NOT RUBBISH: The Zero Waste Idea

Monday, August 16, 2010

The Zero Waste Idea

Zero Waste is a philosophy that encourages the redesign of resource life cycles so that all products are reused. Any trash sent to landfills is minimal. The process recommended is one similar to the way that resources are reused in natures.In industry this process involves creating commodities out of traditional waste products, essentially making old outputs new inputs for similar or different industrial sector ... to read more click here

Zero Waste Australia Incorporated: ZWA Inc. is a not-for-profit, non-government organisation, formed to support all tiers of industry in achieving environmentally and economically efficient and sustainable systems in all spheres of their activity. See ZWA Aims, Objectives and Core Values

Membership: ZWA Inc. provides the opportunity for industry to access new economic benefits. ZWA Inc will endorse the use of a Zero Waste project logo for any industry project or organisation which pursues or attempts to pursue any one or more of the Zero Waste Australia Core Values ... click here to read more

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Welcome

If we are to ever get a really dynamic, sustainable, socially relevant and multidimensional resource recovery system anywhere on this planet we must do one thing first. We need to stop imagining our waste as rubbish.

When a city council has a sign over its tip calling it a “Waste Management Centre,” how dumb is that? When a council’s bureaucracy has spent millions of ratepayer’s dollars engineering its waste management infrastructure to the effect that an increasing amount of its waste stream is being consigned to landfill, how dumb is that? When the intention was claimed to be otherwise it is not only dumb but also very lazy.

It seems to have escaped the attention of many Councillors and their bureaucrats that internationally it has been recognised that burying our waste stream is understood as being socially and environmentally delinquent.

A recalcitrant city like the one we describe here is sadly not alone. However, there are many examples of better understandings of what is needed to break the impasse. Lets find them and see what fits regionally and what can be added to the mix.

Towards getting something actually going that challenges the status quo, and that perhaps may be some kind of model for others to take advice from, maybe we need to:
• Identify what it is that needs to be done in the short, medium and longer term to progressively find regional solutions to resource recovery;
• Develop a strategic and marketing plan based on that information and something that fits the local situation;
• Set about developing a community network and/or cooperative that can get on with doing what needs to be done on the ground.

Given that in order to succeed, essentially community participation is a fundamental requirement, and community aspirations need to be responded to, it is possible therefore that there will often need to be some kind of public forum and/or public consultation process to effectively progress regional resource recovery.

It seems that Local government bureaucrats are basically allergic to this kind of thing and claim that it is a very expensive exercise – indeed far too expensive. All too often community consultation processes are tokenistic, self-serving and patronising. This need not be the case.

Let’s have your feedback so that the next steps can be planned for – steps that include you.

Also let us know about good things happening anywhere so that we can all learn from them!

eMAIL: launcestonprojects@bigpond.com

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Monday, August 16, 2010

The Zero Waste Idea

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