Recycling Portal, GreenTape, ecoBiz

National Data Portal for Recycling Industry

Rod Welford (Chief Executive: Australian Council of Recycling) presented at the Enviro2012 Conference in Adelaide recently, on the need for a national data portal for recycling industry data to enable better policy design and industry development.

This data could be filtered to provide performance benchmarking for recycling businesses industry profile data, to help government understand the scale and benefits of the industry and a one stop shop for State EPA-type bodies to deliver licensing reporting requirements.

Greentape Reduction

The Qld Parliament has passed laws to cut green-tape for Queensland businesses.  The Greentape Reduction Bill is the most significant reform to licensing processes in over a decade.

Recently Laurie Wade – the Manager of the Reform and Innovation Branch within the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection spoke at an Environment Practitioner’s Workshop, organised by ASBG.  Laurie has been working on Green Tape reduction programmes for a few years.

The program was commenced in January 2010, driven by the Qld Treasury in response to community consultation and an identified need to reduce “Red Tape” and reduce the cost of doing business.  Greentape reduction will save businesses $1,000’s and contributes to the Qld Government’s target of reducing red tape and regulation by 20%.

The Bill reduces the Environmental Protection Act by 90 pages by taking out duplicated provisions.

A standard application will save on average $20k in costs, 150 pages in paper work and 68 days in processing time. The environmental approval process will be changed to ensure greater flexibility for operators delivers a saving in government administrative costs of $12.5million.

The Bill streamlines approvals by combining mining and petroleum and other industrial into one system.  It clarifies the application process by removing the need for administrative transfers while ensuring communities are consulted earlier in the process.

The Qld Government is looking at other options including removing the need for small business environmental risk assessments to obtain an environmental authority at all. This could include motor vehicle workshops, small chemical storage and boiler making businesses.

The Bill potentially represents a positive step in improving the efficiency of Qld’s environmental regulatory framework. However, the efficiency of the framework relies on the ability of Government departments to deliver on the intent of the legislation, with fewer staff and reduced resources.

The new framework is intended to commence in March 2013 to allow time for more detailed information to be made available to industry and the wider community.

ecoBiz to be Outsourced to Private Sector Partners

Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection Andrew Powell this afternoon announced his Department would seek expressions of interest to establish a partnership with the ecoBiz program.

Mr Powell said that: “ecoBiz was established in 1999 at a time when sustainable industries were in their infancy and needed high levels of Government assistance.”  Mr Powell believes that the Newman  Government is still committed to the ecoBiz  program but it is apparent that the current levels of Government support and assistance will be cut back.

Reading between the lines, It appears to be the intent of the Newman Government to leave it up to private sector service providers and the State Government will pull back funding and resources.

A gap in the market is appearing to address the sustainability needs of small to medium businesses across the State.  The Department of Environment & Heritage Protection will soon call for expressions of interest to establish a collaborative service delivery model to continue the work of ecoBiz.

Sustainability Assessment Training

The Society of Sustainability and Environmental Engineering are running a Two Day Course on the 29 - 30 August 2012.

Sustainability assessment is an emerging tool to direct decision making towards sustainability and deliver better outcomes for business and the community as a whole. In this course you will learn about the use of sustainability assessment as both a regulatory tool that goes beyond traditional impact assessment and an internal planning tool to transform organisational decision making and subsequent operations.

The aim of the training is to introduce participants to current thinking and understanding of sustainability assessment concepts, procedures and techniques. This includes:

·       Sustainability assessment principles, processes and issues

·       Sustainability as a tool for approval of new development proposals

·       Sustainability assessment to inform planning and discussion making within an organisation

·       A generic 7 step process framework for sustainability assessment of any proposals ranging from physical projects to plans and policy change

·       Various tools and techniques that can be usefully applied in sustainability assessments.

·       How to develop a sustainability decision-making protocol appropriate to a particular context, by drawing on relevant strategies and standards.

To register please go to the event listing on the SSEE website.

Sustainabl​e Business Weekly QLD Edition [Peak Resources, Gladstone Harbour, Green Coridors, Qld Elections]

Sustainable Procurement

ASBG has a call for papers out for a Sustainable Procurement Conference on 5 June 2012.
See this link for more details.

Peak Resources

On Tuesday 20 March 2012, the Society of Sustainability & Environmental Engineering is running a technical session on Peak Resources.

Wally Wight Coordinator of the Brisbane Chapter of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (ASPO Australia) will discuss peak Oil.

Rowan Barber - State Manager of the Australian Sustainable Business Group will talk about peak phosphorus.

Robert Pekin the founder of Brisbane-based Food Connect, is going to talk about Peak Food.
Time: 5:30pm for 6:00pm start
Venue: Hawken Auditorium, Engineering House 447 Upper Edward Street, Brisbane.

Gladstone Harbour Cyanide Spill

Gladstone Harbour is back in the news, following ongoing controversy around fish deaths & deformities. There have been questions raised about the impacts of construction & dredging in & around the harbour.

A State Government investigation has been launched into the release of wastewater containing high levels of cyanide into the harbour.

The Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) says the chemical company Orica discharged waste water from its Yarwun plant in January and February 2012.

The water released contained twice the allowable levels of cyanide. Orica were not very proactive in their dealings with DERM & could face fines of around $2m.

Green Corridors

This week the Qld Premier announced a Qld based Green Corridors plan to tie in with the Federal Government’s development of a National Green Corridors Plan to prepare our native plants and animals, as well as our agricultural landscapes for climate change.

The Premier is proposing a new for a 2,200 kilometre 'green corridor' from the Queensland's south-west border to the coast.

Farmer lobby group: Agforce has criticised the Labor Party’s plans & they have concerns about locking up agricultural land.

Large scale mining & dams would be excluded in the corridor but other land use will continue, depending on individual agreements with property owners.

The National Parks Association has welcomed corridor proposal saying it would go a long way to protecting the biodiversity of southwest Qld, but indicated that more funds would be required. $15m has been promised over four years by the Qld Premier.

The Federal Government will convene a National Green Corridors advisory group to prepare a draft National Green Corridors Plan. The advisory group will have broad expertise, including scientists, farmers, Indigenous groups and regional natural resource management groups. It will consider climate change impacts and adaptation, identifying critical linkages in the landscape to allow the migration of species. The National Green Corridors Plan will also aim to protect natural stores of carbon in native ecosystems to minimise our greenhouse gas emissions.

Landcare groups, State & local government, Indigenous organisations, natural resource management groups, as well as farming, conservation & tourism organisations will have the opportunity to contribute to the National Green Corridors Plan.

Qld State Elections
On Saturday 24 March 2012 Queenslanders will go to the polls to elect a State Government.

Neither major party has released much in the way of substantial Environmental Policy. ASBG is still seeking responses from minor & major parties on Environmental and Sustainability issues.

There are indications that the Liberal National Party will reform (cut up ) the Department of Environment and Resource Management with a view to reducing red tape for energy & resources development. The intention is to provide industry with a stable, clear legislative framework but there is very little detail available on how the LNP will do this. Campbell Newman has a personal interest in renewable energy but this has not been reflected in party policy.

The Australian Conservation Foundation has listed the following as its key concerns in the election campaign:

• Progress land tenure reform and World Heritage nomination on Cape York Peninsula;
• Establish an Office of Sustainability to work on major areas of policy;
• Co-finance Sustainable Communities-Livable Cities projects;
• Make Queensland a leader in energy policy to advance a clean sustainable economy by:
– Establishing a moratorium on Coal Seam Gas mining;
– Developing clean renewable energy in Qld; and
– Legislating a ban on nuclear power and uranium mining in Qld.