November 2018

City of Melville and SMRC receive award for FOGO trial

The South Metropolitan Regional Council (SMRC) and City of Melville were awarded the Avoid Recover Protect – Waste Management Award at this year’s Infinity Awards for the first Perth Metropolitan three-bin Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) trial.

The Infinity Awards acknowledge and celebrate the outstanding achievements of Western Australians working towards a better waste future through improved waste practices and innovative waste solutions. This year’s awards saw a record number of nominations with more than 100 entries from organisations and individuals throughout Western Australia across a range of different categories.

The three-bin FOGO trial was rolled out to approximately 7000 households in the City of Melville as part of a joint project between the Cities of Fremantle and Melville, Town of East Fremantle and the SMRC. The trial demonstrated that the system achieved greater than 65 per cent diversion from landfill, reduced processing costs, produced an Australian Standard Compost and received strong support and participation from the community.

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Mayor Russell Aubrey thanked all of the residents who were involved in the trial for their efforts and commitment.

“Your contributions have helped to reduce waste to landfill, while producing a high-quality compost, which can be used help to enrich local soils,” Mayor Aubrey said.

Cr Doug Thompson said the recognition is a testament to the outstanding contributions and hard work by all of those involved.

“Staff and residents should be incredibly proud of this collective achievement, which highlights the importance of collaboration and an evidence based approach to decision making,” Cr Thompson said.

The success of the project will now see the system rolled out throughout to the remaining residents in the City of Melville, alongside the City of Fremantle and Town of East Fremantle in the second half of 2019.

Alongside this achievement, the SMRC and the Waste and Recycling Industry Association of WA, Cleanaway WA, SUEZ WA and Western Australian Local Government Association also received a highly commended recognition for the development of statewide guidelines for kerbside recycling in the Avoid Recover Protect – Waste Management category.

Featured image: L-R – City of Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt, City of Melville Mayor Russell Aubrey, Town of East Fremantle Mayor Jim O’Neill, SMRC Chief Executive Officer Tim Youé.

UQ develops mining waste solution

Development of a mineral gel technology that will provide effective, low cost, rapid management of toxic red mud from alumina refineries has received a major financial boost.

Red mud is the waste product generated by the production of aluminum oxide, or alumina.

University of Queensland Sustainable Minerals Institute researcher Dr Tuan Nguyen has secured almost $500,000 to develop the gel technology that will transform the way refineries manage waste sustainably and economically.

Dr Nguyen said the gel had the potential to minimise pollution risks from red mud storage.

“New and cost-effective technologies are urgently required to assist the refinery industry to operate with much improved environmental outcomes,” he said.

“Safely storing and processing red mud is difficult, costly and time-consuming.

“But the gel chemically links mineral grains into stable and benign soil-like structures so it can sustain plant root systems, resulting in a successful rehabilitation outcome.

“This will help massively with seepage management and red mud rehabilitation.”

Dr Nguyen won a $180,000 Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship last week.

Rio Tinto and Queensland Alumina Limited have topped that up to almost $500,000, contributing cash and in-kind support.

“This funding is an outcome of strong collaboration between research and the environment teams of industry partners Rio Tinto and Queensland Alumina Limited, which produce $6 billion of alumina a year,” Dr Nguyen said.

“They accumulate millions of tons of red mud which is stored across 1500 hectares of dams in Central Queensland.”

Dr Nguyen recently joined the Sustainable Minerals Institute to work on research to develop cost-effective and sustainable technologies for rehabilitating red mud dams in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Research group leader Associate Professor Longbin Huang said the technology was an important part of a new research theme of ecological engineering of mine wastes.

“Tuan’s appointment and the jump-start of this excellent funding opportunity are likely to lead to significant advancement of new technology to rehabilitate toxic red mud,” he said.

“This technology will help establish a red mud rehabilitation industry in Queensland, and make The University of Queensland the leading hub of red mud research and applications.”

NSW Govt boosts organics collection funding by $4.9M

Funding has been granted by the NSW Government to 10 organics collection projects to improve services that recycle food and garden waste into compost.

The grants will go towards the provision of kitchen caddies to hold food waste and make it easier for households to use the new food organics and garden organics collections.

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It also will help provide new garden waste kerbside collection services in two local government areas, and food and garden or food only collection services to households and business in seven council areas. This includes more than 100,000 households living in units within Sydney.

The $4.9 million in grant funding is shared across Armidale Regional Council, City of Sydney, Cumberland Council, Lockhart Shire Council, Penrith City Council, Randwick City Council, Upper Lachlan Shire and Wagga Wagga City.

NSW Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton said nearly half the landfill from household bins is food and garden waste (approximately 45 per cent).

“Simply putting all food and garden waste into green bins will dramatically reduce the amount of household garbage currently going to landfill,” she said.

“When food and garden waste goes into the green lid bin, it is properly processed and becomes a clean, green supply of compost, rather than rotting away in landfill and releasing methane into the atmosphere.

“For the first time, this program is also supporting food waste collections from businesses, with three projects that will collect around 1350 tonnes of business food waste a year,” Ms Upton said.

October 2018

In this issue…

October 2018

SDLG’s L958F Wheel Loader

High torque, performance and fuel efficiency are all hallmark qualities of SDLG’s L958F Wheel Loader.

Available through Australian distributor CJD Equipment, the company is able to offer nationwide sales and support with 17 branches and a network of 20 service agents and dealers. 

Used in quarries, feedlots, material handling, waste and recycling and general construction, the machine is considered an all-round loader. L958F’s heavy-duty transmission incorporates a kick-down function ensuring a versatile machine.

From easy-to-access service checkpoints to an ergonomic and spacious cab – the machine aims to offer a high level of operator comfort.

A fully certified ROPS/FOPS air conditioned cab in addition to wrap around pillarless front and rear windscreens works to offer a high level of vision and safety. The machine offers full hydraulic wet disc brakes with an electro-hydraulic external disc park brake. 

Productivity in the machine is bolstered by axles designed and built at the factory, which ensures an ideal driveline match. A standard Volvo compatible quick hitch and general purpose bucket also offers operators efficiencies. 

Its high torque and fuel-efficient engine is connected to a tropical cooling package which allows it to work at full capacity in the toughest of conditions. The 217 horsepower and 162 kilowatt engine works at 2200 revolutions per minute and a maximum torque of 980 newton metres. Minimum fuel consumption is 15 litres per hour. 

Hitachi’s ZW-5 wheel loaders

Since the release of Hitachi’s ZW-5 wheel loaders, customers are experiencing the significance of an increase in capacity, efficiency and reliability of Hitachi wheel loaders within the waste and recycling industry. 

The biggest model in the range is the 397 kilowatt ZW550-5 with an operating weight of more than 47 tonnes and bucket capacity of up to 7.2 cubic metres. Other new models in the range are the ZW370-5 (289 kilowatts, 34 tonnes and up to 6.2 cubic metres) and ZW330-5 (213 kilowatts, 27 tonnes and up to 5.0 cubic metres).

The wheel loaders use an automotive-style planetary automatic transmission that allows for smooth shifting. Standard traction control and torque proportioning differentials work to reduce wheel spin and extend tyre life. 

Notable features in the ZW-5 range include a new hydraulic circuit that allows for combined lift arm and bucket operation during unloading, while prioritising bucket use for dumping. An anti-drift valve prevents internal leakage that can cause creeping of the lift arm.  

Operator comfort and safety is a key design consideration across the range, including a sloped ladder with wide steps for ease of access, double-filtered air conditioning and a high level of sound insulation. 

Hitachi wheel loaders are suitable for a wide range of applications across various industries due to their dynamic design, advanced technological features and myriad optional attachments. 

IVECO factory dual control systems

IVECO has offered a factory dual control system since 1992, providing refuse collection companies with an Australian-developed and factory-supported dual control steering set-up.

According to IVECO, unlike some manufacturers who retrofit their vehicles with products from after-market suppliers, the IVECO dual control system as fitted to the ACCO was developed in Australia to suit local conditions and extensively tried and tested in the field to ensure safety and reliability.

The IVECO-engineered dual control system offers a functional design, featuring a cross shaft and mitre box arrangement that does not require an additional steering box. The cabin dash is also duplicated with all the main controls conveniently located in the centre console.

Ease of operation is another key feature of the IVECO system with right-hand-side to left-hand-side drive actuated with the flick of a control switch and a pivoting ‘flip over’ transmission console.

As it’s developed in-house and installed along IVECO’s own local production line, the IVECO dual control system offers significant cost benefits compared to retrofitted systems. Other notable efficiencies arise at the time of maintenance or repair, with faster and more affordable access to parts and servicing via the IVECO dealer network.

FLIR’s A315/A615 thermal imaging cameras

FLIR’s thermal imaging cameras were developed to produce clearer images with greater accuracy over long distances.

The FLIR A615 is a compact thermal imaging camera that is fully controlled by a PC. Due to its compliance standards, the FLIR A615 offers plug and play with third-party Machine Vision software such as National Instruments, Cognex, Matrox, MVtec and Stemmer all facilitated by GeniCam protocol compatibility.

FLIR’s A615 camera is equipped with an uncooled vanadium oxide (VoX) detector that aims to produce a crisp thermal image of 640 by 480 pixels. In addition to a high-speed infrared windowing option, the thermal image produces a clearer image than standard models.

Operators that do not require as high an image quality can opt for the A315, which produces thermal images of 320 by 240 pixels. 

Both models make temperature differences as small as 50 millikelvin clearly visible, while including a built in 25-degree lens with motorised focus and autofocus. The A315 offers a field of view and minimum focus distance of 25 by 18.8 degrees over 0.4 metres, in addition to a focal length of 18 millimetres. For those that require a greater scope of vision, the A615 conversely uses a range of field of views and focal lengths.

Future Waste Resources 2018

Waste and Recycling Industry Queensland’s Rick Ralph tells Waste Management Review about how the Future Waste Resources 2018 event will explore practical solutions for the industry.
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