Sustainability Management: Australia's Environmental Analysis Report

This report delves into the environmental management and planning of Australia, contrasting it with Canada's approach. It examines the regulatory bodies, legislative instruments, and the impact of growth and development on environmental concerns, including climate change and energy policy. The report highlights the state of the environment, including the conditions of cultural and natural heritage, and the challenges of soil pollution in populated areas. It further analyzes soil pollution trends in Australia, focusing on waste generation, landfill management, urbanization, and the impact of plastic usage. The report also discusses the government's policies to reduce waste disposal and soil contamination, referencing specific initiatives and regulations. The report provides a comparative analysis with Canada's environmental policies and enforcement practices. Finally, the report references various sources to support its findings and conclusions.

Running head: SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT
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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Response to section 1: Compare and contrast the state of environmental management
and planning of Australia and the world
Australia
The environmental regulation and management of Australia are governed by
numerous regulatory bodies and legislative instruments. The government of Commonwealth
is also known for regulating specific concerns on the national level in association with the
territory or state government. The increasing growth and development of the country result in
the concentration on decreasing the process of duplicating assessment and sanction procedure
amongst various levels of the governmental establishments. Another outcome of the growth
and development of the country marked the importance of changing the climate and energy
policy. According to the environmental management and planning system of Australia, the
organizations have the obligation of reporting the data and information regarding
environmental concerns such as soil contamination (Fergusson, L., 2017). However, the
degree of reporting requirements may vary amongst various jurisdiction in the country. The
planning framework of environmental management reflects that the emergency discharge
from specific sources to environment should be reported to the specified regulator. In the last
five years, environmental management and policies in the country have reflected noticeable
changes that have improved the trends and state of the Australian environment
(Environment.gov.au 2019). The cultural and natural heritage, Antarctic environment and
marine environment are in decent condition. The country has established policies and
comprehensive system for protecting various regions of Australia, but the country still
portrays gap in representativeness and adequacy.
However, the state of the environment is deteriorating in various areas of Australia.
These areas includes populated coastal regions, urban cities, where the pressure from
population pollutes the land and soil. The country holds 20th position in terms of moving

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towards the sustainability and environmental protection goals, which is ahead of United
States but way behind Canada.
The country also has a declining trend in its biodiversity. One of the greatest issues in
Australia is the changing climatic condition. But with the increasing environmental concern,
the organizations are incorporating necessary changes that can reduce the impact of
operational activities and reduce the overutilization of resources.
Canada
In comparison to Australia, Canada is way ahead in responding to the environmental
concerns and have environmental goals for 2030. The environmental enforcement officers of
Canada have implemented laws and policies for governing the implication of toxic substances
and its release in air, land, soil and water (Ec.gc.ca 2019). The enforcement officers have
been appointed in various regions of the country, from big cities to the metal mines in
remotest locations. The country is also dedicated to the practice of governing export and
import of toxic substances that stimulate risk or hazard for the environment and human
health. Although Australia has changed its policies for protecting specific areas of the
environment but has not appointed a dedicated department or team for assessing the changing
condition. The environmental enforcement officers of Canada is dedicated to the purpose of
fighting pollution for safer and healthier communities across Canada.
Response to Section 2: Trends on soil pollution in Australia
The waste generated from increased production and consumption activities results in
the soil or land pollution. The amount of solid waste, which is not being recovered or reused
majorly ends up into landfill. In Australia, there are around 1168 landfills that are handling
about 20 million tonnes wastes every year. The large classified landfills of Australia that is
known for accepting approximately 75 percent of waste (Aznar-Sánchez et al. 2018).
According to the data of Department of the Environment and Energy National Waste Report

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of Australia 2018, the Australian landfill holds more than twenty-one meters of waste, a little
worse than the situation of 1996 (Environment.gov.au 2019). The recycling efforts of the
country has been consumed by increasing soil pollution and waste generation activities.
However, the rate of waste and contamination elements that is being disposed of in the soil or
land is decreasing by the strict guidelines from jurisdictional environmental regulators
(Environment.gov.au 2019). The growth and development in the Australian economy are
increasing with a faster rate, so as its population. The overutilization of resources, higher
production level and increasing waste disposal is resulting in soil contamination of Australia.
Urbanization has a significant impact on improving the soil pollution of Australia. Increasing
use of plastic is causing an adverse impact on soil pollution. The community members of
Australia are becoming more aware of the increasing contamination of soil (Australia.gov.au
2019). The National Waste Policy of Australia reflects clear objectives of reducing the level
of disposal, which includes hazardous waste. The policy aim at managing the state of waste
disposal for the value of consistency in regards to international obligations of Australia with
the responsibility of protecting the environment and human health. The state of landfills in
Australia has been improved by establishing close regulatory control of the jurisdictional
environment regulators for managing litter, wastes and odour contaminating the soil
(Australia.gov.au 2019). Although, Australia does not have a specific difference between
rural and urban population the rural community is more concerned about the soil pollution
issues than urban because they are somewhat dependent on the soil for their agricultural
activities. The government had organized various social awareness campaign reflecting the
consequences of contaminated soil. Australian community services and government are
planning to increase awareness of ordinary people through social media sites. Soil is a very
significant resource and should be preserved from contamination. It is considered as most
significant natural resources of the world as after collaborating with water and air, soil offers
the basis of existence. Soil helps in feeding the population by agricultural activities. It also

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recycles air, nutrients and water by maintaining the natural cycle. Recent soil pollution
management policies of Australia are concentrated on the aim of reducing packaging from
products, as the result of the waste disposal directly impacts landfill aggravation in Australia.
In a meeting regarding environmental concerns during 2018 April, environmental ministers
declared the policy of reducing the presence of microbeads in cosmetic products. In
Australia, around 94 percent of the personal care and cosmetics products are free of the
microbead. Another policy or guideline for preventing the pollution in soil includes practices
which offer guidance for risk-based remediation and assessment of the site contamination.
This policy has been approached under South Australian Protection Authority (EPA).

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References:
Australia.gov.au 2019. Our natural environment | australia.gov.au. [Online] Available at:
https://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country/our-natural-environment
Aznar-Sánchez, J., García-Gómez, J., Velasco-Muñoz, J. and Carretero-Gómez, A., 2018.
Mining waste and its sustainable management: advances in worldwide research. Minerals,
8(7), p.284.
Ec.gc.ca 2019. Environment and Climate Change Canada - About Environment and Climate
Change Canada - Protecting Wildlife and Our Natural Environment. [Online] Available at:
https://www.ec.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=FE2D372E-1
Environment.gov.au 2019. Australia State of the Environment Report. Overview. [Online]
Available at: https://soe.environment.gov.au/theme/overview#Headline
Fergusson, L., 2017. Anthrosols and technosols: the anthropogenic signature of contaminated
soils and sediments in Australia. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, 228(8), p.269.