Waste Management

Waste Management

Container Deposit Scheme needs urgent revisit: Greens

Greens MLC for the Mining and Pastoral Region Robin Chapple said he was hopeful a Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) would be reconsidered in Western Australia after news the NSW Liberal National government plan to introduce a similar initiative.

The WA Greens introduced a CDS prior to the 2013 election but it has not progressed.

Mr Chapple said a CDS was an effective method of reducing waste and increasing recycling in Western Australia.

“When we last tried to introduce this bill WA had the worst recycling rates in the country and now, four years on, we’re fairing no better,” he said.

“We know from the South Australian experience that these schemes can be highly successful in motivating consumers to recycle.

“They can also have significant flow on benefits for local government, community groups and charity.

Mr Chapple said there was simply no reason why a container deposit scheme shouldn’t be implemented in WA.

“This is a very simple and effective method for our current government to be seen to be doing something significant for the environment,” he said.

“A scheme that reduces waste, increases recycling and funds itself should be a no-brainer.”

For comment please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255.

Media liaison: Tim Oliver           

Mobile: 0431 9696 25

 

Greens slam government for poor vision on Barrow

Thursday, 26 February

 

Greens MLC for the Mining and Pastoral region Robin Chapple yesterday slammed the government’s 2015 Barrow Island management plan as largely not addressing the extent of the issues present nor accounting for the growth in size of the Gorgon project.

The environmental management plan lays out the government’s expectations relating to the island’s natural environment, cultural heritage and resources for the next 10 years.

Mr Chapple said the management plan offered nothing useful in the way of restoring what had already been damaged on Barrow Island but instead offered a method of simply managing the status quo.

“There is absolutely nothing new in this plan that wasn’t already a part of Gorgon’s original contract for the island,” he said.

“There has been a large expansion of the project – it is now 2 or 3 times the size it was intended to be – and this management plan fails to address any of the subsequent issues caused by this expansion.

“When Colin Barnett was opposition leader he said Gorgon should never have been allowed on Barrow Island and vowed to force them off should he become Premier.

“As is so often the case with our Premier he has neglected to follow through with this commitment, perhaps hoping the rest of us would just forget about the issue?”

Mr Chapple said Barrow Island was a poorly managed environmental disaster.

“Invasive species at critical levels, injured and threatened native species, loss of natural habitats due to concrete infrastructure, poorly managed quarantine – the list goes on,” he said.

“As the Gorgon project continues to expand so too will the threats to this pristine environment, in particularly the 24 species of endemic native flora and fauna.

“I believe the situation has reached a point where, once Gorgon has vacated the premises, it will take billions of dollars’ worth of reinvestment to return Barrow Island to the sensitive state it was in prior to the arrival of Chevron.”

For comment please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255.

Media liaison: Tim Oliver     

Mobile: 0431 9696 25

Cumulative Environmental Effects of Intense Mining in the Pilbara Acknowledged

Friday, 17 October 2014

The Environmental Protection Authority has released a report that begrudgingly acknowledges the cumulative impacts of mining in the Pilbara after years of pressure to do so from both the Greens and non-government groups.

Greens Member for the Mining and Pastoral Region Robin Chapple MLC said cumulative environmental impacts from the kind of condensed mining happening in the Pilbara should have been obvious a long time ago.

“If you have an area, like the Pilbara, where there is a host of mining operations underway simultaneously then of course you are going to see a much greater environmental impact,” he said.

“I have maintained for over a decade that this kind of intense mining would have excessive and cumulative environmental impacts on the region.

“That is has taken this long to acknowledge the damage being done to the Pilbara really drives home this government’s priorities; economy at any cost.”

Mr Chapple said acknowledging the cumulative impacts of mining throughout the Pilbara should be taken as a step towards fixing the problem.

“I really hope the information in this report is used in a positive way,” he said.

“We should be looking at ways to improve the rehabilitation of mine sites and the life of existing mine’s rather than dodgy approvals for new mines every other day.

“For example, joint usage and managed railway systems throughout the Pilbara would go a long way towards lessening the cumulative impacts of mining.

“Ultimately, and thanks to some of the information that has come out under the current government, I would like to see the processes for environmental approval in this state totally overhauled.”

A copy of the report can be found here.

For more information please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255.

Government Plans to Sell Out WA’s Prime Agricultural Land

Monday, 13 October 2014

Greens Member for the Mining and Pastoral Region Robin Chapple MLC has called on Premier Colin Barnett to intercede in a controversial new proposal to open up part of the state’s prime agricultural land in the South West to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Oil and gas companies have been asked to bid for the right to explore across an area between Busselton and the suburban outskirts of Bunbury including the farming communities of Donnybrook, Capel and Dardanup.

Mr Chapple said it was madness to even consider putting the state’s most valuable agricultural land at risk.

“I am utterly appalled at the carelessness of these actions taken by the state government,” he said.

“Hydraulic fracturing in the South West carries a very real risk of contaminating vital groundwater reserves used by primary producers.

“This proposal also has the potential to strip farmers of their property rights as under current legislation they might not be able to stop mining companies exploring on their properties.

“I call on the Premier to step up and oppose this proposal in the same way he did to protect the wine production and tourism value of Margaret River earlier this year in the wake of a proposed coal mining development.”

Mr Chapple said recent data from the California State Water Resources Control Board confirmed that hydraulic fracturing exploration had contaminated aquifers above maximum contaminant levels.

“If this government continues to approach fracking exploration with such reckless abandon we’ll see the same sort of thing happen here,” he said.

“This government’s vision for the future of WA is one of a desolate wasteland incapable of supporting life in any form.”

For more information please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255.

New Landfill Levy not Backed by Genuine Intention to Reduce Waste

Thursday, May 15 2014

The state government has almost doubled the landfill levy as a part of last week’s state budget, but will not be using the extra funds to incentivise waste reduction according to Greens waste management spokesperson Robin Chapple MLC.

Only 25 per cent of revenues from proposed increases to the landfill levy will be paid into the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Account to implement initiatives to manage, reduce or re-use waste, whilst a further $15 million  will be provided to the Office of the Environmental Protection Authority to assist in ‘service delivery’.

Mr Chapple said the budget only stated that the remaining $137 million would be used to help fund other government priorities.

“What are these ‘other government priorities’?,” he said.

“The whole thing is very ambiguous.

“I raised this issue in response to similar proposed changes in 2009 but could not get a straight answer from then Environment Minister Donna Faragher about what these extra funds would be used for.

“Yet, amendments that I attempted to introduce which would have created true incentives for key waste reduction infrastructure assets such as resource recovery facilities and material recovery facilities were opposed.”

Mr Chapple said these new levies were not backed by any genuine intention to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

“We believe that these proposed increases to the landfill levy are just another blatant tax grab and a desperate attempt by our new treasurer to balance his budget,” he said.

“They are trying to pull the wool over our eyes.”

For more information please contact Robin Chapple on 0409 379 263 or 9486 8255

 

 

 

Waste to Energy plant P Hed

Smokescreen Obscuring Waste Issues in the Pilbara

Thursday 11 April 2013

Greens WA spokesperson on Waste Management and Member for the Mining and Pastoral Region, Robin Chapple MLC, today expressed reservations about the announcement of a Waste-to-Energy plant for Port Hedland.

“It’s good to see industry and government, led by the Greens and the wider community, finally focusing on the pressing issue of waste management in the Pilbara,” Mr Chapple said.

“What’s missing here is an overarching strategy that incorporates the bigger picture.

“Once again, we are seeing the result of the government’s failure to plan – resource projects are rushed on-stream without due account for the ensuing environmental problems,” Mr Chapple continued.

“Instead of running around now, wondering what to do with the massive amounts of old tyres, conveyor belts and the like, their proper end-of-life treatment should be built in to the assessments and approvals process.

“This lack of planning by the government is demonstrated time and again – in issues ranging from toxic abandoned mine sites to the unfettered growth in WA’s greenhouse gas emissions.

“It’s symptomatic of our failure to heed the Reuse, Recycle, Recover message that these waste management issues just keep bobbing up – whether it’s inappropriately placed landfill sites or their uncontrolled methane emissions.

“Waste-to-Energy should be a last resort in energy generation as there are significant accompanying problems such as the emission of noxious fumes and nanoparticles, as well as noise and water use issues,” Mr Chapple warned.

Greens WA Beyond Waste 2013 policy: http://wa.greens.org.au/policies/beyond-waste

Waste-to-Electricity plan a Load of Rubbish

Melbourne firm Phoenix Energy have lodged their application to the EPA to build a $400 million, 60MW waste-to-energy plant in Kwinana. The project is backed by prominent WA business woman Janet Holmes a Court and Japanese firm Mitsubishi.

The plant will require around 300,000 tonnes of municipal waste per year to produce electricity.

The Greens WA see Waste to Energy which requires incineration as a last resort for waste, not a path of least resistance. If the waste hierarchy is well applied, and resources recovered, reused, recycled and reprocessed in a sustainable manner, there should be no need for these expensive technologies to be employed.

Robin Chapple MLC, Greens WA spokesperson on waste, had this to say about the proposal:

“These technologies are appropriate in the context of cities which have no other alternatives to waste issues. Perth is not one of those cities – there is much more we can do to reduce waste to landfill before we start employing technologies of last resort. I’m also concerned that this technology will divert feedstock from other, more sustainable waste solutions, such as the Southern Metropolitan Regional Council’s Regional Resource Recovery Centre – which genuinely works on the principles of waste hierarchy, diverting waste from landfill and reusing the recovered resources in a sustainable manner."

This application to the EPA comes only a few days after the Energy Supply Association of Australia asserted that an oversupply of renewable energy in the market would “cannibalise existing supply”.

“This project is touting itself as a large-scale renewable energy project. If we can’t make room for genuine renewables suppliers on our inaccessible grid system, surely we can’t make room for 60MW of ‘renewables’ generated from an unsustainable waste solution?” said Chapple.

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