Coinciding with the first day of Queensland school holidays, Wet’n'Wild Water World today unveiled Coca-Cola Amatil’s new interactive recycling system: Coca-Cola Amatil will donate 5c for every PET bottle placed in recycling bins within Wet’n'Wild Water World to Surf Life Saving Queensland, up to the value of $10,000. The infrastructure was launched amid a sea of little nippers and lifesavers from Surf Life Saving Queensland who were given free entry into the park this morning,... ...Read more »

Westfield Shopping Centre today launched a recycling initiative which, once rolled out nationally, is expected to divert 675 tonnes of beverage containers from landfill each year – enough containers to fill nine Olympic sized swimming pools with recyclable material each year. Parliamentary Secretary to the NSW Minister for Climate Change and the Environment Angela D’Amore MP launched the campaign at Westfield in Burwood, NSW yesterday. She described Westfield’s coordinated recycling service... ...Read more »

Due to the success of this year’s Coles Bag Drive, held in June, Coles has announced a second drive in September to collect unwanted reusable polypropylene ‘green bags’, to be recycled into outdoor furniture and donated to primary schools. Coles said the response to the inaugural drive was ‘overwhelming’, collecting over 37,000 bags nationwide – equivalent to around 7,800 cubic metres of landfill. Non-woven polypropylene bags are recyclable, but not biodegradable. Coles... ...Read more »

• Programs Have Cut Manufacturing Waste by 30% in Four Years • Company Now Reuses and Recycles 90% of its Manufacturing Waste • Nine Facilities in North America Send Zero Waste to Landfills Whether people call it garbage, rubbish, trash or junk – everyone creates waste. And no matter what it’s called, too much waste ends up in landfills that can affect nearby communities and cost lots of money to manage. In short, people need to find ways to create less waste and find better uses... ...Read more »

South Australia has announced trials of Container Deposit ‘reverse vending machines’, where can and bottle collectors can put their cans and bottles into a ‘hole in the wall’ for a return of their 10c deposit. The machines, to be trialled at Centro Hollywood Shopping Centre, are intended to further boost uptake of South Australia’s Container Deposit system, which processes over 540 million containers every year – the largest in Australia. RVM’s are common in... ...Read more »

UK supermarket Waitrose and recycling experts Cawleys have jointly been awarded by the Association for Organics Recycling for their pioneering waste-to-energy recycling program, where food waste is sent for conversion to energy and fed into the national grid.  To date, Waitrose has generated a total of 400 megawatt hours of electricity using the process, enough to boil almost eight million kettles. The process, known as anaerobic digestion, uses microorganisms to break down biodegradable material. ... ...Read more »

An industry expert has emphasised the importance of economic and environmental sustainability in the food industry in the face of global upheaval during a speech to the British government. According to to the CEO of market insight group IGD, Joanne Denney-Finch, the food industry needs to be flexible and responsive in order to overcome the challenges of the next decade: environmental degradation, economic recession, shifting markets, climate change and a 25% increase in food requirements. “Most... ...Read more »

A Communiqué by Australia’s Environment Ministers outlining a comprehensive long-term national waste strategy has been well received by the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC). Meanwhile, the idea of a National Container Deposit System remains under review. The Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) strategy released yesterday welcomed the support and leadership of industry in reducing packaging waste and improving recycling rates across the nation. Under the new National... ...Read more »

A Senate inquiry report released yesterday has advised that the Container Deposit Legislation not proceed at this stage, a conclusion that was welcomed by the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC). The private members Bill, Environment Protection – Beverage Container Deposit and Recovery Scheme – for Container Deposit Legislation (CDL) in Australia, has the support of the Greens and Family First and would see the introduction of a 10 cent levy on each beverage container sold in the... ...Read more »

A new recycling initiative was launched today at the Indooroopilly Shopping Centre in Queensland, marking the beginning of a national rollout that is expected to result in hundreds of tonnes of beverage packaging being diverted away from landfill. The combined industry and government initiative, which will see improved recycling infrastructure and signage in food courts and more efficient back-of-house management systems, has been led by the Packaging Stewardship Forum (PSF) of the Australian Food... ...Read more »