BINGO Industries brings climate change reforms into spotlight

The waste and resource recovery sector is on the cusp of sweeping climate change reforms. BINGO Industries’ Matt Hyatt explains.

Australian businesses are about to undergo what has been described as the biggest change in corporate reporting in decades.

The introduction of mandatory climate disclosures, based on the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), could be a shot in the arm for Australia to meet emissions targets, says Matt Hyatt, Head of Sustainability at BINGO Industries.

But he fears that many industries, including waste and resource recovery, are not prepared. 

“Considering some of the biggest companies in our industry are going to be impacted by this within months, it seems to be going under the radar,” Matt says. 

“If we’re serious about hitting emissions targets, the metrics that come from these disclosures will hopefully encourage companies to be ambitious, set actionable plans and really provide the financial impetus to make the big investments needed to minimise the impact of climate change.”

In June 2022, Australia committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and net zero by 2050. 

It’s already mandatory for large companies that meet reporting thresholds to report scope one – direct emissions, or those that are owned or controlled by a company – and two emissions that are a consequence of the activities of the company but occur from sources not owned or controlled by it, such as electricity. 

Under the new ISSB climate disclosure rules, they will now also have to report scope three emissions – all indirect emissions that occur across the value chain and are outside an organisation’s control. These can include employee travel, extraction and production of purchased materials, as well as the transport and disposal of waste.

Matt says while the new disclosures will be a challenge, it’s also an opportunity for the waste industry to highlight the good work being undertaken, particularly decarbonisation benefits through resource recovery and circular outcomes.

One of the focuses of the new disclosures will be putting a financial cost on the potential impacts of climate change on business. 

The waste industry has not been left unscathed by recent climate change events including bushfires in 2019 and 2020, which cut off important infrastructure, and floods in Sydney in 2021 and 2022 during which landfills servicing Greater Sydney struggled to operate.

“These changes are significant and will push a company to proactively look at ways to adapt to current and future climate change risks,” Matt says. 

BINGO is investing to increase the size and capability of its landfill leachate treatment and stormwater management systems to cope with high rainfall events.

With forecasters now predicting Australia will soon enter a drought, attention is turning to dust suppression with limited stormwater supplies or the possible increase in water prices. 

Climate reporting will not only add internal pressure to the industry – companies will face external pressure from customers considering their own climate impact, including how they manage their waste. This is where recycling and a circular economy can come into play. 

Circular economy strategies reduce the demand for raw materials and new products, and can help reduce global emissions from the extraction and processing of materials.

“We’ve gone above and beyond planetary boundaries for resource use.”

Transition to a circular economy can be a powerful driver to combat climate change. But Matt says the circular economy is at risk of being lost without fit-for-purpose legislation for the design of goods and services for reuse, repair and recycling. 

“We’re working with linear products and services at the end of their life and trying to recycle and take them to the highest order of reuse or value,” he says.

“We’re stuck because the design aspect of the circular economy has not been implemented. There’s no legislation required to design products and services to be circular.”

He cites construction and demolition (C&D) waste as an example. When buildings that are now being demolished were designed there was no thought about the circularity of the products being used.

Recovered metal has enough inherent value to be recycled and there are big offtakes of aggregates for reuse. Timber, however, has mostly been mulched for landscaping.

BINGO is transforming reclaimed timber from C&D sites into alternative fuels to displace coal, and back into timber product such as recycled particle board. However, the opportunities for recycled products are limited.

What’s needed now is collaboration between the waste industry, product manufacturers and government.

“We’ve gone above and beyond planetary boundaries for resource use,” Matt says. “We need to stop continuing down that pathway and have recyclability (as a minimum) a key part of the end-of-life considerations of a product. 

“The carbon cost of many virgin materials is only going to continue to increase and companies who don’t look at incorporating recycled content now will be left behind.”

BINGO increased the production of recycled materials in the 2023 financial year by 13 per cent (compared to FY22) – materials that can be used instead of virgin materials. 

The recovered and recycled materials in FY23 account for 424,575 tonnes of abated carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of taking about 94,000 petrol cars off the road for one year. 

Matt is sympathetic to manufacturers being wary of recycled content and understands a need to ensure their product is fit-for-purpose. A lot of the concerns, he says, can be overcome with education, an understanding of the technical advancements, and legislation.

“The design aspect has to be resolved and the only way is to legislate,” he says. “I understand it’s hard to legislate when many products are manufactured overseas, but there needs to be broader sustainable design legislation. 

“The current product stewardship regime is piecemeal and too slow to hit the National Waste Policy targets. We’ve spoken about how hard it is for too long. Someone needs to start things off.”  

For more information, visit: www.bingoindustries.com.au