Waste Management Policy: Analysis and Recommendations Report

This report delves into the critical aspects of waste management and sustainable development, focusing on the environmental impact of waste and the policies designed to mitigate it. The study begins by calculating the ecological footprint and selecting waste as the area of focus, highlighting its detrimental effects. It then examines the Australian national waste policy, its principles, and its role in addressing waste management challenges. The report discusses the policy's current state, including the impact of China's waste import ban, and suggests crucial changes such as waste reduction, increased resource recovery, community education, and cost-effective waste services. The analysis emphasizes the importance of recycling and waste sorting to reduce the burden on the environment and the need for collaborative efforts between government, businesses, and communities. Finally, the report concludes by summarizing the key findings and reiterating the significance of effective waste management policies for sustainable development.

Running head: POLICY AND PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
POLICY AND PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
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1POLICY AND PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Waste and its impact........................................................................................................................2
Policy description............................................................................................................................5
Changes in the policy.......................................................................................................................6
Discussion and analysis of the policy..............................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Reference.........................................................................................................................................9

2POLICY AND PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
Ecological footprint measures the consumption of the bio productive area that is referred
to as the water area and the land area. The bio productive areas are differentiated into 6 major
regions like the fuelwood, forest of timber, grazing land, cropping land, carbon sequestration,
forest land and he fishing ground. The ecological footprint is measured in terms of the global
hectares. It is important to mention that the ecological footprint is an environmental indicator.
From the scientific point of view, the standards of footprint are measured for the robustness of
the calculations and the integrity of the methodology. The growing amount of the waste has the
potential of impacting the environment. The materials that have bene disposed in the bins or have
been dumped might stay in the environment for thousands of years. The presence of the waste
can cause significant amount of damage to the environment, plants and animals (Van den Bergh
and Grazi 2014). This study will emphasise on the calculation of the ecological footprint;
selection of an area that will be used to address the study after making the calculation, providing
an insight into the policy and how it will be linked with the chosen area and finally a discussion
will also be provided.
Waste and its impact
Considering the calculation, for this specific study the waste and its impact on the
environment will be selected (figure 1). The rationale is that there are different factors that
contribute to the environment and the climate change. The impact of the waste on the
environment includes the following: when waste is sent to land fill, then it gets decomposed and
in the end methane is released. Methane gas is a potent greenhouse gas and it contributes
positively to the greenhouse gas effect; irresponsible disposal of waste leads to many

3POLICY AND PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
environmental problems. It can result into land pollution and air pollution and along with it can
cause several health disorders (theconversation.com 2019).
First Calculation
Figure 1: calculation of the ecological footprint [source: footprintnetwork.org 2019]
Recalculation

4POLICY AND PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Figure 2: recalculation of the ecological footprint [source: footprintnetwork.org 2019]

5POLICY AND PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The first calculation gave the measurement of 3 global hectares of ecological footprint
and the recalculation provides a measurement of 0.8 global hectares of ecological footprint
(figure 2). Thus, the waste is selected that needs to be emphasised in the study. It is important to
mention that waste can be detrimental both for the humans and the other living creatures on
earth.
Policy description
The Australian government has a collaboration with the waste actions and policies. The
policy of National waste policy is a framework that it provides a collective action towards the
management of the waste and it is a collective action between the individuals, communities,
governments and the businesses and the target is 2030. The policy identifies the five different
principles of the waste management within the Australian governance. The five different
principles include the improved information system for the purpose of enabling customer
decisions, guides investment, support for the innovation; better management of the material flow
that will benefit the economy, environment and the human health; increased usage of the
recycled products that will be increase the demand for the recycled product markets; improved
recovery of the resources, and avoiding wastage. The national waste policy provides a guide that
acts to establish collaboration with the industries, business and the Australian government
(environment.gov.au 2019).
The waste industry is grappling and has reached a crisis point with the various
stakeholders. The latest available data shows that the Australia has sent about 1.2 million tonnes
of waste to China and it has nearly doubled the previous estimates. The waste industry of
Australia is getting hurt due to the fact that China is unwilling to import the waste and also
banned the import of the mixed recycled materials. Thus, the entities that were selling the waste

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directly to the China are now in danger. The stakeholder in the waste industry is looking for the
recycling industry future and is feeling threatened due to the lack of involvement of the
Australian government (Zaman 2014). This relates to the area of study (waste) because the waste
stockpiling is a major area of concern and it results into violent fires. It is a fact that 41 million
tonnes of wastes are generated every year and about 3 kg of waste is generated by each person
every day. As the growth of the urban centres increases day by day there will be a significant
increase in the generation of the waste. The amount of the wastes is constantly pressurizing the
humans and the environment. A large amount of wastes is generated and due to this landfills are
running out of space and at the same time there is a shortage of the landfill spaces (abc.net.au
2019).
Management of waste is primarily the responsibility of the territory government and the
state governments. They have the responsibility to manage and regulate the he waste according
to the latest programs, policies and the legislations. The national government is responsible for
the national level policy frameworks, strategies and national legislations for the management of
waste and furthermore it includes the international agreements and he obligations. The local
governments have the responsibility of managing the waste at the local areas and this are
effectively laid down by the regulatory and the policy frameworks within each of the territory
and the state. Local governments play a vital role in the maintaining the litter infrastructure,
conducting of awareness programs, delivering education, operating the landfill sites, recycling
services, waste collection, and household waste collection. While it is important to note that the
waste management is not just the responsibility of the government but other businesses like the
individuals, households, and the communities (environment.gov.au 2019).

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Changes in the policy
The various changes that needs to be placed in existing policy are as follows:
 Reduction of the waste to landfill- for the purpose of waste management sending waste to
the landfill must be a least preferred strategy. Whereas, it is important to note that the
process in not sustainable and is expensive as well. At the household level the wastes
must be sent to the recoverable waste bins that will be used for recycling and the green
organics.
 Increasing resource recovery- improvements can be made into the resource recovery
procedures so as to create greater amount of opportunity for recovering the materials and
on the other hand it will enable the community to become more sustainable. This strategy
will focus on the optimized usage of the green organics bin and recycling procedures
pertaining to the food scrap recycling in an area as well as the reduction of waste to the
landfill (Guerrero, Maas and Hogland 2013).
 Increasing the community knowledge and emphasis on the responsible waste
management practices- Community education will emphasize on the reduction of the
waste to the increasing the resource recovery and the waste to landfill. Efforts will be
made to communicate with the community and it will promote the recycling services and
curb illegal dumping.
 Maintaining a cost effective recycling and waste services for the community-reviewing
and monitoring the waste management programs and services and it will initiate the
necessary initiatives that will be necessary to ensure the adequate service standards and
the cost efficiencies (Mitchamcouncil.sa.gov.au 2019).

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Discussion and analysis of the policy
The policy of the waste minimisation is adequate and proper considering the fact that the
Australia is already suffering from the space constraint following the ban by the Chinese
authorities. It is important to mention that there around 40 million tonnes of waste are generated
and this adds up to added utilization of the space which is already in a cramped condition. The
policy of recycling is the best option to deal with the huge pile of waste and turning the waste in
to something that can be reused again. The majority of the wastes that are generated are dumped
into the waste dumping site or the landfill sites. This can seriously aggravate the situation and
can lead to increased amount of pressure on the environment. Thus, sorting of the waste is the
best strategy to reduce the increased burden of waste (He et al. 2017).
Conclusion
From the above discussion it can concluded that the growing amount of the waste has the
potential of impacting the environment. The impact of the waste on the environment includes the
following: when waste is sent to land fill, then it gets decomposed and in the end methane is
released. Methane gas is a potent greenhouse gas and it contributes positively to the greenhouse
gas effect; irresponsible disposal of waste leads to many environmental problems. therefore, the
national waste policy provides a guide that acts to establish collaboration with the industries,
business and the Australian government. The national government is responsible for the national
level policy frameworks, strategies and national legislations for the management of waste and
furthermore it includes the international agreements and he obligations. The local governments
have the responsibility of managing the waste at the local areas and this are effectively laid down
by the regulatory and the policy frameworks within each of the territory and the state.

9POLICY AND PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Reference
abc.net.au, 2019. What would happen if we banned landfill?. [online] ABC News. Available at:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-18/now-is-the-time-to-scrap-landfill-in-australia/
10487726 [Accessed 22 Mar. 2019].
environment.gov.au, 2019. Department of the Environment and Energy. [online] Department of
the Environment and Energy. Available at: https://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste-
resource-recovery/national-waste-reports/national-waste-report-2013/policies-and-governance
[Accessed 22 Mar. 2019].
environment.gov.au, 2019. Department of the Environment and Energy. [online] Department of
the Environment and Energy. Available at: https://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste-
resource-recovery/publications/national-waste-policy-2018 [Accessed 22 Mar. 2019].
footprintnetwork.org, 2019. Measure what you treasure. [online] Footprintnetwork.org.
Available at: https://www.footprintnetwork.org/ [Accessed 22 Mar. 2019].
Guerrero, L.A., Maas, G. and Hogland, W., 2013. Solid waste management challenges for cities
in developing countries. Waste management, 33(1), pp.220-232.
He, H., Reynolds, C., Piantadosi, J. and Boland, J., 2017. Effects of Australian Economic
Activities on Waste Generation and Treatment. Recycling, 2(3), p.12.
Mitchamcouncil.sa.gov.au, 2019. Waste management strategy. [online]
Mitchamcouncil.sa.gov.au. Available at:
https://www.mitchamcouncil.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Waste%20Management
%20Strategy%202016-2021.pdf [Accessed 22 Mar. 2019].

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theconversation.com, 2019. The recycling crisis in Australia: easy solutions to a hard problem.
[online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/the-recycling-crisis-in-
australia-easy-solutions-to-a-hard-problem-95231 [Accessed 22 Mar. 2019].
Van den Bergh, J.C. and Grazi, F., 2014. Ecological footprint policy? Land use as an
environmental indicator. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 18(1), pp.10-19.
Zaman, A.U., 2014. Measuring waste management performance using the ‘Zero Waste Index’:
the case of Adelaide, Australia. Journal of Cleaner Production, 66, pp.407-419.