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Repurposing Trash – 12 Recycled Art Ideas And DIY Projects

World Ocean Day fell on the 8th of June this year and the health of the oceans has never been more in question. The journal Science (I know, straightforward name) reported that 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in our oceans every year. It’s a startling number, and a very frightening one considering how vital the health of the world’s oceans is for all life.However, if you’re out there collecting plastic off our beaches and out of our oceans, what can you do except throw it straight back into the bin? Well, artists of all skill levels have found incredible ways to turn the scourge of ocean junk into recycled art. These recycled art projects not only present an opportunity to turn a marine life killer into a [...]

June 22nd, 2018|Blog|

Long awaited legislative changes

On the 27th of September of 2017, the Victorian parliament passed laws banning cash payments for scrap metal recycling. With this legislation in affect following parliamentary assent, a transition period for businesses to incorporate the new practice requirements by the 30 May 3018; at the latest as all provisions will be activated, the Justice Legislation Amendment (Protective Service Officers and Other Matters) Act will change the scrap metal landscape. The news is not unexpected. It has been in the wood work for a while now, and is expected to become an Australia wide decision. Although the laws were not to be effective immediately, cash for scrap only has two more months before it will be considered illegal under Victorian legislation. The justification for the change is quite simple. The [...]

April 23rd, 2018|Blog|

Force Majeure?

In the wake of China’s decision to prohibit foreign exports of certain recyclable waste, council contractors are no doubt scratching their heads as to what to do next. How do they manage their obligations, where will all this material go etc. Have you heard about a ‘Force Majeure’? Me neither. Over the past couple of weeks it has become a term worth noting, because it could very well become a term on the tip of Victoria’s collective tongue. A council contractor has reportedly invoked a ‘force majeure’ to suspend the performance of their obligations; to councils or businesses where they collect and offer recycling services due to China’s ban on foreign waste, which kicked off on the 1st of January and threw the world’s plastic recycling operation into complete [...]

March 8th, 2018|Blog|

China’s decision to stop taking foreign waste

China has long been the leader in imported recyclable materials, just as it is in much of the world’s international trade. However, the decision by China to no longer accept recyclable imports has sent much of the world into disarray. On 18 July of last year, China informed the World Trade Organisation that it would ban imports of 24 categories of recyclables and solid waste by the beginning of 2018. The decision has come on the back of the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection’s campaign against ‘foreign garbage’ for the sake of the environment and public health. The documentary ‘Plastic China’ focuses on a makeshift recycling plant, located just outside of Qingdao in China. It is one of many remote toxic towns that process the world’s plastic. Impoverished Chinese [...]

February 2nd, 2018|Blog|

The Real Issues

‘Energy isn’t the issue – there is enough energy reaching us from the sun and we’ll work out how to harness it. The real issue is materials – there aren’t that many meteorites, so we only have what exists in the earth.’ - Professor James Clark, Director of The Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence.   Fear can either lead us forward or drive us back. Change rarely comes without stumbles and hiccups, and such a thought can be a pretty daunting one. However, the opportunity that the circular economy presents is one that may very well be the planet’s saviour. Or if you’re a glass half full person, at the very least, an opportunity for the planet to answer a particularly challenging equation.   But firstly, what is the circular economy? [...]

December 21st, 2017|Blog|

It doesn’t all have to go to waste

Source: pexels.com (CC) Waste. Like death and taxes, waste is currently an inevitability of life that we all should consider. Whether it is the plastic bags we shop with, the leftover casserole that no-one seems to want to eat, our morning takeaway coffee cup, the can of soft drink taken to the beach, the old washing machine destined for landfill or the full bins on Tuesday night, it all ends up somewhere. Unfortunately somewhere is not over the rainbow, it’s in the earth’s backyard. The world generates in excess of 1.3 billion tons of waste per year, with the expectation that it will soar to four billion tons by 2100. Significantly, the plastic that has been produced since the 1950s has weighed the equivalent of one billion [...]

November 3rd, 2017|Blog|
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