Welcome

The Centre of Organic Waste Management was made possible primarily through application to the Department of Premier and Cabinet, under the State Government Centres of Excellence Scheme, with support from Murdoch University, the Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Agriculture and the Western Australian Municipal Association. The contract setting up the Centre was signed 18 September, 2000, and the Centre was formally launched on 31 August 2000.

A major impetus for the establishment of the Centre is the WAste 2020 program initiated by the WA Ministry of Environment. The vision of this program is to assist the community in 'achieving' zero waste by the year 2020 through maximising the recovery and recycling of resources from waste by establishing effective frameworks and structures to coordinate and facilitate waste reduction, reuse, recycling and the recovery of resource materials.

Vision Statement:

• Providing research and development support to the waste management industry and government instrumentalities;
  
• Providing education in waste management, recycling and pollution control through undergraduate and postgraduate programs as well as professional development, community education and specialist courses;
  
• Developing innovative solutions to organic waste management including product development and utilisation, and developing models for an integrated approach to management and treatment of waste materials;
  
• Promoting and applying sound principles of environmental economics to ensure coincidence of environmental and economic sustainability, and
  collection of data on waste generation through waste audits.
  
  Centre Final Report