An environmental law expert has presented a paper claiming New Zealand’s waste policies are stuck in the 19th century. [ + ]

Sydney Water has received the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) Climate Adaptation Champion Award in the Business category, recognising the company as a national leader in preparing for climate change and variability. [ + ]

Lend Lease’s Isabella Gardens in Canberra has become the first retirement living village in Australia to achieve the Gold Livable Housing Design Quality Mark from Livable Housing Australia (LHA). [ + ]

Researchers at independent think tank Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE) have found that the government has underestimated the profits of its Melbourne-Brisbane high-speed rail (HSR) plan by $190 billion - enough to repay the capital cost of the network. [ + ]

The Australian Cleantech Competition has whittled down this year’s 150 entrants to 30 semifinalists, ranging from start-ups through to listed companies that have raised tens of millions of dollars. [ + ]

Simons Green Energy will design and install a 100 kW natura-gas-fired cogeneration system for Hornsby Council’s new aquatic centre, currently under construction. [ + ]

Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) has registered its Property Development Master Plan to achieve a Green Star - Communities PILOT rating: an independent sustainability certification of a community-level project. If it succeeds, the airport will be considered the most sustainable in Australia. [ + ]

Wave-energy technology company Ocean Power Technologies Australasia (OPTA) and its subsidiary, Victorian Wave Partners (VWP), have engaged Victorian company Professional Diving Services (PDS) to conduct a detailed seabed survey for the location of VWP’s proposed wave power station off the coast of Portland, Victoria. [ + ]

New research suggests that in some parts of Australia, koalas and other native animals may be best placed to adjudicate whether or not rehabilitation has been successful. [ + ]

Farming and the digital world may seem like strange bedfellows, but a new CSIRO report has shown that Australian farmers can increase their productivity by taking advantage of smart farming technologies enabled by next-generation broadband networks. [ + ]

The Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience & Safer Communities has released a white paper that details a sustainable and comprehensive approach to managing natural disasters. [ + ]

The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) is accepting nominations for the global Government Leadership Awards - a biennial event which was first held in 2011. [ + ]

The Australian Government’s Energy Efficiency Opportunities (EEO) program, which encourages large energy-using businesses to increase their efficiency, is being broadened to incorporate new developments and major expansions, saving business millions of dollars in energy costs across the lifetime of new projects. [ + ]

China launched its first carbon emissions trading scheme yesterday in Shenzhen. By 2015, the scheme aims to reduce the city’s carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 21% compared to 2010 levels. [ + ]

An ultra-modern bus service, featuring noiseless, emissions-free electric buses and indoor bus stops, will become a reality in the Swedish city of Gothenburg in 2015. [ + ]