Waste solutions across Australia have been looking for more environmentally friendly solutions as part of a global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reverse the effects of climate change.
Environmental waste solutions are an important part of the Australian waste system.
They form a key part of our current waste streams. They’re important to understand.
But their ubiquity does not mean that they are simple. Current environmental waste solutions are a result of years of waste management history combined with modern forms of eco-friendly thinking.
In short, they’re as complex as the Australian economy.
Unpacking Australia’s environmental waste solutions will help both households and businesses better understand where they fit into the system.
Savvy waste producers tend to make the whole process more efficient and effective, not to mention more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
Waste Solutions in Australia
Waste solutions in Australia have evolved over the course of its history. It’s worth considering the tactics used by First Nations People before the arrival of European colonists.
Additionally, it’s worth considering how technological advancements have changed and improved waste management throughout the years.
Early civilisations in Australia had waste management systems like any other human society. Usually, these smaller population groupings focus on fulfilling their basic needs and want without resorting to excess.
Managing production and consumption remains a hallmark of sound waste management. Part of the modern issue with waste comes from the relatively modern tendency to overproduce and over-consume.
The seeds of overproduction and consumption began in the late nineteenth century with the advent of factories and modern industrial practices.
Mitigating this has largely fallen to government agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But consumers have a role to play, too.
Anyone who wants to live in an eco-friendly world must understand that good environmental practices begin at home. Reducing consumption will help lower the total waste of unconsumed goods and services.
Understanding Environmental Waste Solutions
Environmental waste solutions seek greener and more eco-friendly methods of waste management. It’s a systems-based approach that tackles the heart of waste production.
Waste management systems are thoroughly unpacked in the following Cleanway blogs:
Check these out for further information.
The main goal of environmental waste solutions is to manage waste systems in an environmentally friendly way.
This is pretty self-explanatory, but it does have system-wide repercussions.
Take industrial waste. This includes both the industrial goods produced, which in turn become waste, as well as the various types of waste created during the manufacturing process.
Paperwork is waste, as well as the actual waste caused by the product created.
Sound environmental waste solutions understand that the entire process creates waste in complex and nuanced ways. Combating this must be part of any eco-friendly waste management solution.
How to Reduce Waste
How to reduce waste becomes clearer once a nuanced approach is adopted. Just like a savvy accountant looks at ways to reduce expenditure, a savvy waste management team looks at ways to reduce waste across the entire organisation.
Popular waste reduction strategies include limiting single-use items, repurposing products in a safe and secure manner, minimising unnecessary production, and being in contact with local waste management experts.
Households and businesses alike play a unique role in overall waste reduction. Cleanway’s 10 Waste Disposal Best Practices provides insightful tips and tricks for how to deal with waste in a safe and secure manner.
Environmental Waste Disposal
Environmental waste disposal requires recovering, removing, discarding, recycling, reusing, and reducing trash and other unwanted materials in an eco-friendly manner. Its goal is to build a greener future where the negative effects of climate change are addressed.
Environmental waste disposal goes hand-in-hand with waste reduction techniques. Ideally, if less waste is created, then less waste will be disposed of.
But it would be foolish to assume that no waste will be produced. Even with the best reduction techniques available, some form of waste will always exist.
The solution is to find novel and eco-friendly alternatives to common waste disposal methods.
Landfills, for instance, are a useful waste disposal method to a certain degree. They’re great for quick disposal of waste and they do keep harmful substances away from everyday human life.
However, as National Geographic points out, landfills are far from ideal. Environmental waste solutions should not rely on them alone.
Environmental Waste Disposal in Australia
The Australian government outlined its National Waste Policy Action Plan in 2019. Below are six of its main goals.
- a ban on the export of waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres commencing in the second half of 2020
- an 80 per cent average recovery rate from all waste streams by 2030
- significantly increasing the use of recycled content by governments and industry
- making comprehensive, economy-wide and timely data publicly available to support better consumer, investment and policy decisions
- halving the amount of organic waste sent to landfills by 2030 and
- phasing out problematic and unnecessary plastics by 2025.
This government policy forms part of Australia’s commitment to find environmentally friendly solutions to many of its daily problems. These solutions will help to build a better future for the country.
They are aligned with international waste management best practices. Major waste companies work with these guidelines in mind.
What is ‘Zero Garbage’?
The concept of ‘zero garbage’ or ‘zero waste’ speaks to an environmental waste solution ideal. It involves the design and manufacturing of products in such a way that avoids unnecessary waste.
Zero waste follows the cardinal principles of reducing, reusing, and recycling.
But zero waste has additional benefits. Its goal extends to reducing the volume of toxicity in materials. This allows for them to be handled in a far safer manner and greatly reduces the risk to human health and the environment.
That being said, there are some criticisms levelled at the zero waste idea. Some call it unrealistic, given the industry-wide change it calls for in a relatively short span of time.
Non Hazardous Waste Solutions
Non-hazardous waste disposal is a vital part of environmental waste solutions. Involves directing non-hazardous waste towards non-hazardous waste streams.
The process relies on sustainable solutions for sustainable outcomes. Like other forms of eco-friendly options, it looks at the conservation of resources to minimise total waste production.
Non-hazardous waste, despite its name, must still be handled with caution. While its effects on human health and well-being might be less than hazardous waste, dangers still exist.