Local Government and Landfill Futures

摘要: Historically in Australia, disposal to landfill has been the dominant means for managing waste, however today there are a large range of measures in use that can be classified as disposal, recovery, reuse or avoidance measures. This project takes a purposefully broad perspective on managing waste and resources, in line with international best practice. That is, the system boundary includes the whole production and consumption value chain, rather than just post-consumption waste. The aim of this research was to undertake a detailed analysis of the role of landfills in Australia in relation to other waste mitigation approaches. The research uses issues identification, a situation analysis, a review of existing literature, policy mapping and participatory stakeholder engagement methods. Strategic analysis of these outcomes will yield a suite of potential policy options, which will be peer reviewed in a policy forum. This research seeks to provide support for improved decision making at the levels of government which have jurisdiction over waste. The project will also deliver potential policy options related to decision making processes themselves. Intervention points can occur at all stages of the production and consumption chain. Further, this project takes a futures perspective (ie by asking how do we want to manage resources in, say 30 years?), while acknowledging the achievements and failures of the past and challenges associated with the current context (such as sunk costs associated with existing landfill infrastructure). Finally, the project considers the current and future roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders. Local government is a key …