Victorian Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio is seeking expressions of interest for the role of Sustainability Victoria Chairperson.
According to a Sustainability Victoria statement, the appointment will be for a term not exceeding five years, as determined by the minister.
“Sustainability Victoria is established under the Sustainability Victoria Act 2005 to facilitate and promote environmental sustainability in the use of resources. The chairperson leads the board in providing strategic direction to, and ensuring the good governance of, Sustainability Victoria,” the statement reads.
Assistant Waste Reduction and Environmental Management Minister Trevor Evans will open the Australian Organics Recycling Association’s (AORA) 2020 Annual Conference.
AORA National Chair Peter Wadewitz said Mr Evans’ confirmation is another strong addition to an outstanding lineup of national and international experts.
Held 1 to 3 April in the Hunter Valley NSW, the conference will feature practical demonstrations, social events and plenary sessions focused on different aspects of the organics industry.
“The Annual AORA Conference features workshops, presentations, a gala dinner, networking functions and an equipment demonstration day. This is the prime opportunity of 2020 to network with industry leaders and gain insights into the latest opportunities in the organics recycling industry,” Mr Wadewitz said.
“Plenary sessions will cover a common vision for the future of the industry, community engagement and informed opinion sessions on food organics and garden organics, carbon, in the field and what’s next.”
The conference will also feature keynote presentations from Teaming series author Jeff Lowenfels and Aurel Lübke of Compost Systems Austria.
The Australian Council of Recycling has launched a new industry survey to provide an up-to-date measure of confidence in the sector and support better decision making.
Penske Commercial Vehicles has applied a variety of lessons from the United Kingdom to ensure its Dennis Eagle brand meets local congestion-busting challenges.
The silver and white Dennis Eagle body complemented a multitude of familiar favourites as stakeholders turned out to Melbourne’s Sandown Park Hotel on a slightly chilly morning.
At the end of last year, Penske Commercial Vehicles held an industry breakfast and vehicle display with its customers from Cleanaway, Bucher Municipal, Citywide and other organisations. In addition to a walkthrough of the trucks, the event featured a comprehensive explanation of Penske’s global and local footprint.
Many in the industry would be familiar with Penske Commercial Vehicles’ distributed range of commercial vehicles, including Western Star Trucks, MAN Trucks & Bus and, of course, the iconic Dennis Eagle refuse brand.
While detailing Penske’s global footprint and remanufacturing capabilities, Shannon Mair, Group National Fleet Sales Manager at Penske Commercial Vehicles, explained that the company continues to grow its capabilities.
“We’ve got a very strong footprint of support in the highly populated areas and on the main routes throughout Australia,” he said, adding that the company also had a strong regional presence.
He then went on to provide a history of the Dennis Eagle brand – a waste industry staple. With a British engineering history dating back to the turn of the 20th century, Dennis Eagle is one of the oldest producers of refuse collection vehicles in the world.
The company was founded in 1895 by John and Raymond Dennis and produced its first motor vehicle in 1899. Now owned by Terberg RosRoca Group, Dennis Eagle has 900 units in service across Australia, with more than 40 councils operating vehicles. The brand offers a range of refuse collection solutions, including the Dual Control and RHS Elite models.
“Many people associate the Penske brand with motor racing. The reason why we talk about the race team being an integral part of our organisation is that our Founder Roger Penske is very passionate about motor racing, and the very same ethos he applies in running a race team – precision, efficiency, dedication – is the same ethos that drives the whole organisation.”
Dennis Eagle collection vehicles have seen hundreds of deliveries over the years from the likes of Cleanaway, Veolia, SUEZ, J.J. Richards, Citywide and WM Waste.
Shannon illustrated that in Australia over the past decade, more than 1600 pedestrians and at least 350 cyclists were killed by vehicles. With London being a well-known congested city, the research shows 25 per cent of pedestrian and 35 per cent of cyclist fatalities involve a truck or heavy goods vehicle.
The research conducted for Transport for London has underpinned Penske Commercial Vehicle’s understanding of blind spots and allowed it to share the importance of the driver’s direct vision – an aspect that is equally as relevant in Australia.
One of the key factors behind the Dennis Eagle difference is its low-entry design, providing best-in-class direct vision, single step entry and a true flat door. Shannon said single step also offers good grip, which is important from an OH&S perspective.
“In the next couple of years, you won’t be able to bring a standard forward control truck into the centre of London. Every vehicle will have to be a low-entry vehicle,” he said.
“When you go out and see the vehicles out in the carpark and sit into the driver’s seat, you will actually notice the driver’s window is in line with your hip and has excellent panoramic view of the surroundings around the vehicle.”
It’s these features that prompted Citywide to begin running a fleet of Dennis Eagles around mid-2018. David Weston, Group Asset Manager at Citywide, says the company saw an opportunity to upgrade its fleet with enhanced technology and capability. Citywide now has around 15 Dennis Eagle Elite models, in both right hand steer and dual control configuration in the fleet.
“The key considerations for us when selecting the Dennis Eagles were around safety, usability by our drivers as well as technical functions,” David explains.
“It was primarily about ensuring drivers have good visibility and can see what is going on around them and better capability to operate, particularly in built-up environments with pedestrians and vehicle traffic.”
He says Citywide use a combination of side loaders and rear loaders for residential and general waste collection from single and multi-unit dwellings, with vehicles designed to suit the work environment, bin configuration and waste requirement.
“The vehicles really suit use within the built-up environment. The length and turning circle improve manoeuvrability and the large cab glass area helps minimise blind spots where pedestrians or cyclists could be hard to see.”
He says the company does not opt for a one-size-fits-all approach and matches the body configuration to the vehicle to optimise manoeuvrability and weight-carrying capacity.
David says the vehicle is custom spec’d with safety features such as rear and side warning devices.
Further supporting the concept is a five-star rating by the Heavy Goods Vehicle Blind Spots Report by Loughborough University’s Design School, based in the UK. The school produced a report that compared vehicles by leading manufacturers to determine how well drivers could see vulnerable road users and found the Dennis Elite 6 outperformed each one in terms of visibility.
A deep step, full width of the doorway in the Dennis Eagle product, ensures a secure footing and significantly reduces trip and fall hazards linked to entry and exit of vehicles.
The walk-through design includes a full stand-up height cab, completely flat floor and clear walkway with no obstructions. Drivers can easily cross cab and never have to enter or exit the vehicle from the traffic side, improving safety and productivity.
David says running costs are also an important consideration and the use of well-known brand components for the engine, transmission and drive axle make maintenance and repair activities easier to manage.
“Another aspect is Penske’s support and backup network across the country,” he says.
“Penske has been very responsive when we’ve had discussions with them during procurement and post-procurement to assist us optimise vehicle specifications and uptime.”
Alex Fraser highlights implications surrounding the potential closure of its Clarinda Recycling Facility, after Kingston City Council denied its application for the second time.
Alex Fraser put in the hard yards over the past two decades to clean up Victoria’s problem glass and is the state’s leading recycler in this space.
Through its network of sites at Clarinda, Laverton North and Epping, the company will take in material from the likes of Cleanaway, Polytrade and Visy and continue to find markets for thousands of tonnes of glass waste per annum.
A recent Sustainability Victoria grant enabled the installation of additional equipment at Clarinda. The project will reduce stockpiling and landfilling of problem glass by an additional 38,500 tonnes per annum. But in three years’ time, Clarinda may no longer exist.
Since 2014, Alex Fraser has been fighting to protect the shutdown of one million tonnes of recycling capacity which supplies material to major projects.
In what some are calling a NIMBY decision, in late 2019, that battle came to a head, as Kingston City Council denied an application to extend the life of the recycling operation.
The permit ends in 2023 and allows for an application for an extension. Even though the area has been rezoned as green wedge, an extension is permissible and the company had applied to stay until 2038.
It followed a comprehensive effort to find an alternative site in collaboration with the Victorian Government through Invest Victoria.
A second and final vote was taken in mid-December which was once again denied. Now, Alex Fraser has called on Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to intervene.
Peter Murphy, Alex Fraser Managing Director, says the decision is at odds with Victoria’s Recycling Industry Strategic Plan.
“We’ll continue to work on all of the options available to us. This issue affects environment, resources, roads, transport and treasury at a state level. It really needs a coordinated government approach to resolving it,” Peter explains.
A number of claims have since been thrown around, such as: “there’s still another four years to find a site” and “Alex Fraser still has two other sites”.
For one, the company points out that even if it were able to find a suitable site, completing the planning process means a lengthy and uncertain timeframe. Relocation is also a complex process.
Secondly, Alex Fraser has spent years building a network of recycling sites close to where waste is generated. Significant work from state agencies has gone into Victoria’s Statewide Waste and Resource Recovery Infrastructure Plan to ensure adequate buffer protection of waste activities as a result of the urban sprawl.
Victoria’s “big build” is placing additional strain on metropolitan quarries, an issue Peter says is a huge concern.
“For recycling of this scale to continue to work, we need to maintain a network of facilities that are positioned close to where waste is generated and where the outlets for recycled materials exist.”
According to the Victorian Extractive Resources Strategy, at the time of its publication in 2016, demand for extractive resources was expected to double by 2050 as a result of the big build, and since then infrastructure investment has only increased.
The strategy shows 34 per cent of extractives in 2050 will need to be sourced from quarries not yet built or planned, due to forecast resource exhaustion. To complicate matters further, an analysis undertaken in 2018 of quarry approvals shows only a quarter of quarry applicants were able to secure necessary approvals in the past two years to carry out new production.
To meet the shortfall, one of the Victorian Government’s key policy pledges is to improve waste management across the whole industry. Transportation of extractive resources is costly and not eco-friendly when the distance between a quarry and point of use is examined.
Around 535 quarries produce 50 million tonnes of stone, limestone, gypsum, sand and gravel per year. Put in perspective, the Metro Tunnel alone is expected to require more than 480,000 cubic metres of ready-mix concrete and 160,000 tonnes of other extractive materials.
“If we fail to ensure that a sufficient supply of extractive resources is available within close proximity to our growth areas and infrastructure projects, the cost of constructing houses and infrastructure will likely rise,” the strategy says.
“This can lead to more expensive and potentially fewer infrastructure projects for Victorians. Impacts on transport infrastructure will rise, and greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts will increase.”
Alex Fraser highlights that if the Clarinda facility were to close, it would be equivalent to the loss of a major quarry in metropolitan resource availability.
Clarinda is perfectly positioned to supply major projects such as the Mordialloc Freeway, Monash Upgrade, Level Crossing Removal Project and the upcoming outer Suburban Rail Loop.
Peter says that recycling in Melbourne has been successful because of a network of sites, close to the city which provide access to markets.
Globally, a clear barrier to using recycled materials is the availability of supply within reasonable distances. He says that anyone in the industry understands the time and cost implications of trucking material from further afield.
The Victorian Government has committed to a “hot list” of priority quarry approvals that can be fast tracked to support the big build. He says it would be perverse to fast-track the development of a new quarry to counter the shutdown of a recycling facility.
Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group (MWRRG) CEO Jillian Riseley recently penned a letter to the City of Kingston calling for the Clarinda Recycling Facility’s extension.
She reiterated that the MWRRG had a statutory role to play in reducing waste to landfill and that its Metropolitan Implementation Plan articulated the need to integrate land use planning with waste and resource recovery.
The metro plan identifies the Clayton South Precinct as one of 13 hubs of metropolitan importance and acknowledges Alex Fraser’s role in supporting construction and demolition waste.
“The Clayton South Precinct Hub including Alex Fraser facilities, along with other state significant hubs, together operate as a network providing critical and complementary recycling and recovery capacity,” Jillian wrote.
“For the network to function effectively it requires capacity and security of operations across the hub.”
She says that should the operation discontinue, the loss of one million tonnes would undermine the entire network and place pressure on already constrained landfill capacity in the southeast.
Kingston City Council claims that the community has voiced objections about the Clarinda Recycling Facility. The MWRRG’s letter confirms the application for permit extension would allow Alex Fraser to support ongoing best practice environmental management.
Peter says that a number of houses are close to landfills and affected by dust, noise and odour.
“We have provided evidence that the source of dust, noise and odour is not the Clarinda Recycling Facility. Our employees do an outstanding job and have demonstrated how to transition away from landfill,” Peter says.
“We have exceptionally good controls, including 24-hour dust monitoring across the site.
“In fact, the site has been awarded by the Clean Air Society of Australia & New Zealand so it is well recognised as being a leader.”
Alex Fraser also put forward a Community Benefits Package, giving the Kingston community ownership of 22 hectares of land, along with a total of $7.5 million for local sports and recreation facilities.
The proposal was not accepted by the council, an issue Alex Fraser remains perplexed about.
As the Victorian Government plans to release its long-awaited circular economy policy, Peter says Victoria long led the way in using recycled materials in infrastructure.
He adds the site is an outstanding example of the circular economy in action and the state government must intervene to retain this recycling capacity.
This article was published in the February edition of Waste Management Review.
Cleanaway has restored operations at several closed waste processing facilities, following the successful acquisition of SKM Recycling Group’s assets.
According to a Cleanaway statement, facilities in Coolaroo, Hallam, Geelong and the Laverton North Material Recovery Facility (MRF) are now fully operational.
“The network of facilities, now known as Victoria Resource Recovery, were acquired by Cleanaway in October 2019 from the SKM Recycling Group, whose closure in July 2019 greatly affected the reputation of recycling in Victoria,” the statement reads.
“Councils and households who trusted that their recycling efforts were being managed correctly were understandably disappointed when recycling had to be sent to landfill.”
Cleanaway CEO and Managing Director Vik Bansal said around-the-clock efforts to clear waste stockpiles and rehabilitate Victoria’s waste processing facilities have restored recycling services to the state in record time.
“It was not acceptable to us that after years of conscientiously sorting their recyclables, Victorians be told that their recycling must be put on hold for an extended period,” he said.
“Our teams worked tirelessly to bring these facilities back to the required environmental and operational standards in an extremely short period of time, without compromise to safety or quality.”
According to Mr Bansal, the sites were overworked and lacking in maintenance for a significant period, requiring weeks of operational and logistical clean up efforts.
“Stockpiled waste was removed from sites, machinery and conveyor belts were replaced and optical sorting systems were recalibrated,” he said.
“In line with our compliance standards, all sites have had extensive works undertaken to fire control and stormwater systems.”
Waste Management Review catches up with outgoing Waste and Recycling Industry QLD CEO Rick Ralph, talking international waste bans, Queensland policy setting and his career journey.
After a consultation and technical assessment process spanning more than four years, Napandee in Kimba, South Australia has been identified to host Australia’s National Radioactive Waste Management Facility.
Resources Minister Matt Canavan said he was satisfied the facility at Napandee would safely and securely manage radioactive waste.
“In coming weeks, I will introduce legislation that declares Napandee to be the site of the facility, and establishes a community fund to support Kimba in hosting the facility,” he said.
According to Mr Canavan, 80 per cent of Australia’s radioactive waste stream is associated with the production of nuclear medicine which, on average, one in two Australians will need during their lifetime.
“Nuclear medicine is used in the diagnosis of a variety of heart, lung and musculoskeletal conditions and treatment of specific cancers,” he said.
“This medical waste, along with Australia’s historical radioactive waste holdings, is currently spread over more than 100 locations across the country, like science facilities, universities and hospitals.”
Mr Canavan said it is Federal Government policy, and international best practice, for nuclear material to be consolidated into a purpose-built facility, where it can be safely managed.
“The facility will be capable of permanently disposing of low level waste and temporarily storing intermediate level waste for decades (while a separate intermediate level waste disposal facility is developed),” he said.
In 2015, the Federal Government began the process of finding a suitable site for the facility, which will create 45 jobs and be delivered alongside a $31 million Community Development Package.
“Three broad requirements were relevant in assessing potential facility sites. They had to be volunteered by a landowner, technically suitable, and have broad community support from nearby residents,” Mr Canavan said.
“Based on these technical assessments and community sentiment indicators, I have identified 160 hectares at Napandee to host the facility.”
Mr Canavan said the announcement concluded a significant step in a consultation and technical assessment process that would continue for years, as the facility is designed and delivered.
“This will include further site-specific technical and regulatory approvals, and close work with Aboriginal communities to identify and protect any heritage” he said.
“The facility has broad community support in Kimba, but I acknowledge there remains opposition, particularly amongst the Barngarla People and their representative group.”
Mr Canavan also acknowledged concerns over potential agricultural impacts.
“Experience around the world is that waste and agricultural industries can coexist, but we will work to provide more assurance,” he said.
“After a sustained effort from outside anti-nuclear groups, I also acknowledge submissions from people who do not live in Kimba demonstrated concern about the facility proceeding. I will proceed with the project in a way that recognises and respects views of those who oppose the facility, including the Barngarla People and those with agricultural interests.”
In the complex recycling sector, operators need a robust and reliable vibrating screen to ensure they can separate their feedstock down to an appropriate size at a high frequency.
With long service life an important consideration, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) have aimed to continually improve their design to ensure operators get the most from their vibrating screens.
As a renowned Australia-wide distributor of bearings, power transmission and industrial products, CBC Australia offers a suite of products from a range of premium suppliers.
As part of its offering, CBC specialises in delivering quality, high precision and cost-effective spherical roller bearings. CBC are well recognised for offering a strong service provision in the management, supply and distribution of bearings throughout Australia.
Tony Tormey, CBC Australia Product Manager – Industrial Bearings, says the FAG T41D Spherical Roller Bearing series from Schaeffler is the latest iteration in the shaker screen bearing solution for vibrating screens.
Schaeffler stock a range of screen bearings, including the T41A, T41B and T41D series to suit the application.
“The T41D screen bearing is proving to be essential in the vibrating screen industry,” Tormey explains.
Tormey says that in order to allow thermal expansion of the shaft, loose fits are commonly used, which usually leads to fretting corrosion. This can restrict thermal expansion of the shaft, increasing bearing loads ultimately reducing bearing life.
The T41D – design however, has a premium hard chromium coating (Durotect CK) on the bore, avoiding fretting corrosion as well as elevated bearing load. This results in a longer service life.
Additional benefit of the coating is the prevention of shaft damage as fretting corrosion is avoided. This reduces repair costs.
“If you put a machine component under the microscope, you will see the peaks with a standard bearing. With the hard chromium coating on the bore, basically it alleviates a lot of those peaks and provides a more of a consistent surface,” Tony says.
With superior qualities of the T41D bearing series with Durotect CK coating on the bore, operators can work more efficiently with a low total cost of ownership, all while delivering a higher level of performance and machine reliability.
The vibrating screen is one of the toughest applications for a bearing due to the high oscillating loads impacting the bearing components, including the grease.
Tormey says the FAG shaker screen bearings from Schaeffler feature Bainite heat treatment giving improved productivity through temperature stability up to 200°C.
Additionally there is a surface hardened cage with high wear resistance and outer ring guidance to accommodate centrifugal forces. The internal design also allows for a relatively larger volume of grease, which is critical in such an application.
Tighter ID and OD dimensional tolerances also provide better control of fit in both housing and shaft.
CBC recommends Schaeffler’s FAG Spherical Roller bearings in X-life quality as they operate 70 per cent longer than regular bearings in the same installation position. Bearings from 22317-EL-XL-T41D right through to 222330-E1-XL-T41D are supplied standard with Durotect CK coated bores.
Tormey says Schaeffler also provide a range of bearing housings with four different sealing options available, depending on application and spherical rollers as a complete package. These include a double lip seal, V-ring seal, labyrinth and taconite seal option depending on the medium.
Additionally, Schaeffler offers tools for the mechanical, hydraulic and thermal mounting and dismounting of bearings.
Moreover, CBC branches across the country offer national sales and local support. This extends to engineering services that include condition monitoring and process improvement.
A number of claims have since been thrown around, such as: “there’s still another four years to find a site” and “Alex Fraser still has two other sites”.
