1. War on Waste: an ACT Perspective

2. An environmentally sustainable ACT, region and Australia.
Our Vision
An environmentally sustainable ACT, region and Australia.
Our Mission
To act as an independent voice for the environment and sustainability in the ACT, and promote community engagement.
Our Values
Transparency, integrity, independence, research, rigour, inclusion.
Who are we:
The Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment is an independent statutory position, appointed under the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment Act
The Commissioner is Dr Kate Auty, we also have a team of six staff in the office.
What our office does:
Report on the State of Environment in the ACT, this report is prepared every five years and the last one was in 2015.
Conduct environmental investigations, these can be directed by the Minister, at the discretion of the Commissioner or from a complaint raised by a member of public.
Preparing submissions on ACT Government draft documents by invitation or through the public consultation process.
Annual Reporting on the activities undertaken by OCSE . Our latest annual report has recently been released online and we also have a hard copy here today.

3. Waste in the ACT
The 2015 State of the Environment Report has information on waste generation and management in the ACT. You can find this document on our website and it may be appropriate for older students to use in their research.
Types of Waste
In 2015 and 2016 the leading types of waste sent to landfill were:
Masonary
Organics
Timber and Wood
Paper and Cardboard
Waste Generation by Sector:
In 2015 and 2016 the leading producer of waste was the commercial sector, followed by households and then construction and demolition.
Data Limitations
One interesting finding in the report was the limited data available on the waste we send to landfill. This is because the reporting standards are voluntary and because waste from the ACT is sent interstate for processing. This means that the findings in the report most likely underestimate the long term growth of waste to land fill per person in the ACT.
Impacts of Waste to Landfill:
Landfill waste poses risks to the health of individuals and the environment, your students could think about the following risks associated with waste in their projects. The risks identified in the report include:
Fires resulting from waste stock piling
Noise issues from waste processing
Land, air and water contamination
Negative health impacts to humans and animals who come into contact with contaminated materials

4. The ACT Ecological Footprint
The ecological footprint, expressed in global hectares, measures the amount of land required to support a community’s demand for goods and services and absorb its waste including greenhouse gasses.
(OCSE website, 2017)
The 2015 SoE Report makes findings on ACT’s Ecological Footprint
An ecological footprint is a concept of assessing the sustainability of resource use and pollution of households, cities or nations. (ACT State of the Environment Report, 2015)
In , per person, the ecological footprint for Canberrans was 8.9 global hectares per person (gha/person) which is:
about three and a half times the global per person average
above the average per person ecological footprint of other Australians (8.2 gha/person).
in total, about 14 times the land area of the ACT.
Waste is an important factor in our Ecological Footprint. In particular Canberrans earn more than the average income, therefore we consume more goods and inturn produce more waste.
It could be interesting for your students to consider ways to reduce Canberra’s Ecological Footprint, and our website has some practical suggestions to reduce waste and consumption.
Canberrans have an Ecological Footprint which is 3.5 times higher than the global person average!

5. Waste – Innovative Solutions
Serena Farrelly | Project Manager Poppy McRae | Graduate
We have provided a couple of local and global examples of innovative solutions for preventing and reducing waste:
Locally, the ACT has a range of innovative strategies to prevent and reduce waste including:
Conversion of the gas produced by organic waste into energy at the Mugga Lane and West Belconnen land fill sites.
ActSmart programs and resources for households, schools and community organisations.
A great international example of waste reduction was an invention made by Solveiga Pakstaite a 23 year old industrial design and engineering student from the UK. She has designed a tactile bump that is attached to food products and tells shoppers if the food is safe for consumption. If the bump is smooth the food is safe to consume and if the bump is rough the food is off. This gives consumers the ability to eat foods that may have passed their shelf expiry date, and reduces food and household waste.
We have put our contact details on this slide, if you have any questions please feel free to contact us

6. Resources War on Waste:
ActSmart
OCSE
See Change
Innovative Waste Solutions (Local and Global)