EPA presents on CDS and circular economy at national Waste Conference
In May 2024, the EPA’s Acting Director of Science and Systems Steven Sergi and the EPA’s Principal Adviser of Regulatory Strategy & Intelligence Michelle Jones attended the annual national Waste Conference in Coffs Harbour.
First established back in 1996, the Coffs Harbour Waste Management Conference is well regarded as the industry’s leading waste management conference.
Steve presented on the Container Deposit Scheme behaviour change national research report 2023, which covered the findings of a study undertaken by the EPA on behalf of the cross jurisdictional Heads of EPAs to inform the optimisation and alignment of participation in container deposit schemes across Australia and New Zealand.
Michelle presented on Beyond recycling: Moving South Australia towards a circular economy, which discussed where South Australia is currently at in terms of resource recovery rates, and future policy measures under consideration as part of review of the Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy 2010 to support moving South Australia towards a more circular economy.
Other key topics of interest at the conference related to promoting reuse and repair to reduce waste generation, utilising product stewardship and better design to deal with problematic wastes and using technology to ensure waste management and resource recovery outcomes.
