The AWA (Australian Water Association) QLD Water Awards are now open for nomination. The AWA Awards are an annual program to celebrate and promote the outstanding work achieved by individuals and organisations in the water sector. [ + ]

ETSA Utilities has been announced as the first electricity distributor in Australia to become a Signatory in the federal government’s FluoroCycle scheme, which aims to increase recycling of mercury-containing street lamps and reduce the amount of mercury entering the environment. [ + ]

The number of ‘dead’ and obsolete televisions and computers dumped on Australian kerbsides is set to drop from July 2012, thanks to the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme. [ + ]

Australia would greatly benefit from a ‘slow down and learn approach’ to managing possible risks from coal seam gas (CSG) extraction given the near impossible challenge of modelling its impacts, argues Professor Alan Randall from the University of Sydney. [ + ]

Australia’s leading green building organisation, the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), has applauded the launch of the new ‘Make My City Work’ campaign. [ + ]

Water utility service provider Trility has entered into an agreement to acquire water treatment company Hydramet as part of its strategic expansion into the resources, public infrastructure and industrial sectors. [ + ]

Desalination offers drying Australia the best water and food security insurance for the drier, more heavily populated decades ahead, according to one of the country’s leading water experts. [ + ]

The University of Wollongong (UOW) and Ecotech, a company which specialises in environmental monitoring instruments, have announced a partnership to manufacture and distribute a comprehensive greenhouse gas analyser to worldwide markets. [ + ]

Groundbreaking water cleansing technology, developed by Australian Government scientists, has been successfully commercialised and sold to the private sector. [ + ]

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On World Water Day 2012, the SkyJuice Foundation, together with the Hon. Malcolm Turnbull, launched the first compact water filtration unit ‘SkyBox’. The unit has been dubbed as the answer to providing the developing world with access to clean and inexpensive water. [ + ]

Brisbane-based company Bilexys, originating from The University of Queensland (UQ), has won the Pre-Revenue Track award in the US$200,000 Imagine H20 2011 Prize - the world’s premier competition for water start-up companies. [ + ]

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) recently released regulatory guidance to help businesses comply with their financial services legal requirements leading up to the introduction of Australia’s carbon pricing mechanism. [ + ]

The Product Stewardship Foundation in New Zealand has been awarded funds to develop an industry-led, end-of-life tyres (ELT) program called Tyrewise. The program will allow for a consistent nationwide approach to the responsible disposal of tyres, removing hidden costs for consumers and ratepayers as well as providing a better outcome for New Zealand’s environment. [ + ]

European member states have recently agreed to adopt the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO’s) Standard for energy management, ISO 50001:2011, as the European Standard for energy management systems. The publication of EN ISO 50001 will replace the existing European Standard, EN 16001:2009, to be withdrawn at the end of April 2012. [ + ]