National Waste and Recycling Industry Council to advocate for industry
A new body working to create a cohesive national vision for Australia’s waste management industry has officially formed. We spoke to the organisation’s CEO Max Spedding about his plans.
Cleanaway’s long-term strategy for Victoria’s waste
Cleanaway’s Mark Globan explains how the company’s new south-east Melbourne transfer station aligns with the Victorian Government’s Statewide Waste and Resource Recovery Infrastructure Plan.
Victorian Government unveils organic waste plan
The Victorian Government has revealed a plan to divert more than half a million tonnes of food and garden waste away from Melbourne’s landfills annually.
Through its Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group, two major agreements have been secured by councils including:
- five councils in Melbourne’s east – Knox, Manningham, Maroondah, Whitehorse and Yarra Ranges – which have appointed Van Schaiks Bio Gro and Enviromix as the preferred tenderers
- eight councils in Melbourne’s southeast – Bayside, Cardinia, Casey, Frankston, Glen Eira, Greater Dandenong, Kingston and Monash – which have signed contracts with Veolia Environmental Services, Cleanaway and Sacyr Industrial to process organics.
The Government said the contracts will ensure Melbourne’s organics processing network is on track to exceed the target set out in the Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Implementation Plan of 400,000 tonnes of capacity by 2021.
They said the agreements will create up to 100 jobs during construction and establishment of the compost facility and between 25 to 30 positions on-going.
The Government said the increase in the capacity of Melbourne’s organics processing network opens up opportunities for councils to expand kerbside green waste collections to include food waste. It also provides sufficient capacity for business and industry to be able to divert commercial food waste away from landfill.
Diverting food and garden waste from landfills means that methane produced during decomposition is not released to the atmosphere where it is a major greenhouse gas.
Methane released to the atmosphere is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide which traps heat and contributes to climate change.
Melbourne’s waste is projected to grow from 10.4 million to 16.5 million tonnes by 2042.
“These contracts will go a long way to taking tonnes of food and garden waste out of Melbourne’s landfill,” Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio said.
“Increasing the recovery of organic waste is one of four key strategic objectives of the Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Implementation Plan.”
ISCA sorts waste asset trash from treasure
The Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia’s IS rating system has historically been used to measure sustainability outcomes in the roads and transport sectors. As traction continues to increase, discussions with the waste industry have opened.
Waste not, want not
With ever-increasing amounts of waste and decreasing resources, escalating environmental concerns and rising input costs, the waste management industry is expected to face some tough challenges in 2017.
As such, key industry players increasingly question whether or not they are operating as economically and efficiently as possible, knowing that an integrated approach to waste management could be the key to unlocking a myriad of benefits and achieving more sustainable success over the long-term.
With a growing number of stakeholders involved in the process of waste management – each looking to manage their resources as efficiently as possible – integration and knowledge sharing are thus becoming more important than ever before, says Bill Ambrose, Regional General Manager for WA and SA at AccuWeigh, Australia’s biggest supplier of weighbridges, weighing equipment and product inspection equipment.
“Business-to-business communication can lead to better economies of scale, more streamlined reporting and savings in terms of both money and time,” says Ambrose.
“What’s important to note here is that collaboration among partner companies doesn’t mean giving away trade secrets or opening up vulnerabilities for others to exploit. It’s merely a tool to facilitate lean systems and lasting success.”
According to Ambrose, advanced software and technological developments enable operations to do business in a dramatically different way nowadays.
“Digital communication makes it possible for data to be captured and shared wirelessly and remotely – for example from an unmanned weighbridge to a central processing system or between truck drivers in the eld and their home base – and waste companies should be actively pursuing ways of exploiting technology for both financial and operational gains.”
He adds that weighbridge integration is a case in point: “An integrated weighbridge software solution makes
it possible to centrally manage all your weighing operations, whether you operate a single weighbridge or have installations at several different sites,” he explains. “It can also be used as a comprehensive vehicle management system, a traffic management system capable of reducing bottlenecks and streamlining the flow of vehicles and an on-site security system capable of controlling security cameras, entry and exit barriers and checking number plates automatically.
“Systems can be fully configurable for each application, producing digital records of each and every vehicle entering and leaving the sites and providing operators with comprehensive data that can be used for a range of functions.”
Weighing systems expert Ambrose says integration takes much of the paperwork – and, consequently, the likelihood of human error – out of the equation and can provide operators with a wealth of information that can be used to optimise the business. From data on the number of vehicles entering the site each day, volumes (on an hourly, daily or weekly basis), vehicle turnaround time and revenues (by customer and sector) to profitability and resourcing, there are many areas where businesses can turn knowledge into operational and resourcing – and possibly revenue – improvements, he says.
“The waste industry has historically been characterised by multiple operators along the supply chain, but a worldwide trend is for larger operations to achieve economies of scale through mergers or by acquiring smaller players. The response has to be a renewed focus on integration and collaboration.
“Advancements in weighbridge integration enable much more productive outcomes among the partners in the waste process – even among competitors – and allow larger, merged operations to marry the systems of their multiple divisions together to achieve substantial savings in time and costs.”
This article has been produced in collaboration with AccuWeigh. With a portfolio of over 1,000 weighbridge installations throughout Australia and New Zealand, AccuWeigh has the experience to identify individual weighbridge needs and provide businesses with the best integrated weighbridge solution.
More information head to AccuWeigh.
GPS trackers installed to prevent illegal dumping
A 12-month trial to track the movement of vehicles suspected of illegal dumping has been launched by the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA) after an investigation last year.
The government said the EPA can track the vehicles’ movements and be aware if they travel near known illegal dumping hotspots.
The GPS trackers were fitted to the vehicles with the owners’ knowledge. It is illegal for the trackers to be tampered with or removed.
NSW Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton said the government is serious about cracking down on illegal dumpers.
“The trial results show the trackers fitted to vehicles has deterred illegal activity,” Ms Upton said.
“It won’t just deter those being watched but others who think they can get away with dumping on our communities and environment.”
The State Government said the trial will assist one of the premier’s priorities to reduce the volume of litter in NSW by 40 per cent by 2020.
Once the trial is complete, the government said the EPA will consider using tracking devices to monitor other vehicles accused of transporting or dumping waste unlawfully.
In 2014, the government introduced new laws, including the power to install trackers onto vehicles and the ability to seize vehicles used in dumping offences.
The EPA can issue on the spot fines of up to $15,000 for corporations and $7500 for individuals.
You can report illegal dumping incidents by calling the Environment Line on 131 555 or through the RIDonline reporting portal.
A hierarchy of strategies to avoid waste to landfill
A balanced approach to recycling is needed in order to reduce the amount of goods going to landfill, a Sydney academic believes.
Writing in The Conversation, Jenni Downes, Research Consultant at the Institute of Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney wrote that total household waste is increasing and kerbside recycling is low by global standards.
“At first glance, Australians appear to be good recyclers: ABS figures report that in 2012 about 94 per cent of households participated in some way in kerbside recycling,” Ms Downes wrote.
“State waste authorities also report a consistent increase in the volume of materials recovered for recycling.”
However, Ms Downes argued the figures did not justify complacency, as total household waste is increasing and the kerbside recycling rate – which measures the amount of materials collected for recycling as a percentage of the total waste generated – is relatively low by global standards, but growing slowly.
“The recycling rate increased from 45 per cent in 2007 to 51 per cent in 2011, just creeping above the average of 50 per cent across comparable countries.”
She wrote that one reason kerbside recycling isn’t higher is because people find the rules confusing, citing a Planet Ark survey which found 48 per cent of Australians struggled to figure out what can and can’t be recycled, incorrectly identifying recyclable materials.
“Much of this is likely due to the variation in rules in different places, and the extent to which recycling has changed in the 35 years since it began in Australia,” she wrote.
But councils are moving towards greater consistency, she wrote, with more than 80 per cent of people able to place the same things in their recycling bins.
Furthermore, she argued recycling needs to be considered amongst a hierarchy of other ways of reducing waste to landfill, in order of; avoiding/reducing, reusing, recycling, recovering and disposing.
“Recycling is vital to reducing resource use and waste to landfill, and getting it right is crucial. But it’s also important for recycling to take its place alongside waste-avoidance actions for a more sustainable lifestyle.”
Planet Ark launches business recycling resource
Environment group Planet Ark has developed a new resource for businesses hoping to improve their waste management practices.
‘The Business Case for Less Waste’ provides employees and management with advice for establishing a recycling strategy within the workplace and explains the benefits associated with pursuing better waste management practices.
“By adopting new waste management equipment, reviewing contrcats with recycling providers, or creating green supply chains, which minimise waste and promote efficiency, businesses can make surprising savings,” Ryan Collins, recycling programs manager at Planet Ark, said.
The website BusinessRecycling.com.au provides online and over-the-phone information on recycling options for more than 90 different materials as well as a comprehensive listing of recycling service providers.
According to Planet Ark research, 80 per cent of employees would like more recycling in the workplace and having recycling facilities makes them feel like they work for a responsible employer.
Their research noted that every year in Australia, businesses generate over 12.5 million tonnes of waste. Almost half of that waste (46 per cent) goes to landfill despite estimates that approximately 70 per cent can be reused or recycled.
The first waste-to-ethanol system in Australia
US-based company Greenbelt Resources Corporation has commissioned Australia’s first waste-to-ethanol system for a local company.
The modular automated system was designed by Greenbelt for Australian-based company Standard Ethanol Pty Ltd and is based on Greenbelt’s standard technology platform.
Greenbelt Resources Corporation said the system recycles wheat – enabling it to gain added value from lower grades of wheat, while achieving a measure of local energy independence.
“Our initial goal with Greenbelt is to derive a fuel source that will enable independence from standard fossil fuels,” said Larry Walsh, Director, Standard Ethanol Pty. Ltd.
“This progress enables us to continue our efforts in developing a renewable, locally produced, high-performance and economically smart alternative for energy and bio-products – an example of where the world is going.”
Darren Eng, CEO, Greenbelt Resources Corporation, said reaching operational status with Standard Ethanol was one of the company’s important international milestones this year.
“Similar to our recent PRECO project in California that demonstrates the positive potential of transforming waste (e.g., wheat, wine) into bioproducts, this project will do the same for the Australian market,” he said.
“With that, we were chosen by Standard Ethanol for our technology to recycle wheat and turn it into ethanol. This year will be one for milestones as we continue to form partnerships like this furthering the advancement of waste-to-biofuel and bio-product technologies on a global scale.”