Scientists establish world-first database mapping research on plastic chemicals to potential human harms

Australia is moving away from landfill disposal and towards more sustainable ways of managing the waste generated in the country and is currently building its very first large-scale energy from waste facility in Kwinana, Perth. The Avertas Energy facility will be in full operation in 2022 and recover resources and energy from municipal and commercial waste. Ramboll plays a critical role in the design, construction and commissioning of the Avertas Energy Plant as the Owners Engineer.

This paper describes the field demonstration of a new on-conveyor sensor for bulk sensing and sorting of copper ores. The sensor is based on certain classes of Magnetic Resonance (MR), that although well understood for many decades, to the author’s knowledge have not previously been exploited for on-line quantitative measurement in the mining industry.

Under pressure to abate greenhouse gas emissions without burdening their economies, several countries around the world have introduced emissions trading systems as a centerpiece of their climate change mitigation strategies. Drawing on the experiences with emissions trading made in Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region, this article shows that considerable diversity can be observed across systems, providing valuable opportunities for comparison and policy learning. Individually, and in comparison, existing trading systems offer lessons that can be applied to the design and implementation of new systems – especially in emerging economies where carbon markets are currently under development, such as China – and to the improvement of already operating systems. Such lessons are identified in three different categories: the role of the political process and economic context; system design; and system implementation and operation.

The OECD recently ranked the Australian economy as the strongest in the developed world. Per capita incomes are among the highest of any country and, despite accounting for less than a third of one percent of the global population, Australia ranks thirteenth by the size of its GDP.

This article examines recent developments in feed-in tariff (FIT) law for solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity generation in selected jurisdictions. In particular, legal and policy issues surrounding capacity capping and closure of FIT schemes to new entrants are examined at a conceptual level. The need for downward adjustment of FIT rates is discussed. The application of capacity caps in Australia, Spain, France, Czech Republic and the UK is examined. Characteristics and examples of best-practice and worst-practice amendment of FIT laws for solar PV are identified. It is found that caps are a blunt instrument for constraining the impact of FIT on electricity prices. The alternative of tariff degression is discussed.

This information sheet summarises the ways that carbon pricing are likely to affect waste management in metropolitan Melbourne. It addresses the carbon pricing mechanism, the carbon farming initiative, materials and energy recovery and what council waste managers can do. It has been developed by Blue Environment Pty Ltd on behalf of MWMG.

Climate change is an urgent environmental problem yet many governments have struggled to develop an effective national regulatory response. Instead, environmental advocates have turned increasingly to courts for a solution, mounting ambitious climate change cases in countries such as Australia and the United States, as well as under international law.

The basic concept was to offer residents from all participating councils the opportunity to purchase and easily access bulk quantities of recycled organic compost or mulch product. The product was sourced from five processors of municipal organics at a special discount price for a period of three months to coincide with spring sustainable gardening activities that were planned by member councils. The processor’s products are prepared through natural biological processing of garden waste that is collected from households as part of their council’s collection services. The process, in accordance with Australian Standards for composting takes a number of months and turns garden wastes into quality compost or mulch products.

The application of sensor-based sorting for the enrichment of ores is not new. For decades radiometric ore sorters are applied successfully in the pre-concentration of uranium ores.

This Outlook can help decision-makers understand the direction in which we are heading and help to assess which policies can support a more circular economy. The OECD stands ready to assist governments in making this transition by designing, developing and delivering better resource efficiency policies for better lives.

As the outcome of any real-world activity involving work personnel is uncertain, project work always poses some element of risk that cannot be fully abated or controlled. For hazardous dust exposure during normal industrious work processes, these risks include: assessment failures, mitigation failures, operational failures, implementation failures, and environmental disasters.