Toxfree’s Daniel Montalto discusses the company’s newly established collection services in New South Wales and Victoria, providing a whole-of-life solution to waste management in Australia.
With collection services now operating across the country, total waste management specialists Toxfree has officially closed the loop on its waste management service in Australia.
Over the next year, the company plans to roll out a new fleet of up to 20 hook lift and front lift trucks (predominantly Volvo FM11s), operating for the first time in New South Wales and Victoria. The decision cements the company’s reputation as offering a whole-of-life solution to waste management in Australia, from collection to handling, recycling and recovery. The move strengthens Toxfree’s achievement as the only company in Australia internationally recognised to safely handle next generation e-waste containing mercury.
Since its establishment on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2000, Toxfree has invested heavily in technologies, including its BluBox and HazPak systems, in order to safely handle hazardous waste in an environmentally responsible manner.
It’s also focused its services on the industrial, health and commercial waste sectors, providing a solution to challenging waste streams, from liquid waste to aerosol recycling and gas destruction.
Since 2000, Toxfree has acquired more than 10 waste management businesses, opened up over 85 facilities nationally and employs in excess of 1500 people. The company commenced its collection service in NSW in November 2016, and Victoria in July of this year. As part of its bold expansion, more than a dozen jobs will be created in administration and operations, along with the establishment of a new role for experienced business managers, Daniel Montalto in Victoria and Dean Naudi in NSW.
With more than three decades experience in the waste industry, Daniel joined Toxfree two months ago in the newly created Victorian manager role.
Daniel manages the movement of all solid waste and recyclables across the state. He says Toxfree’s state-of-the-art vehicles have been fitted with the latest recording systems and weighing devices. Daniel says that Toxfree’s new vehicles will ensure all waste streams comply with environment and safety standards.
He says that Toxfree does not own or operate any landfills, which means its duty of care to recycling and recovery is a high priority.
“As a leading recycler and handler of hazardous materials in the commercial, industrial and medical waste sector, the last part of closing the loop is to provide the waste services and the transport,” Daniel explains.
Increasing its involvement in the community is also part of the company’s expansion strategy.
Daniel says over the coming year Toxfree plans to work with statutory authority Sustainability Victoria to develop specific depots for residents to drop off their hazardous waste. He says that Toxfree has the largest network of collection points in NSW to accept the materials and process it at its St Marys facility in western Sydney.
Daniel cites the company’s HazPak systems and BluBox technologies as a key point of difference in its capacity to safely handle hazardous waste. Under the Hazardous Waste (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1989, waste considered hazardous includes that which is explosive, poisonous and toxic, along with flammable liquids and a range of other considerations.
The company’s HazPak 3000 is a densification system which shreds and separates residues from recyclable materials, such as paint tins, oil filters, carboys and aerosols.
Liquid or gaseous residues are recovered and reused or recycled depending on the waste stream. Waste streams are consolidated into bulk tanks to remove the gas and develop an alternative fuel to reuse the wastes, rather than disposing of it to landfill. Daniel says the fuel processed through HazPak powers the company’s incinerators at its facilities across the state, which are used to burn off toxic chemicals within waste streams.
Daniel says Toxfree is the only company in Australia able to safely recycle display units containing mercury, and has done so through its BluBox Recycling Plant. The BluBox is a 40-foot container designed for next generation e-waste such as flat panel displays, smart phones, tablets and laptops. It can also process a wider variety of domestic e-waste, including toasters and hair dryers.
The BluBox process extracts mercury from LCD backlighting tubes, utilising a filtration system to collect mercury vapour and phosphor-contaminated mercury.
The process provides a fully automated solution to handle a variety of e-waste items, from desktop computers and laptops, to toasters and hair dryers.
Daniel says another point of difference for the company is a highly skilled and trained workforce, with a range of employees coming from chemistry and logistics backgrounds.
“Safety is of major importance to us, and we’re able to handle the waste other companies don’t want to get involved with. Whenever we have a company meeting, the first point we discuss is whether we are meeting our safety requirements.”
Daniel says Toxfree’s vision going forward will be about sustainable growth.
Read the full story on page 42 of Issue 14.