Home > About WMAA > Awards > John Guice Award > 1998 - Bert van den Broek
Bert van den Broek is a Life Member of the WMAA. He was instrumental in establishing the Association back in the late 80's and served as the National President over the 4 years during which the Association established itself as the peak national voice in waste management. During his presidency, the Association more than doubled its membership from less than 300 to over 600 members and it expanded its representation around Australia expanding from having 3 branches in 1992 to having a branch in every state by 1996.
Bert has invested much personal time and energy in the association. He actively engaged key players from around the Australia and encouraged a sense of a shared vision in the Association. The late John Guice was one member who took up the shared vision and worked with Bert as the Secretary of the National Committee. Interestingly, both men considered that the other "epitimised the values of the association" - and stood for sound and professional waste management. Equally, both enjoyed talking garbage over a friendly beer.
For Bert, much of the effort in developing the Association, was in the form of long and largely unnoticed hours, planning and overseeing the direction and management of the Association. This included such sacrifices as spending weekends helping to relocate the office or signing membership certificates.
Bert has a strong technical background in waste management that has most recently culminated in a role leading a research team to advance understanding and development of bioreactor landfill technology. The research is of international standing and, as Professor Stegmann has noted, may be regarded as world leading research. This is not surprising as Bert studied waste management before there were courses on it and successfully completed his Master's thesis on waste combustion and energy cogeneration back in the 1970's.
In 1972, Bert joined the then Metropolitan Waste Disposal Authority. He provided important planning and technical advice on waste management issues and when the MWDA evolved into the Waste Management Authority, he made a major contribution to the Sydney Region Solid Waste Management Plan. This plan has been successfully implemented and was notably responsive to community needs a changing climate for waste management.
Bert has maintained a special relationship with the waste management science programs at the University of New South Wales and has played an on-going role in training and encouraging professionalism amongst up and coming waste practitioners. He is a regular contributor of papers to the National Convention and has served on previous organising committees as Treasurer and to peer review papers in solid waste.
Bert van den Broek is a Life Member of the WMAA. He was instrumental in establishing the Association back in the late 80's and served as the National President over the 4 years during which the Association established itself as the peak national voice in waste management. During his presidency, the Association more than doubled its membership from less than 300 to over 600 members and it expanded its representation around Australia expanding from having 3 branches in 1992 to having a branch in every state by 1996.
Bert has invested much personal time and energy in the association. He actively engaged key players from around the Australia and encouraged a sense of a shared vision in the Association. The late John Guice was one member who took up the shared vision and worked with Bert as the Secretary of the National Committee. Interestingly, both men considered that the other "epitimised the values of the association" - and stood for sound and professional waste management. Equally, both enjoyed talking garbage over a friendly beer.
For Bert, much of the effort in developing the Association, was in the form of long and largely unnoticed hours, planning and overseeing the direction and management of the Association. This included such sacrifices as spending weekends helping to relocate the office or signing membership certificates.
Bert has a strong technical background in waste management that has most recently culminated in a role leading a research team to advance understanding and development of bioreactor landfill technology. The research is of international standing and, as Professor Stegmann has noted, may be regarded as world leading research. This is not surprising as Bert studied waste management before there were courses on it and successfully completed his Master's thesis on waste combustion and energy cogeneration back in the 1970's.
In 1972, Bert joined the then Metropolitan Waste Disposal Authority. He provided important planning and technical advice on waste management issues and when the MWDA evolved into the Waste Management Authority, he made a major contribution to the Sydney Region Solid Waste Management Plan. This plan has been successfully implemented and was notably responsive to community needs a changing climate for waste management.
Bert has maintained a special relationship with the waste management science programs at the University of New South Wales and has played an on-going role in training and encouraging professionalism amongst up and coming waste practitioners. He is a regular contributor of papers to the National Convention and has served on previous organising committees as Treasurer and to peer review papers in solid waste.
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