The state government has approved the use of recycled construction and demolition (C&D) waste as road base for the Kwinana Freeway widening project, seven years after the Barnett government's attempt to do the same thing foundered.
The environmental watchdog has recommended approval of a second waste-to-energy plant in southern Perth, just days after a Macquarie Capital consortium announced it would start construction this month on a similar facility.
The Environmental Protection Authority will receive a $3.3 million funding boost to deal with a recent spike in proposals in Western Australia, with the government also announcing plans for a scheme to allow the outsourcing of some assessments.
Just hours after the developers of a $670 million waste-to-energy project announced they planned to start construction after obtaining all necessary approvals, the state government disclosed it has asked the Environmental Protection Authority to conduct further investigations.
Construction of Australia's first large-scale waste-to-energy facility will start this month in Kwinana after investment groups Macquarie Capital and DIF bought the Phoenix Energy project. Once completed at a cost of $668 million, the Kwinana facility will transform waste treatment in Perth.
The state government remains hopeful Busselton can become the second site for a Qantas pilot academy, pledging up to $1.7 million and formally committing to a new $13 million terminal if the South West town is chosen.
The state government has distributed about $1 million in grants among sixteen environmental organisations as it aims at boosts recycling and improve waste management practices in Western Australia.
Two giant waste-to-energy projects planned for Kwinana and Rockingham could gain extra financial backing after the federal government unveiled a raft of policy initiatives to address problems flowing from China's new restrictions on accepting foreign waste.
Environment Minister Stephen Dawson has disclosed that the review he has requested into Chevron's Wheatstone project was in response to the removal of abatement conditions by the previous government.
Chevron said today it was disappointed with the state government's decision to commence a review of greenhouse gas emissions at the company's recently commissioned Wheatstone LNG project.
The state government has announced its decision to join the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), replacing the agreement signed in January by the Barnett government for a locally administered NDIS.
The Environmental Protection Authority has recommended conditional approval for Tellus Holdings to develop a clay mine and waste storage facility at its proposed Sandy Ridge project in the Goldfields.
Environment Minister Stephen Dawson has endorsed the environmental watchdog's rejection of Mineral Resources' Jackson 5 and Bungalbin East iron ore project, however, the government is yet to make a final decision on the proposal.
The state government has announced that lightweight, single-use shopping bags will be banned from July 1 next year, bringing Western Australia into line with most other states.
Plastic bags are being shunned by councils in Western Australia, which are making the most of Premier Mark McGowan's support for local governments to ban the bag.
ANALYSIS: Freshly recycled Labor MP Alannah MacTiernan has been fast tracked into Premier-elect Mark McGowan's new cabinet, even though she will not formally start her term in the Legislative Council until mid-May.
