September 2018

The impact of poor waste management

Penrith City Council’s Joshua Romeo tells Waste Management Review about the impacts poor waste collection infrastructure have on the community and council.

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TSA implements Demonstration and Infrastructure funding stream

Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA) has expanded to include a Demonstration and Infrastructure stream to grow the end market for tyre-derived products.

The new project stream will support projects that offer significant domestic use of tyre-derived products and demonstrate their benefits and viability to potential end users and product specifiers.

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A minimum 1:1 funding criterion is required for all projects, with a minimum funding level of $50,000 excluding GST and maximum of $300,000 excluding GST, however considerations will be given for larger or smaller project cash contribution on a dollar for dollar basis if the case can be made for the achievement of greater outcomes.

Applications will be assessed most favourably if a project consumes high volumes of Australian tyre-derived products and are considered innovative by TSA. Projects that can demonstrate a strong correlation between the delivery of the project and ongoing consumption of tyre derived products will also be strongly considered.

Projects must have collaborative partnerships between industry, research bodies and end users such as councils, road authorities, manufacturers or civil engineering and construction companies to demonstrate a realistic market application.

One example is the testing performed by state road authorities of the application of the newly released Australian Asphalt Pavement Association national specifications for crumbed rubber containing asphalt.

Other projects include the University of Melbourne’s trial to develop an optimum blend of permeable paving that uses recycled tyres to create footpaths, bike paths, carparks and low volume traffic roads which also can provide water to nearby trees.

The expanded funding stream does not allow funding of recycling infrastructure, seed funding for new ventures, clean-up of stockpiles or for feasibility studies.

TSA has already committed more than $3 million in support of research and development projects that focus on finding new domestic uses for tyre derived products.

For more information and to apply, click here.

REMONDIS

REMONDIS intends to develop $400M QLD waste to energy facility

REMONDIS Australia has announced its intention to develop a $400 million waste to energy (WtE) facility at its Swanbank landfill in Queensland.

The company has advised the state government that it will make an application to develop the recovered energy through the State’s Coordinated Project process, with the project expected to begin construction in 2020.

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The proposed plant aims to generate 50 megawatts of baseload electricity for Queensland households and business by redirected 300,000 and 500,000 tonnes of waste from landfill per year. This energy would be able to power 50,000 average homes and be available every day of the year.

REMONDIS Group has operated and built WtE plants for 24 years and operates 52 facilities which recover more than 4.2 million tonnes of waste per year in Europe.

REMONDIS Australia General Manager QLD Operations and Business Development Bret Collins said the WtE proposal does not rely on additional waste streams coming to the Swanbank site – instead it will divert existing waste streams to a beneficial use.

“REMONDIS has been encouraged by recent comments from governments across Australia that WtE technology could provide some relief to the challenges facing the waste management and recycling industry,” Mr Collins said.

“There is an opportunity for Australia to benefit from REMONDIS’ global experience, and other successful European and UK facilities, and incorporate waste to energy as part of the solution to sustainable, best practice waste management.

“Adopting WtE technology will ensure that wastes with recoverable value are not sent to landfill and, instead, are put to beneficial use,” he said.

Mr Collins said that while Australians may not be familiar with WtE technology, it is used throughout Europe and considered a tried and trusted contributor to best practice waste management and energy generation.

“WtE plants are constructed to the strictest European Union environment, emission and health standards and this is the technology we would bring to Australia,” Mr Collins said.

“There are hundreds of WtE plants throughout Europe, the USA and Asia, and many are part of the fabric of suburbs and communities – there are WtE plants in Paris, London, Copenhagen, Cologne, Zurich, Vienna, Palm Beach and Singapore, just to name a few.”

Infrastructure and Planning Minister Cameron Dick welcomed the news and said it establishes Queensland as a major player in the waste‑to‑energy market.

“The introduction of our government’s waste levy provides a real incentive for projects like this, building a new industry as an alternative to landfill,” Mr Dick said.

“This project could create up to 200 jobs during construction and some 70 jobs during operations.”

Mr Dick said REMONDIS Australia is expected to submit an application to Queensland’s independent Coordinator-General to declare the project a ‘coordinated project’.

“If the Coordinator-General decides to declare this project a coordinated project it will help streamline approvals and fast-track delivery of this significant project,” he said.

“A coordinated project approach also means that all the potential impacts and benefits of the project are considered in an integrated and comprehensive manner.”

Polystar’s recycling technology

Polystar’s technology addresses the issue of plastic recycling by offering a range of one-step machines designed for the reprocessing of polyethylene and polypropylene flexible packaging material.

Polystar machines are designed to be simple to operate and easy to maintain, all the while taking up minimal space and time. Their output comes in the form of high-quality plastic pellets that can be fed straight back into the manufacturing process, saving on raw material costs as well as on waste disposal.

This pelletising system – with its integrated cutter compactor – eliminates the need for pre-cutting in most cases and ensures the material spends less time in the extrusion process to minimise degradation. This means that the final product will be of the highest quality and the material properties will not be affected.

In addition to the double degassing in the first extrude, the venting area – the connection between the first and second extruder – serves as a third degassing section (optional) to further remove the ink and extra humidity level from the material.

The unvented extruder has a very short screw L:D ratio, in which the material travels in the extruder for the shortest time and distance. This results in minimal change in material property and higher output comparing to vented extruder.

Furthermore, the re-positioning of filtration before degassing ensures a superior degassing effect, producing high quality pellets from heavily printed material.

Applied Machinery Managing Director David Macdonald said manufacturers who want an easy, efficient solution to plastic film recycling now have the opportunity with Polystar recycling machines.

“Polystar requires less space and energy consumption whilst producing high quality plastic pellets, which are immediately reusable. The Polystar machines are a must get for companies that are serious about plastic film recycling,” Mr Macdonald said.

Polystar is a Taiwanese-based company that now has machines operating in 102 countries.

“Applied Machinery is proud to have been appointed a distributor for Polystar machines. We are confident that the product will appeal to manufacturers looking to effectively recycle their plastic film waste, and provide those manufacturers with a competitive advantage in the market place,” Mr Macdonald said.

Applied Machinery recently celebrated 25 years in business and, in addition to Polystar, represents a large range of other premium machinery manufacturers including Yawei, Genox, Hurco, Cosen, Chen Hsong, Alfarobot, Hermle, Akyapak, Pro-Plas, Hyundai-WIA and Kitamura.

www.appliedmachinery.com.au

UNSW conducts sustainable procurement study

A research team at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Business School is conducting a joint-global research project on local governments’ purchasing, procurement and waste management.

The research comes as part of the PLUS Alliance composed of UNSW, Arizona State University (ASU), and King’s College London (KCL).

The study aims to better understand the barriers and facilitators of effective purchasing, procurement, and waste management for local governments, including the social, economic, and environmental implications.

The team has already conducted research in several countries including US and Japanese local governments. They are now looking to Australian councils to participate in the project for comparative Australian data.

The team is inviting local government professionals (e.g., managers, directors, and officers) to participate in an anonymous and confidential 15 -20 minutes online-survey. They are specifically targeting professionals from the following fields of expertise:

  1. Finance
  2. Procurement
  3. Waste management
  4. Public works
  5. City Planning
  6. Environment/environmental compliance
  7. Sustainability

The aim is to collect data from local governments with 10,000 or more residents in all states and territories. To participate in the survey, click here.

PepsiCO, Nestlé Waters, Danone to develop bio-based bottles

PepsiCo has joined an alliance to advance the shared goal of creating beverage containers with a significantly reduced carbon footprint.

The NaturALL Bottle Alliance is a research consortium formed in 2017 by Danone, Nestlé Waters and bio-based materials development company Origin Materials to accelerate the development of innovative packaging solutions made with 100 per cent sustainable and renewable resources.

The alliance also provides a progress report in its goal of developing and launching a PET1 plastic bottle made from bio-based material.

Launched in March 2017, the alliance uses biomass feedstocks, such as previously used cardboard and sawdust, so it does not divert resources or land from food production for human or animal consumption.

The technology being explored by the alliance represents a scientific breakthrough for the sector, and the alliance aims to make it available to the entire food and beverage industry.

PepsiCo vice chairman and chief scientific officer Mehmood Khan said creating more sustainable packaging requires innovation through the value chain.

“Producing PET from sustainable bio-based sources that do not diminish food resources and are fully recyclable is a great example of such innovation and an important contributor to PepsiCo’s sustainable packaging program,” Mr Khan said.

“Through our Performance with Purpose agenda, PepsiCo is committed to reducing the carbon impact of packaging in line with our goal to reduce absolute emissions of greenhouse gases by 20 per cent by 2030.

“Bio-based PET has the potential to reduce significantly the carbon footprint of our PET bottles, a huge contribution to our efforts in this area,” he said. 

Origin Materials CEO John Bissell said PepsiCo is a welcome addition to the alliance because the the companies all share the goal of making renewable plastic a reality.

“Through the combined efforts of its members, the NaturALL Bottle Alliance is setting the bar for sustainability for an entire industry,” Mr Bissell said.

1PET – Polyethylene terephthalate is the most common plastic in polyester family and is used in fibers for clothing, containers for liquids and foods, thermoforming for manufacturing, and in combination with glass fiber for engineering resins.

PET is also known as having one the most developed collection and recycling systems in the world, making it a key asset for the circular economy of plastics.

Nestlé Waters’ head of research and development, Massimo Casella, said the alliance has taken an important step in working together to tackle the challenges around plastic packaging.

“Developing 100 per cent bio-based PET is one way Nestlé is working to use more materials from sustainably managed renewable resources,” he said. 

Volvo Trucks goes autonomous and electric

Commercial vehicle manufacturer Volvo Trucks Global has unveiled the Vera – an autonomous electric heavy vehicle.

Dubbed a future transport solution, the Vera has been designed to offer continuous transport services between fixed hubs in which it will contribute safer and cleaner transportation with improved efficiencies.

Essentially a tractor unit, compatible with existing trailers, Vera will be connected and piloted remotely by a transport control centre.

With zero exhaust emissions the vehicles are entirely powered by electric propulsion. The driveline and battery pack is the same as those used on Volvo Trucks electric trucks.

Martin Merrick, newly appointed Volvo Group Australia President and CEO said the launch of the new transport solution served as a reminder that future innovation was a part of the DNA of Volvo Trucks.

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“This is a new type of transport solution not seen before, which offers future promise in particular applications such as repetitive transports or for operations between fixed hubs,” he said in a statement.

“It is designed to complement existing solutions in transport, and as such its future implementation in Australia could potentially occur in certain applications such as private roads found in ports or in some mines.”

Ideally suited to repetitive tasks characterised by short distances and large volumes, the Vera has been equipped specific to a marketplace of rising consumption and growing e-commerce.

Driver shortages have also put additional demands on efficient transport solutions.

“This is just one more example of how Volvo Trucks is exploring future transport solutions that promote connectivity and innovation. At present it is too soon to discuss when this type of technology could be seen in Australian applications, however we continue to watch with interest new developments from our global colleagues working in this space.”

Planet Ark and HP release sustainability report

A new study from electronics manufacturer HP and Planet Ark has found 90 per cent of Australian consumers and businesses are concerned about environmental sustainability, with more than 70 per cent willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products.

The HP Australia Environmental Sustainability Study 2018 was commissioned to discover the perceptions, value and behaviours of Australians toward environmental sustainability.

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It surveyed more than 1000 people aged 27 to 53 and more than 600 businesses ranging from one to four employees to 51 to 500.

According to the study, most consumers and businesses see marine plastic pollution, landfill waste and the impact on the natural environment as the three leading environmental sustainability concerns.

The study also found a lack of awareness about e-waste, reporting that half of Australian consumers and 44 per cent of businesses do not recycle printer ink and toner cartriages.

HP South Pacific Interim Managing Director Paul Gracey said Australians are starting to recognise the impact of their day to day behaviours.

“Through this research collaboration we aim to help Australian consumers uncover new ways to help the planet, while putting a spotlight on the need for businesses and brands to take meaningful action towards becoming more environmentally sustainable – both for the health of the planet and to future-proof their business,” Mr Gracey said.

Planet Ark Recycling Programs Manager Ryan Collins said it is no longer enough for companies to have environmentally sustainable practices and should encourage these behaviours in others.

“Today’s consumers have good intentions but look to brands to help them to make positive changes towards protecting the environment in their day to day. At Planet Ark, our focus is on enabling companies to be part of the solution and we’re proud to be working alongside HP to better educate Australian consumers and businesses,” Mr Collins said.

For more information on the report, click here.