waste reporting 2013b);
The Environment Protection Action 1997 aims at protecting the quality of the environment and the creation of waste minimisation policies;
The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 introduces the framework and the guides on how to share the information about gas emissions, energy consumptions, and other important data (National waste reporting 2013b); and
The Product Stewardship Act 2011 helps to manage the environmental and health impacts (National waste reporting 2013b).

Strengths of the Waste Management System in Australia

The waste management system in Australia proved this country as a unique continent where much attention is paid to the questions of air, water, and land pollution and the necessity to deal with waste in a proper way. The positive aspects of the system include a fast developed economy, the abilities to cooperate with different countries, the possibilities to use maritime resources, and develop its individual energy, transport, and mining sectors. Besides, the Australian government is ready to cooperate with public and private sectors in order to manage waste and create appropriate living conditions. Finally, the country understands that waste management has to be properly organised in order to promote the development of other sectors. For example, the idea to incinerate waste could lead to the possibility to create a new type of energy for free. The Australians have already identified the benefits of waste management. Now, it is high time to make the improvements and promote the development.

Weaknesses of the Waste Management System in Australia

Still, there are certain weaknesses in the existed system. Not all Australian regions receive the same portion of waste management. Some regions are under a threat of being polluted, and their citizens stay unprotected. Finally, the main con of the country’s system is the attention to the ways of how to manage waste and gain benefits. Not much attention is paid to the possibilities to reduce the amounts of waste per person and decrease the level of impact of waste on land, people, and the country.

Conclusion

In general, the analysis of the Australian waste management system and the evaluation of its past achievements and future prospects show that the country has already succeeded in a number of steps. The Australian government supports the idea that waste management should become one of the first priorities of the citizens. It is not enough for the government to think about waste management. It is more important to make people understand their roles in the environment protection and think about the ways of how to reduce the amount of waste in their lives. The Australians have already got the governmental support. Besides, the country has rather good indicators at the international level comparing with other countries in its category. Finally, the waste management system of Australia could become a good example for other nations on how a country to identify environmental threats and use its sources to find the solutions, motivate people, and use legal ideas to prove the correctness of the chosen directions.

Reference List

About the national waste policy n.d. Web.

Australian government n.d., National waste policy: fact sheet. Web.

Bell, L & Bremmer, J 2013, Burning waste for energy: it doesn’t stack-up, National Toxics Network, Bangalow.

Clean Up 2015, Recycling fact sheet. Web.

Cruz, EP 2014, ‘Cuba and learning to recycle’, Havana Times. Web.

Eurostat 2016, Waste statistics. Web.

Hoornweg, D & Bhada-Tata, P 2012, What a waste: a global review of solid waste management, The World Bank, Washington.

Murphy, J 2016, ‘The population boom’s hidden secret’, News.com.au. Web.

National waste reporting 2013a, National waste generation and resource recovery. Web.

National waste reporting 2013b, Policies and governance for waste. Web.

National waste reporting 2013c, The waste management industry in Australia. Web.

Pichtel, J 2014, Waste management practices: municipal, hazardous, and industrial, 2^nd edn, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

Ritchie, M 2015, ‘The state of waste 2015: recycling is only set to grow’, The Fifth Etate. Web.

Ritchie, M 2016, ‘State of waste 2016 – current and future Australian trends’, MRA Consulting Group. Web.

Williams, PT 2013, Waste treatment and disposal, John Wiley & Sons, Queensland.

Yi, R & Li, M 2014, Construction safety and waste management: an economic analysis, Springer, New York.

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