September 2019

The Australasian Waste and Recycling Expo

The Australasian Waste and Recycling Expo (AWRE) is set to bring thousands of waste experts together to explore innovative solutions in recycling and other sectors, and showcase the latest in sustainable products and machinery.

AWRE is a two-day live experience promoting ideas and opportunities for Australia’s waste and recycling community.

At a vital time in the industry, AWRE 2019 offers new connections, solutions and strategies to build a more stable, sustainable and profitable economy.

Held from October 30-31, 2019, the Sydney-based expo will help visitors explore new and innovative ideas in waste management and resource recovery, it will help exhibitors extend their marketing reach and connect people with the NSW market.

Visitors can discover an exciting showcase of full circle innovative products and sustainable solutions to collect, process and recycle waste more smartly.

Future critical areas that will be showcased include machinery and equipment, software and services, bins, vehicles, and food and organics systems.

Attendees can learn from renowned industry leaders in the free-to-attend AWRE Speaker Series focussing on the latest challenges, developments, strategies and policies which are shaping Australasia’s waste and recycling industry.

They can also connect with an influential community of waste and recycling professionals, suppliers/service providers, government departments, public sector bodies and special interest groups to successfully drive change throughout each specialist area.

The free-to-attend expo will be held at the ICC Sydney at Darling Harbour.

GCM Enviro: brooklyn bound

Sunshine Groupe Operations Manager Colin Riley tells Waste Management Review how the rise in construction and demolition waste prompted their latest purchase.

With capital injections at a state and federal level, the Australian construction industry is booming.

Capital influx, paired with growing public consciousness around the impacts of waste and the reality of finite resources, has led to an increased number of construction companies seeking sustainable solutions for their construction and demolition waste (C&D).

Located within a 10-kilometre proximity of the Melbourne CBD, Sunshine Groupe’s Brooklyn recycling site has become a hub for the city’s C&D waste.

Operations Manager Colin Riley says C&D is now one of the company’s most commonly received waste streams.

“We are heavily invested in safeguarding the community and the environment through recycling, and as such need effective and accurate equipment to separate heavy impurities from the material we want to process,” Colin says.

“I’ve been working at Sunshine Groupe for over 20 years and the rise in C&D is substantial. A number of challenges come with that given the materials high variability and substantial weight.”

Colin says the scale of the Brooklyn site is what inspired the need for a new for a new piece of mobile sifting equipment.

“We already have lot of fixed processing equipment on site but are dealing with significant space and multiple stockpiles. Transporting waste around the site to access that fixed equipment was becoming unsustainable,” Colin says.

“After consulting with GCM Enviro, we decided to purchase a moveable Terra Select W80 Windsifter four months ago and its really solved that issue for us.”

The Terra Select W80 mobile windsifter separates stones from wood materials, wood from building rubble and impurities from aggregate.

“We depend on cleanly separated feedstock so recycled components can be further processed. Our situation is therefore ideally suited to separation via windsifting,” Colin says.

According to Colin, Sunshine Groupe use the Terra Select windsifter to process roughly 50,000 tonnes of material each day.

“The Terra Select outperforms all other windsifters I’ve used and has far exceeded my expectations,” Colin says.

The sifter can achieve a throughput of up to 120 cubic metres per hour and has an adjustable level of cleaning of up to 95 per cent, with an optimum feed grain size of one to four.

In addition to its own feed hopper, the mobile windsifter also has an integrated metering roller that Colin says enables fast turnaround times.

“The machine has flexible options for feeding material, which we can adjust depending on the specifics of what we are working with at the time,” Colin says.

“It can be adjusted to work either at an angle with a wheeled loader, or at an angle from an upstream screening plant. The dosing roller then evenly feeds the material from the hopper to the windsifter.”

If required, the discharge conveyor of the separator can be fitted with a magnet to remove metals from building rubble, further highlighting its application use for varied waste streams like C&D.

The machine is controlled centrally via a modern display, with all machine components readily accessible due to large maintenance hatches. Additionally, it is driven by its own high-output diesel engine, which supports total mobile function.

“It’s a mobile machine in every sense of the word and can be completely set up and functional within a short space of time for new locations or feedstock changeover. It also has road approval for off-site operations,” Colin says.

In addition to separation, the windsifting process protects other machines and plants by removing heavy debris before later processing stages.

When dealing with stone or concrete for example, sifting removes potentially harmful objects, purifies the material before crushing and leads to a longer shelf life for all machinery involved.

“GCM Enviro really pulled through for us, we told them what we needed, and they delivered on all fronts,” Colin says.

“The servicing and parts department is really on the ball – if we make a spare or extra parts order it arrives the following day.”

Colin says while he hasn’t needed to take them up on the offer yet, GCM Enviro has committed to sending service and maintenance teams downs to Melbourne if any issues arise.

“I’ve been in the industry for over two decades and have seen a lot of equipment, some that works well, some that doesn’t,” Colin says.

“The Terra Select W80 works so well because it takes a lot of different technology types and combines them, really expanding the capabilities of a relatively small machine.”

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ARENA to fund biogas to hydrogen plant

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has approved up to $9.41 million in funding for the construction and operation of a hydrogen production facility in Western Australia.

An ARENA media statement said renewable energy company Hazer are seeking to build a $15.8 million 100 tonne per annum facility.

The facility will use hydrogen production technology to convert biogas from sewage treatment into hydrogen and graphite.

“The Hazer Process is an innovative technology that converts bio-methane to renewable hydrogen and graphite using an iron ore catalyst, creating an alternate hydrogen pathway to the traditional approaches of steam methane reforming and electrolysis,” the statement reads.

“Hazer will sell the renewable hydrogen for industrial applications and is exploring markets for graphite including carbon black, activated carbon and battery anode applications.”

According to the statement, Hazer aims to take advantage of waste or low value biogas streams such as from wastewater treatment plants, landfill sites and other industrial locations to produce higher value hydrogen and graphite.

“Hazer has identified the proposed location for the project at the Woodman Point Wastewater Treatment Plant, owned by the Western Australian Water Corporation,” the statement reads.

“Hazer has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Western Australian Water Corporation for the supply of biogas, and to provide the project site for construction.”

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said Hazer’s project represents a new and innovative way to produce renewable hydrogen, which aligns with ARENA’s new investment priority focussed on accelerating hydrogen.

“Renewable hydrogen is typically produced by splitting water molecules using renewable electricity, however, Hazer’s process represents an alternative way to produce hydrogen using biogas sourced from wastewater treatment plants,” Mr Miller said.

“If successful, this project will offer opportunities to replicate the technology across other treatment plants and landfill sites across Australia.”

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Vecor develops coal fly ash building material

Green technology company Vecor has developed a recycled building material with remanufactured coal fly ash.

Vecor Founder and CEO Alex Koszo said the company’s patented and fully industrialised technologies provide profitability to otherwise environmentally destructive industrial by-products.

“It is estimated that over 300 million tonnes of the ultra-fine coal fly ash particles are dumped each year, where it may pollute the soil, water and air with harmful elements such as arsenic, mercury and lithium,” Mr Koszo said.

“A great multiple of this tonnage is sitting in lakes and unlined landfills all over the industrialised world, requiring remediation.”

Mr Koszo said Vecor are using the material to manufacture building products suitable for multiple industrial hardware applications, as part of their grey to green vision.

“The innovations underpinning Vecor’s technology span the disciplines of material science, chemistry and industrial hardware,” Mr Koszo said.

“With technology originally conceived at the University of New South Wales, and further developed at its proprietary laboratories, Vecor has developed and patented six highly competitive product applications with 50 to 99 per cent recycled content.”

Applications include ceramic tiles, refractories, industrial ceramics, fillers for paint and plastics, aggregates and sand.

“The sintering step of Vecor’s process has been independently proven to render all harmful and toxic elements in the fly ash completely and permanently inert,” Mr Koszo said.

According to Mr Koszo, in addition to providing a solution to the coal fly ash waste problem, Vecor’s technology promotes sustainability in the highly resource intensive porcelain tile industry.

“Our product consumes 50 per cent less virgin raw material, 85 per cent less water and 15 per cent less energy compared to the porcelain tile manufacturing process, translating into a significant manufacturing cost advantage,” Mr Koszo said.

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NHP Electrical Engineering: controlling pumps and scarcity

NHP Electrical Engineering Smart Motor Control systems provide real-time operational disruption data and energy efficient pumping to wastewater facilities.

Australia’s dry and inconsistent climate poses a challenge to water security. As a consequence, increasing the capacity of wastewater recycling facilities is vital to mitigating resource scarcity and increasing climate resistance.

Recycling wastewater can ease pressure on water resources and avoid the need to discharge the material into the environment.

Managing masses of liquid can be challenging, however, given the rheological makeup of the material.

For wastewater facilities to operate effectively, they require centralised pumping systems supported by reliable motor control.

Power distribution, automation and motor control specialists NHP Electrical Engineering Products (NHP) have been operating in the wastewater space for decades.

Michael Liberatore, NHP Automation, Safety and Motor Control Business Manager, says within the digitised modern world, it’s important that NHP can deliver customer-focused Industrial Internet of Things initiatives and tools.

“Water is an essential input that feeds the production cycle of almost all other industries,” Michael says.

“In the contemporary climate, where limited water resources and concerns about the environmental impact of electricity production are real, innovation is central to success.”

According to Michael, Smart Motor Control is one of many innovative solutions supported by the company. He adds that efficient motor control enables application flexibility, as well as higher productivity and workplace safety.

“At the core of this are inventive solutions that provide a reliable supply of water to minimise network upgrade disruptions and optimise capital investment.”

Michael says Smart Motor Control supports secure wastewater networks by enabling real-time monitoring and asset management. Additionally, he says 75 per cent of motor control failures can be prevented by applying appropriate protection measures.

“Efficient motors drive wastewater management performance, and the impact of motor failure can be significant,” he explains.

“With Smart Motor Control devices, clients can improve productivity and help avoid motor failures with an integrated, data-driven approach.”

Michael says the technology diagnoses problems early and identifies where they are, which allows clients to transform data into actionable information to reduce production losses.

Michael says Smart Motor Control systems minimise energy expenditure by reducing overall system power requirements and wear and tear on equipment.

“Smart Motor Control can be easily integrated into clients’ existing motor control systems to offer higher productivity and shorter downtimes,” he explains.

Be it pumping station treatment plants or pipelines, Michael says NHP can provide complete solutions for the most complex water and wastewater applications.

NHP offers a complete portfolio of Smart Motor Control solutions, from simple fixed and variable speed control to precise torque and position control.

“With Smart Motor Control Devices, energy consumption can be monitored on each motor individually at any point,” he explains.

“Our Smart Motor Control solution helps customers achieve advanced pressure and flow control, including soft start, stop capabilities and energy savings.”

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Atritor Turbo Separator

The Atritor Turbo Separator was developed to separate products from their packaging, releasing them for recycling or disposal.

Available through Australian distributor Wastech Engineering, the Turbo Separator enables up to 99 per cent of dry or liquid products to be separated from their packaging with minimal contamination. This allows the contents to be used for compost, anaerobic digestion or animal feedstock. The Turbo Separator can be manufactured in a range of throughputs up to 20 tonnes per hour.

Additionally, the process is so efficient that it leaves the packaging relatively intact and clean to facilitate downstream recycling. According to Wastech, when compared to other methods of packaging separation, the Turbo Separator achieves higher separation efficiencies with lower power consumption, resulting in reduced operating costs.

The Turbo Separator is ideal for separating out of specification, out of date and mislabeled products from a variety of packaging, including cans, plastic bottles and boxes. The diverse range of applications includes the separation of paper from gypsum in plasterboard, general foodstuffs from their packaging and liquids from their containers.

It is available complete with infeed and outfeed conveyors and liquid transfer pumps. The Turbo Separator, with its durable construction and adjustable paddles, enables the separation of a wide variety of products. Each Turbo Separator installation can be configured to suit multiple applications and a variable shaft speed enables enhanced separation efficiency. The machine is available in mild steel and stainless steel to suit the application.

Alex Fraser awarded resource recovery infrastructure grant

Alex Fraser’s Clarinda Recycling facility is among 13 recipients of the Victorian Government’s $4.67 million Resource Recovery Infrastructure Grants program.

The fund, administered through Sustainability Victoria, aims to increase Victoria’s capacity to recycle locally generated waste materials into high value commodities.

Alex Fraser will use their $336,500 grant to build a new glass additive bin within their Clarinda facility recycling plant, which will allow reprocessed glass waste to be blended into a range of high quality recycled construction materials.

Alex Fraser Managing Director Peter Murphy said the grant would help divert thousands of tonnes of glass from landfill, while increasing the supply of material needed to build green roads.

“Glass is a high-density waste stream, so it is imperative its recycling facilities are well located, close to the point of generation and close to end-markets,” Mr Murphy said.

“This minimises truck traffic, reducing traffic congestion and carbon emissions.”

Mr Murphy said the project would reduce the landfilling and stockpiling of problematic glass by 38,500 tonnes each year.

“By reprocessing this priority waste into high quality sand, we’re able to supply rail and road projects with a range of high-spec, sustainable materials that cut costs, cartage, and carbon emissions, and reduce the strain on natural resources,” Mr Murphy said.

“We’re pleased to be working with the Victorian Government to overcome one of the state’s biggest recycling challenges.”

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Comment sought for VIC EPA regulations and standards

The Victorian EPA is calling for public consultation on their revised environmental regulations and standards, which apply from July 2020.

According to EPA Executive Director Tim Eaton, the new regulations and standards are part of the Victorian Government’s modernisation of the EPA, through the recently passed Environment Protection Act.

“The new act and regulations will give the EPA more power to prevent pollution and hold polluters to account,” Mr Eaton said.

“Where the new act lays out the increased powers and responsibilities, the regulations and standards fill in the details and create certainty for duty holders to meet their obligations.”

Mr Eaton said the draft regulations outline obligations in relation to environment protection, pollution incidents, contaminated land and waste.

“As an example, the new act allows the EPA to require duty holders to be licensed, permitted or registered,” Mr Eaton said.

“The regulations then provide the detail of what activities will require a licence, permit or registration.”

The EPA and Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning will review all public submissions, before releasing a public report that includes submission responses and final regulations and standards.

“We want to hear from community groups, industry, small business operators, anyone with an existing EPA licence, environmental lobby groups or any other member of the public or industry with an interest in the environment protection laws,” Mr Eaton said.

“Have your say on proposed regulations and standards that relate to waste, permissions and licences, water, noise, air and contaminated land.”

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Location, location, location essential to the future of C&D

Construction recyclers do most of the heavy lifting in Australian recycling, but several stones remain in the gears to drive its future, writes Rose Read, CEO of the National Waste and Recycling Industry Council (NWRIC).

The trend isn’t hard to spot, behind the successful recycling strategy of any city are construction and demolition (C&D) recycling companies recovering large material volumes. C&D waste generation in 2016-17 (the latest year available) was just over 20 million tonnes nationally, or 38 per cent of the waste produced in Australia by weight.

Recovery of C&D materials across major urban centres can be as high as 90 per cent. So C&D recyclers have taken a hard problem, and over the last decade, have thoroughly crushed it.

Despite this welcome progress, many stones remain in the gears that drive its future development.

In 2019, the NWRIC undertook a survey of key C&D recyclers to determine barriers to advancing recycling in this sector. Our research identified six key areas for improvement:

  1. Implementation of effective specifications for the use of recycled aggregates in infrastructure construction
  2. Competition with virgin products
  3. Inconsistent landfill levies and insufficient enforcement resulting in levy avoidance
  4. Planning frameworks which often fail to provide certainty of site tenure
  5. Poor waste data that can inhibit policy and investment decisions
  6. Market economics that inhibit greater recovery of C&D materials in regional areas

While several of these challenges are self-explanatory, a few are worth discussing in detail.

The first is that local and state land use planning can fail to provide the site tenure required for some of the state’s highest performing C&D recovery facilities. This is a major challenge, as for C&D recovery facilities to be financially sustainable, they must be set close to urban centres where the waste materials are generated and eventually reused. Minimising transport distances is a key driver to the success of these facilities.

Likewise, these facilities require a reasonable footprint to be able to manage the flow of materials through the process; from receival, sorting, processing to stockpiling the various grades of final products ready for reuse.

Unfortunately, many of these sites across Australia are being threatened by encroachment of urban or commercial development, and in some cases, are being closed by local councils to create parks.

To solve this problem, the NWRIC recommends that current waste and recycling infrastructure plans that provide for C&D recycling be formally incorporated into local and state planning regulations, so that precincts or green zones for such facilities are clearly identified and protected for the long term. To be effective, the location and duration of tenure of these ‘green zones’ must be agreed by all levels of government.

A second major challenge is waste levy avoidance in the C&D recovery sector. Construction recyclers charge a gate fee to cover the cost of sorting and processing the materials they receive. This gate fee must be lower than the cost of landfill. To reach this cost, typically a landfill levy is required.

Unfortunately, where there are landfill levies, there is also levy avoidance resulting in potentially recyclable material being dumped or transported vast distances outside levy zones. One prominent example is the illegal waste stockpile in Lara, Victoria. This site contains a massive stockpile of up to 320,000 cubic meters of construction and demolition waste, including materials such as timber, concrete, bricks, plaster, glass and ceramics.

If one cubic meter weighs half a tonne, then this stockpile represents a loss of more than $10 million in levy revenue.  To clean up this illegal dump of C&D waste, the Victorian Government has committed $30 million, the largest waste related budget item for Victoria in 2019.

To ensure the success of the C&D recovery sector, states must address levy avoidance urgently. Possible solutions include better inter-agency engagement (across Police, EPAs and the ATO) to monitor and prevent illegal activity, and more widespread use of regulatory tools like mass balance reporting and GPS tracking.  Setting levies so any differences do not encourage its movement from one region or state to another, or applying the levy portability principle (i.e. the levy liability is a point of generation not disposal) both within and across state and territory boundaries.

Finally, C&D recovery providers can also help to support other recycling streams, including the recovery and reuse of tyres, glass and used plastics. Where these products are not suitable for cradle to cradle recycling, they can be reused as a substitute material for civil construction works. This further diversifies the market opportunities for these recovered materials, which in the past have relied on limited opportunities locally and internationally, ended up in landfill or illegally dumped.

This is why integration of state resource recovery infrastructure plans into local and state land use planning regulations is critical to the future success of C&D resource recovery. By securing space and long term tenure for these facilities states and territories will ensure a viable industry that can supply materials to the ongoing infrastructure development and construction needs of Australia.

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Funding awarded for regional NSW landfills

The NSW Government has allocated $3.4 million to assist rural and regional landfill upgrades and closures in Western NSW, the Central West Murray and Northern Tablelands.

Environment Department Acting Director of Resource Recovery Amanda Kane said the Landfill Consolidation and Environmental Improvements Program aims to support environmental outcomes in regional councils, including closing down and consolidating landfills.

“The grants provide up to $200,000 to rural and regional councils who manage licensed and unlicensed landfills,” Ms Kane said.

“The funding supports projects that improve landfills to better protect the environment, such as installing signage, litter and security fencing or infrastructure to sort and recycle materials.”

According to Ms Kane, the grants also support the closure of landfills that have long term legacy issues, while ensuring residents still have access to services.

Projects include landfill closures in Lithgow, Parkes, Hilltops, Bellingen, Upper Hunter and Mid Coast, and improvement works in Bourke, Gilgandra, Walgett, Richmond Valley, Bland, Tenterfield, Leeton, Parkes, Tamworth and Dungog.

The program is delivered through a partnership between the Environmental Trust and the NSW EPA, as part of the state’s $802 million Waste Less, Recycle More initiative.

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