Recycling and Waste Management

Australia's annual lithium-ion battery waste is tipped to hit 137,000 tonnes by 2035, and with 90 per cent of current waste going into landfill or getting stockpiled, there are urgent calls for dedicated recycling facilities. 

Huge data centres built for generative AI will generate millions of tonnes of electronic waste by 2030, the equivalent of discarding billions of smartphones each year, a study suggests.

A video of a lithium battery fire in the back of a south-west Sydney garbage truck has prompted warnings to residents who leave dangerous goods in suburban bins. 

The Plasrefine plant at Moss Vale, recommended for approval by the NSW Department of Planning, is expected to process 120,000 tonnes of mixed waste plastic.

There has been a long history of residents living with offensive odours in Boulder, which resulted in large protests in 2004.

Victoria's Container Deposit Scheme has recycled more than 900 million containers in 12 months. A company involved in running the scheme has confirmed it would like to see recycling rebates increased to align with refunds paid internationally, but the Victorian government says it has no plans to increase the refund offered or expand the type of containers received.

Brian Stewart put enough cans through a reverse vending machine to buy a caravan. But some argue he should have been paid more. 

As ratepayers in Western Australia's biggest regional city continue to pay millions to have waste trucked to alternative sites, managers of the local landfill site say it may never reopen.

Straw might seem like the last product you'd use if you wanted to protect your house from fire, but these straw panels, made from waste material, are a secret weapon against flames.

A decade-long plan to develop a landfill in Western Australia has moved a step closer to approval, with the environment minister assessing more than 100 objections and imposing stronger conditions.

Plans to build what would be Australia's largest plastics recycling plant in the NSW Southern Highlands have advanced despite community opposition and environmental concerns.

The Pan Pacific plant on Brisbane's southern fringe is expected to take apart the panels, recycling each individual element, which is "essential to the future of renewable energy in Australia".

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek says Australians are wasting the one in every five shopping bags they bring home.

An ABC investigation has found the 180-hectare property on the Fraser Coast, marketed as part of an "eco-development", has become an alleged pollution time bomb, after being used to illegally dump more than 35,000 tonnes of waste.

A pipe which carries about 150,000 people's waste has burst about 60 metres beneath the Brisbane River, but Urban Utilities says all untreated effluent was contained in an underground tunnel and did not leak.

A 'ticking time bomb' was unleashed inside this retired school teacher's body when she was exposed to asbestos. Now she's joining the fight to make the removal of the deadly material safe and affordable to all.

Australian supermarkets have high standards for how a spud should look. Producers say the focus should be on the taste instead.

Mat Boyle and Anna Winneke are building houses in central Victoria using reused materials to reduce construction waste. 

Mitchell Hawks' love of repairing is having a significant community impact when it comes to the environment and the hip pocket.

Canberra's Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) collection program was expected to be rolled out city-wide in 2026, but construction of an appropriate processing facility has taken a back seat to replacing the ACT's recycling centre.