Recycling and Waste Management

The premise of the South West's FOGO system was simple — take food and garden waste from residents, turn it into compost and sell it back to them. But the discovery of PFAS contamination has brought the system to an end.

A Coffin Bay oyster farmer and his recycling team have spent weeks shredding waste plastic from producers on the NSW coast in the hopes of boosting the industry's recycling.

Once the final vote is cast and the last sausage sizzles, signs bearing candidates' faces are collected and begin the next stage of their life cycle.

After a popular rest stop on WA's South Coast Highway was left looking like a landfill, locals and drivers are urging travellers to do better.

Debate has erupted in Perth over the merits of verge bulk collections after a council replaced its service with a personalised pick-up model.

Day one of Tasmania's long-awaited container refund scheme has kicked off. Eligible cans or bottles can now be deposited at one of 40 collection sites across the state for a refund price of 10 cents per container. And so far, the uptake has been "remarkable".

The only e-waste recycling facility servicing the state's Midwest is forced to close, leaving residents in the one-bin city of Geraldton with even fewer options for climate-conscious rubbish disposal.

Dardanup locals say they are angry and disheartened over the state government's decision to approve the disposal of toxic "forever chemicals" at a nearby waste facility.

A long-awaited Tasmanian container deposit scheme which promotes recycling will leave beverage retailers "no choice" but to pass on the cost to consumers, an industry representative says.

Green waste bins are supposed to reduce the amount of organic matter going to landfill, and in Geelong, it's also feeding residents.

Organic waste in several WA shires is going straight to landfill despite the tip tasked with processing it receiving significant funding to deal with FOGO.  

The manufacturer of GLAD waste disposal and food storage bags, hit with $8.25 million federal penalty for making incorrect product recycling claims.

Levels of "forever chemical" PFOS downstream of the composting site are more than 650 times above ecological water guidelines.

An investigation into the debris balls found across NSW beaches by the Environment Protection Authority has found the black balls likely stemmed from the state's sewage treatment network.

A NSW man has gone to great lengths to cash in on recycling, returning almost half a million cans over seven years to save for his first home.

A central Queensland facility stockpiling solar panels says its materials recovery site will not be operational until 2026. It comes as experts call for greater regulation to support the emerging sector.

About 10,000 tyres have been found at an illegal dump at Lockwood South, near Bendigo, sparking a statewide operation by the EPA.

A bin strike in Birmingham has resulted in rubbish piling up in the streets and sparked warnings about "rats the size of cats", with residents claiming the rodents are "just everywhere". 

A growing "effluent plume" near Hobart's Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) was far from ideal a week before Christmas. Emails and reports show how the environmental emergency at a nearby Cadbury factory developed.

Residents living along the housing growth corridor between Bacchus Marsh and Melbourne's western fringe say illegal rubbish dumping has become a problem of "epidemic proportions".