EPA Victoria has approved Victoria’s inaugural Better Environment Plan, an innovative approach to local environment management.
These plans are optional agreements to support businesses in exploring innovative solutions for issues likely to impact human health and the environment.
The Brooklyn Recycling Group is the first to register a Better Environment Plan in Victoria.
Recycling and fertiliser businesses in the Brooklyn industrial precinct – Gypsum & Fertilizer Pty Ltd, City Circle Recycling Pty Ltd, Resource Co Pty Ltd and Delta Recycling Pty Ltd – are the first companies to sign on to the new scheme.
The plan commits the group to identify and implement strategies to reduce dust pollution and improve air quality in Melbourne’s inner west.
This includes establishing natural wind breaks, installing dust monitors in more locations and undertaking a comprehensive communications campaign to ensure key stakeholders, particularly the local community, are kept informed of milestones and progress.
EPA Victoria’s Executive Director of Strategy, Suzy Neilan said EPA was pleased to have the first plan underway.
“These plans provide an opportunity to think outside the box when it comes to managing potential impacts on community and the environment,” Ms Neilan said.
“For EPA, it’s about providing guidance and information so we can all meet our environmental obligations; we need to think differently when it comes to protecting our environment.”
A spokesperson for the Brooklyn Recycling Group, Christian Buxton said the initiative represents a significant step forward for the recycling industry and environmental management across the state.
“This Better Environment Plan is an ambitious project aimed at transforming waste management practices and enhancing the circular economy.
“Our primary objective is to reduce the generation of dust from our operations. Through this partnership, we aim to create a lasting positive impact on the environment while fostering economic growth in the region, Mr Buxton said.”
The objectives and actions outlined in the BEP were developed with the support of the Victorian Government’s Clean Air for All Victorians Strategy (2022) and the recommendations of the Inner West Air Quality Community Reference report, Group Air Pollution in Melbourne’s Inner West: taking direct action to reduce our community’s exposure (2020).
The new plan is funded through the Victorian Government’s air quality strategy, ‘Clean Air for All Victorians’ which targets air pollution hot spots and supports industry to reduce pollution.
