Veolia

MWRRG announces shortlist for advanced waste processing facility

The Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group (MWRRG) has announced a shortlist of companies to develop an alternative to landfill in Melbourne’s south east.

In March 2020, MWRRG called for expressions of interest for solutions to provide an alternative to landfill for 16 councils.

After a competitive tendering process, three companies have been shortlisted to join the solution development stage of the procurement: Veolia Environmental Services Australia, Sacyr Environment Australia and a Pacific Partnerships and REMONDIS consortium.

According to a MWRRG statement, landfills in the south east of Melbourne are filling up and no more are planned to be built.

“Household rubbish in the 16 councils is projected to increase by 40 per cent over the next 25 years,” the statement reads.

“Veolia Environmental Services Australia, Sacyr Environment Australia and Pacific Partnerships and REMONDIS will work with the 16 councils to develop an advanced waste processing solution that delivers environmental, economic and social benefits to the community.”

MWRRG said the best outcomes will be achieved by minimising waste and reusing or recycling, with leftover material managed through advanced waste processing.

“Advanced waste processing will help the Victorian government deliver on its circular economy strategy – Recycling Victoria – a 10 year plan that will completely overhaul Victoria’s recycling sector and reduce waste going to landfill,” the statement reads.

“Advanced waste processing solutions will play a significant role in achieving the new target to divert 80 per cent of household rubbish from landfill by 2030.”

The advanced waste processing procurement will ensure facilities meet best-practice environment protection requirements and energy efficiency standards, and do not displace or inhibit innovation to reduce or recycle materials.

Additionally, the procurement will ensure the facilities reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to the waste and energy services they displace.

“Advanced waste processing technologies have been used successfully and safely overseas for years as an alternative to landfill,” the statement reads.

“The new facilities are expected to attract investment of around $650 million and create jobs during construction and permanent operating jobs.”

It is expected the process will take close to two years to reach a final tender stage, with a 20 to 25-year contract to be awarded by 2022. Construction is expected to commence in 2023.

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Unlocking the value in organics: Veolia

Veolia highlights the company’s comprehensive strategy and range of technologies to work towards a circular economy by diverting organics waste from landfill across Australia. 

Waste and recycling has never been more topical across the Australian political and public landscape.

With international recycling markets closing their doors to Australian recyclable exports, governments are encouraging the development of viable recycling markets within our shores.

This has included putting in place stronger policies to increase the diversion of organic waste from landfill.

An example is Victoria’s recently released Recycling Victoria strategy which included a $129 million package for kerbside reform.

This announcement included a target for 100 per cent of households to have access to separate food and organics recovery service or composting by 2030, as well as halving the volume of organic material going to landfill by 50 per cent between 2020 and 2030.

Over in NSW, the government is targeting net zero emissions from organic waste to landfill by 2030, with a variety of supporting policies.

The trends across organics diversion are welcome news for leading environmental solutions organisation Veolia, which has been at the forefront of sector innovation for decades.

Laurie Kozlovic, Chief Innovation and Strategic Development Officer, Veolia Australia and New Zealand, says organics recovery is firmly part of its business strategy to ‘Resource the World’.

“For Veolia, it is not only about landfill diversion, but importantly, improving soil health which is extremely relevant in an Australian context,” he says.

Veolia’s Bulla Organics Facility turns thousands of tonnes of organic waste into high-quality compost.

Carbon storage in soil offers a host of ecological benefits such as release of nutrients, water retention, and absorption of organic and/or inorganic pollutants.

Its sequestration also supports other ecosystem services derived from soils, such as farming production, drinking water supply and biodiversity.

This occurs by increasing the amount of organic matter in the soil, thus improving its quality.

The Rabobank 2019 Food waste report identified that food waste costs Australians $10 billion annually.

Of course, the approach to tackling the problem is to avoid the generation of organic waste in the first instance, and education is key.

Once organic waste is generated however, the right technology and capability can provide numerous beneficial circular economy and climate resilient outcomes.

In Australia, Veolia operates a comprehensive range of technologies including a number of in-vessel composting facilities as well as an anaerobic digestion facility which produces both electricity and fertiliser.

Veolia’s compost products are beneficially reused in a number of urban amenity, agriculture, rehabilitation and environmental remediation applications across the country.

Additionally, the company collects organic waste from its broad customer base which includes councils, commercial and industrial businesses.

This experience also extends to its water business where organics such as biosolids are managed and beneficially reused.

Laurie says that removing organics from landfill crucially reduces carbon emissions. He adds that equally, compost plays an important role in providing food security, improving soil carbon and crop productivity, and reducing the effects of drought.

“Organic waste recycling is a great example of how we can value the inherent properties of waste and keep the materials circulating through the economy,” he says.

Additionally, Laurie says that identifying the waste streams for recovery early on enables the right infrastructure to be developed. The end result is an integrated and holistic solution crucial for any zero waste ambition.

With organics recycling rates being around 52 per cent in Australia, there is ample opportunity for improvement and innovation.

Mark Taylor, Head of Solid Waste Treatment, Veolia ANZ, says that the best outcomes are when customers take ownership of their wastes from a process and recovery point of view. He says this then becomes a prime partnership for finding optimal solutions together.

Veolia’s innovations include Soil Advisor – an app that has been in development internationally for a number of years through Veolia’s agronomic hub.

It provides farmers with a tool to optimise compost application by analysing the long-term effect of the compost. Importantly, it looks at compost’s impact on changes to soil organic matter and soil carbon storage.

This digital tool supports the international “4 per 1000, Soils for Food Security and Climate” initiative launched during COP21 in late 2015.

The idea is that a four per cent annual increase in the amount of carbon in all soils worldwide would compensate for yearly increases in human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.

An example is Veolia’s partnership with iugis Group, for the exclusive distribution of onsite organic food digester technologies, including the ORCA product in Australia and New Zealand.

The mobile, onsite organic digester solution is suitable for customers in a range of market sectors.

The iugis technology mimics a natural digestion process, biologically converting organic food waste into liquid tradewaste.

It supports landfill diversion as well as providing an on-site solution for Veolia customers that may be in remote or rural areas, or some distance away from a dedicated composting facility.

As with all waste issues, a systematic and comprehensive approach is needed to deliver meaningful outcomes.

Veolia is ready to work further with governments, businesses and communities to convert the various organics policy ambitions, as well as their customer objectives into practical and relevant solutions.

However, Mark says Veolia needs all stakeholders to work together to create the framework and conditions necessary for the actions to be successful.

“Veolia will invest, however we need stable and reasonable policy, regulatory and contractual conditions. These conditions will enable long term and sustainable investments which are value creating for all partners,” Mark says.

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Setting up for successful energy recovery in Australia: Veolia

As Veolia Australia and New Zealand progresses Australia’s first thermal energy recovery facility in Western Australia, Waste Management Review explores what to consider when looking to establish a successful new waste to energy facility.

When GHD was commissioned by the Federal Government in 2009 to prepare a study into waste technology and innovation, it predicted there would likely be a growing acceptance of thermal technologies in Australia.

This view, it said, was down to the fact that the level of sophistication was increasing and there were more examples of proven performance in advanced economies overseas.

Ten years down the track, the National Waste Report 2018 shows us that landfill gas, processed engineered fuels and anaerobic digestion are still the common forms of energy recovery in Australia. About 1.97 million tonnes of waste was used for energy recovery, 90 per cent of which was achieved through landfill gas.

Thermal treatment, on the other hand, is creeping up as an emerging technology, with Australian governments and the private sector increasingly recognising its local potential even though thermal technologies have been successfully used overseas for many years.

According to Sustainability Victoria’s 2018 Resource Recovery Technology Guide, combustion processes have been widely deployed for processing waste materials across the globe and have the strongest technical and commercial track record of all residual waste treatment technologies.

It cites the European example, where energy recovery facilities are coupled with recycling schemes to achieve resource recovery and landfill diversion rate above 75 per cent.

Locally, we’re seeing a step change in community acceptance of energy recovery through Waste to Energy facilities, with Veolia Australia and New Zealand emerging as a leader in this space. The company is now looking at applying its international experience in energy recovery to the Australian landscape.

Earlier this year, construction began on Australia’s first thermal energy recovery facility (ERF). Based in Kwinana, WA, the site will be operated and maintained (O&M) by Veolia Australia and New Zealand post-construction for 25 years.

Leveraging its experience in operating more than 65 ERFs across the globe, Veolia stands ready to spearhead efficient, effective and economically viable renewable energy solutions.

Across all of Veolia’s operations, ERFs serve as a complementary technology to recycling, while providing communities with sources of affordable and reliable energy. ERFs also benefit Veolia’s customers by reducing their environmental footprint as well as costs associated with landfill taxes.

In France, Veolia operates 45 energy recovery facilities, supplying almost 40 per cent of the nation’s active plants, 43 of which comprise an energy recovery system. Thermal energy supports district heating networks, green houses or is transformed into electrical energy which is then on-sold to distributors.

Across the European Union, around 27 per cent of municipal waste was incinerated using energy recovery. This rises to more than 30 per cent in countries like France and more than 50 per cent in Scandinavian nations.

As Veolia Australia and New Zealand lays the foundations for Australia’s first thermal ERF facility, Waste Management Review caught up with Guillaume Wallaert, Vice President of Waste Municipal & Commercial Offers at Veolia in France, and Laurie Kozlovic, Chief Strategic Development & Innovation Officer at Veolia Australia and New Zealand.

These experts provide insight into some of the myths surrounding ERFs, and considerations for successfully starting, operating and maintaining an ERF.

While the various forms of ‘energy recovery” can be confusing for some, Guillaume sums it up into six options: thermal treatment; RDF in various forms, including a dedicated combustion facility, co-incineration and gasification; anaerobic digestion and biogas from landfill.

“Thermal energy’s main advantage is that it’s reliable, we know it works, and you can reduce the volume of waste quite significantly while creating high quality energy for industrial purposes,” Guillaume says.

When it comes to the different forms of ERF, Guillaume says, there are various considerations that will work better for some ERF proponents more than others. For example, thermal mass burning is costly and combined heat and power systems (CHP) need to be prioritised to ensure energy recovery remains efficient. However, it’s a mature technology that offers good waste reduction of up to 90 per cent in volume and 70 per cent in weight. It can also be adapted to a large scope of waste.

RDF, on the other hand, can be costly due to the need for pre-treatment, but Guillaume says it’s mature technology provides a high calorific value. He says CHP mode needs to be prioritised to enhance energy. Guillaume also considers it to be more suited to commercial and industrial waste.

“We have seen for the past 10 or 20 years RDF being developed especially in Germany, over there we are quite a big player,” he says.

He adds that RDF is also dependant on secure outlets, namely cement kilns, which can present a challenge and create a reliance on export markets.

“If you don’t have cement kilns taking RDF then you need to create your own outlets. For example in the Czech Republic, we are converting coal-based power plants into RDF and biomass-based power plants, which is another option.”

Co-incineration is another viable option and according to Guillaume, it is a mature technology with a low carbon footprint, but requires high quality RDF and reliable and long-term users.

In RDF gasification, he says the limitation can be cost, while highlighting it is a less mature technology. Fortunately, it provides good waste traction, a solid carbon footprint and high levels of material recovery, but requires very high quality input. Anaerobic digestion is also quite costly, Guillaume says.

He says it’s a mature technology with high organic valorisation and a low carbon footprint. It can also only be adapted to organic fractions, requires good input quality and downstream solutions for digestate or compost.

Finally, biogas from landfill offers a low cost, mature and simple technology with a very high footprint, he says. It can also be adapted for all waste.

Veolia’s ERF in Portsmouth, UK.

Guillaume’s significant experience has taught him about the nuances of energy recovery. When he homes in on how the landscape has changed over the past decade, he reflects on thermal treatment.

As one of the most developed systems in the EU, he says that combustion technology has embraced the principles of moving grates. He estimates more than 1200 facilities globally have used the technology, with 500 of these in the EU and the remainder in Asia, China, the US and Japan. Importantly, advancements in technology have supported a range of contemporary standards.

As ERF facilities produce flue gases from the combustion process, the European Union (EU) has set the standard via various directives. For example, Directive 2010-75/EU provides direction on emissions limits and flue gas treatment for the combustion process, which has been quoted as best practice by the Victorian Government. Guillaume says that EU regulations requiring additional flue gas treatment have been in place as early as 2002.

In Australia, the Kwinana Waste to Energy project will use Keppel Seghers moving grate technology, a proven technology used extensively in Europe. The plant has obtained all the necessary regulatory approvals from the WA EPA laid out in the Public Environmental Review document and Air Quality – Stack Emissions standards.

SOCIAL LICENCE TO OPERATE

Obtaining a social licence to operate is often a deciding factor of whether an ERF project successfully gets off the ground in the Australian market. This makes it critical that ERF proponents select the right strategic partner to operate and maintain a facility.

With ERFs relatively new to Australia, notably thermal treatment, Laurie Kozlovic, Chief Strategic Development & Innovation Officer at Veolia Australia and New Zealand, highlights the factors that have stalled investment in the past. Additionally, he points to the lessons Veolia is applying to manage the new energy landscape.

Firstly, he points out that there’s been a growing interest from the government, consumers and suppliers for more ERFs which provide a viable alternative to landfill within a waste hierarchy.

“In some parts of the country, the increase in waste levies has inspired a discussion around alternatives,” Laurie says.

Victoria, for example, announced in its long-awaited circular economy policy that it would raise the waste levy from $65.90 a tonne to $125.90 by 2022-23. Given the plan to double the levy over two years, this may inspire complementary energy recovery solutions.

Secondly, he says that when it comes to the economic factors driving ERFs, proponents need a clear regulatory environment to inform their investments.

“A lot of investments are made based on the ‘rules of the game’ so to speak, so the regulators need to be clear whether they want energy recovery as a complementary part of their waste management strategy and if so, how they want it to happen,” Laurie says.

“You can’t build 50-year infrastructure with a two to three-year policy framework, so for us, a clear and consistent long-term policy and strategy is important for getting the right investors into the sector,” he adds.

When it comes to Veolia’s O&M contract in Kwinana, Laurie highlights that the market signals were suitable for Veolia to be involved.

“The framework and guidelines were first in place there, and seemed to be further progressed than others, so that’s why it happened there. Whether it’s the best place or not, I guess only time will tell,” Laurie says.

“As an operator of a facility like Kwinana, we’re responsible for delivering an energy output based on the volume that’s coming in, and we need to be sure we can achieve that based on the material coming into the facility. That’s a key part of our role – working with our partners to provide them with the best advice and global experience to make the facility a success.”

DE-BUNKING THE MYTHS

Managing Australia’s ERF transition effectively, Laurie says, means breaking misconceptions. He recognises that not everyone will be in favour of energy recovery, but those that choose to take that position should do so with an informed view.

“It’s important that any misconceptions are cleared so that the people who are making decisions on ERFs know exactly what it is all about,” he says.

That said, Guillaume says that even with Europe’s extensive experience in ERFs, there are some broader misconceptions globally, including the common argument that ERF “cannibalises” recycling.

Guillaume points out that the EU has a common target to achieve a 65 per cent recycling rate for municipal waste by 2030. He says that the other 35 per cent then becomes a critical residual component.

“We’ve all heard this a few times: if you have a ERF facility you won’t recycle any longer. We have plenty of evidence that proves that wrong. In fact the more you recycle, the more you develop ERFs and we have to combine both to create an efficient solution,” Guillaume says.

This view is shared by Laurie, who says that we need to share the global experience where ERFs are mature technologies and in the middle of cities around the world.

“I think there’s a lot of work to be done in educating key stakeholders to ensure you don’t get decisions made on unproven technologies or ideas that sound great at the time but haven’t been tested or proven in other markets,” Laurie says.

Pondering on the planning phase, Laurie says that there is no one-size-fits-all answer for energy recovery in Australia. There are not only unique circumstances in different geographies, but other variables such as the type of waste a facility is receiving, their pricing mechanisms, energy offtake, allowable inputs and desired outputs.

“That is why we’re technology agnostic, because there are different solutions appropriate for different environments,” he says.

He says Veolia Australia and New Zealand will assess the above variables and then draw on its global counterparts to come up with the right solution or technology for that particular market.

“The beauty of having access to some of the best experts in the world, who have successfully managed multiple plants using various technologies around the world, is that it allows us to draw on that experience and make informed decisions in our own market.”

Veolia’s foliage lined RERF in Leeds, UK.

Pointing to the European example, Guillaume says that in many cases, ERF facilities operate in close quarters to urban communities in Europe. As such, he says integrating these facilities into the surrounding environment has become a focal point.

In Leeds in the UK, Veolia partnered with architects in the UK to line its ERF facility with healthy green foliage, helping it blend in with the local scenery while providing a striking architectural landmark. Guillaume says the facility is the largest of its kind, and helps improve community confidence in ERF by creating a positive and innovative landmark for the Aire Valley region.

“This is a key point for all countries adopting a ERF solution and also in countries where the technology is relatively new such as in Australia,” he says.

Likewise, he says that collaborating with stakeholders and local authorities from the outset of a ERF project is important. In some cases, he says projects in Europe are led by the local council or statutory authority with integrated facilities that incorporate materials recovery facilities.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT TECH

Choosing a reliable technology is also an important part of achieving long-term success, says Guillame. A poor choice in technology, he says, can be the difference between seven years of equipment service life, and 40.  Effective management can also significantly determine long-term financial outcomes. For example, predictive maintenance can eliminate costly maintenance cycles.

“If you use predictive maintenance, you can potentially do it once every 18 months or even every two years instead of every year with the right data and tools,” he says.

With Australia steadily advancing towards increased ERF, Laurie recognises there are still barriers to entry in the Australian market. Competition by low cost landfill, emerging legal frameworks, cheap energy prices and emerging market maturity could see operators face hurdles. Moreover, a lack of space (geographically) and higher demand for district heating helped propel projects forward in markets such as Europe – drivers which simply don’t exist in Australia.

But even if operators get all of these ingredients right and the approvals process progresses, there are some deciding factors that can make or break a project. This is where Guillaume highlights the importance of finding the right risk allocation among engineering, procurement and construction players. Getting a project to financial close, he says, requires robust and experienced contractors.

He adds that the banks and investors will look closely at all revenues the proponent expects to gain from the facility, including expected gate fees and energy spot prices.

“It’s a really key point we’re always discussing with customers – a project has to be affordable for a city,” he says.

Adding to these views, Laurie highlights the importance of sizing your ERF appropriately.

“If you look around the world there are both small-scale and large-scale ERFs. You don’t want to be in a situation where you make your ERF too big and you end up having problems being able to find volumes to feed them. On the other hand, if you make them too small and you’ve got to return your investment on a smaller volume, then it doesn’t make it economical to run. It’s why there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to ERFs,” Laurie says.

As for how the Australian ERF market will evolve? Laurie is optimistic about its future based on what’s already been achieved around the world.

“There’s no doubt that ERF’s will become a more integral part of Australia’s waste management strategy in coming years – and with new approaches and technologies emerging all the time, this knowledge will only prove valuable as we start to apply what works best within our local regulatory and commercial frameworks,” Laurie says.

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Gamification tackles transient workforce: Veolia

Across the globe, transient work, including casualised employment and contractor jobs, are becoming a predominant theme. Waste Management Review explores how a waste education app could result in sustainable behavioural change.

According to the Deloitte Insights 2018 Global Human Capital Trends report, globally there were around 77 million freelancers in the US, India and Europe.

In the US, more than 40 per cent of workers were employed in “alternative work arrangements”, including contingent, part-time or gig work. Additionally in 2018, the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work reported that for the first time, over half of the nation’s working population were in non-permanent roles.

This global trend has implications across waste segregation and contamination. More than ever, education needs to be ongoing to ensure employees know when, where and how to properly dispose of waste.

In Australia, EPA NSW highlighted in its 2012 Better Practice Guidelines for Waste Management and Recycling in Commercial and Industrial Facilities that education must be regular and continual to overcome the transient nature of cleaning contractors in the commercial rental market.

It also considered other factors to be essential in overcoming this issue, including correct labelling of recycling bins, clear signage and the signposting of the location and direction of waste storage areas.

While many of these methods are often key to improving consumer education, they don’t always work in practice. Veolia Australia and New Zealand formulated an updated understanding of this in early 2018, when it began looking at ways to help its commercial customers tackle their unique contamination challenges.

Veolia responded by developing a unique app to tackle the challenges associated with waste education in workplaces with a transient workforce.

Kate Suters, Sustainability Strategist at Veolia Australia and New Zealand, says that the company first wanted to better understand the challenges its customers faced.

“We spent a lot of time talking with our clients, listening to their needs, industry challenges and what they really wanted and needed,” Kate says.

“To address these challenges, we developed a strategy that was engaging, impacted behaviour change and had frequent, short and snappy delivery.”

Veolia’s diverse range of customers are located across a range of industry segments, including retail, hospitality and commercial property. Many of these customers identified a lack of participation, confusing content and training not resulting in behavioural change as key barriers to progress. A lack of resources to develop and deliver training were also seen as barriers to waste education.

Kate says the company assessed available technologies and learning platforms that would deliver the best response to their customers’ requirements.

She says that while there were a lot of waste educational tools out in the market, not all of them were engaging, fun or focused on creating behaviour change.

In response to this, Veolia developed Way to Grow, a gamified waste education app catering for a wide level of user knowledge in waste and recycling.

“There is an assumption that people know the basics of what is and isn’t recyclable, but we’ve found this to be untrue, so it was imperative that the app was developed to provide a personalised learning experience,” explains Chelsea Rorimpandey, Marketplace Sustainability Manager at Veolia Australia and New Zealand.

For employers, Way to Grow provides personalised employee engagement, an innovative way to embed sustainability into company culture and the opportunity to connect to a network of environmentally conscious teams.

For employees, it’s an entertaining way to learn about responsible waste management, earn rewards for taking positive actions and be part of something bigger.

One of the most unique elements of the app is its use of gamification principles.

It taps into user motivation and experiences and combines this with microlearning processes to positively reinforce knowledge and actions.

“It can dynamically monitor user behaviour, then recommend activities based on previous responses and deliver information to enhance learning,” Chelsea says.

“Challenges, games, videos and activities were all designed to be fun, positive and provide bursts of information.”

Kate says the end result is behavioural change in a business setting – lowering contamination and cost per tonne and increasing diversion from landfill.

“Compared to more traditional methods, such as face-to-face education – which has its place – Way to Grow proves that gamified education can deliver behavioural change. The app goes beyond informing people of what they should be doing by incentivising them to actually do it,” she says.

She says that it is equally crucial to highlight the importance of the user experience, which is not typically addressed in other forms of education.

“Way to Grow delivers personalised, concise and consistent education right to the fingertips of the user. They can play and learn at a time, place and speed that’s convenient for them, making it more accessible than any other type of education,” Kate says.

“Critically, this also takes much of the financial and resource constraints off businesses to deliver their own education, be it on a scheduled or ongoing basis.”

Way to Grow has added other components such as avatars and team challenges to encourage peer interaction and digital and material prizes.

“We also added the functionality of reporting for our clients so they could use it as an induction program,” she says.

The app has already delivered excellent results for Veolia customers, including a trial at the retail centres of integrated property group Charter Hall and another office environment.

Kate says that Charter Hall is focused on achieving its sustainability targets and driving site engagement.

“Working with a sustainability partner like Charter Hall who is equally focused on implementing the best education model for its tenancies made the process a lot more rewarding and ultimately helped deliver a better product to end users,” Kate says.

Anudeep Beniwal, National Procurement & Contracts Manager at Charter Hall, explains that education in the retail sector is challenging.

“Time, availability of resources, cost and continuity of messaging have been the main challenges, all of which are compounded by the casualised workforce of the industry,” Anudeep says.

“It’s quite normal to have staff members that only work a few days a week, or conversely a shop with only one staff member who doesn’t necessarily have a lot of time to learn about waste.”

He adds that connecting with tenants and educating them requires extensive resourcing and affects the bottom line – a process the app alleviates.

“For our centres, it helped provide continuity of education. The app is accessible at any time, so tenants can continue to learn and play as much as they like,” he says.

Critically, he says the app enabled Charter Hall to help its tenants understand the role they play in generating less and recycling more in a fun and engaging format.

“Tenants were really responsive – they enjoyed the activities and challenges. We received great feedback particularly around the content and instructiveness. Importantly, we saw that the more people engaged, the better the results,” he says.

“We saw significant results across recycling tonnage increasing, diversion increasing and costs decreasing. This ultimately helps our centres from an operational, cost and environmental standpoint.”

He says that during the initial pilot, diversion at the site increased by almost 10 per cent in the following months of using the app. The app provides detailed reporting, allowing Charter Hall to understand behaviour and engagement with the information.

In a recent launch of Way to Grow in a commercial office building, 84.2 per cent of users said that playing the app made a difference to their waste and recycling behaviours.

This difference was also observed in knowledge of correct waste practices, which rose from 25.5 to 96.5 per cent following the campaign.  Some of the following feedback was reported by end users:

“After playing Way to Grow I noticed you are unable to recycle some items which my colleagues were putting in the commingle bin. Now I help educate my colleagues and have made them aware the items are non-recyclable,” one said.

“I make more of an effort to throw things like soft plastics, organics and other separable wastes into the relevant bins,” said another.

“I had no idea that it took so long for things to break down, I am paying a lot more attention to my purchases now,” a third person remarked.

Way to Grow is available to a broad range of sectors and is currently being rolled out to a number of Veolia’s key clients across Australia. Kate says that the costs associated with implementing the app are marginal compared to the results achieved and the cost of delivering any other type of education.

“For organisations focused on achieving their sustainability targets, reducing their costs and engaging and empowering their staff, this type of educational delivery can become an effective part of a broader sustainability strategy,” she says.

To learn more, visit waytogrow.app.

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Waste to Energy Forum announces program updates

The Australian Waste to Energy Forum, one of the country’s most comprehensive waste events, returns to the Mercure in Ballarat 18-20 February 2020.

In its fifth consecutive year, the forum aims to provide a platform for all interested parties to discuss developments in Australia’s growing waste-to-energy (WtE) sector.

The theme for this year’s Australian Waste to Energy Forum, On the road to recovery, was selected to address two key areas: the application of waste hierarchy fundamentals; and changing perceptions about WtE facilities and their role within an integrated waste management strategy.

As in previous years, the event will run as a single stream, so all attendees can participate in all sessions. The aim is to provide a platform for discussion of challenges facing the industry, as well as showcasing latest technology and processes from Australia and around the world – both thermal and non-thermal.

Additionally, the forum will explore ways local government can co-operate with industry to develop appropriate infrastructure and deliver optimum waste services to their constitutes. Attendees will also hear case studies of projects that have successfully applied WtE technology.

Program overview:

The program features a range of speakers including Stephen Adamthwaite from EPA Victoria, who will present discuss WtE proposals, with particular reference to how proposals will fit under the new EP Act.

Trevor Evans, Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management, will deliver the Minister’s Address via video, after an official opening from City of Ballarat Mayor Ben Taylor.

Toby Terlet, Veolia Kwinana Project Director, will then detail challenges faced by a WtE facility in Tyseley, UK, including major upgrade works at the same time as industrial action, heavy snow and a declining national public sector budget.

This keynote presentation will discuss how Veolia worked proactively through the challenges with City of Birmingham to further cement the successful long-standing partnership and resulting in a 5-year contract extension.

Johnny Stuen, City of Oslo Waste-to-Energy Agency Technical Director, will deliver the second keynote presentation: providing an overview of the waste management system in Oslo, volumes technology and development work.

Oslo has optical sorting facilities, one for biological treatment/biogas production, and two WtE plants. The commercial WtE plant is the bigger of the two, and has competed projecting a full-scale carbon capture plant at site, awaiting investment decision.

Mr Stuen will also address why and how the source sorting system works, providing a detailed overview of technology, concept and market work for the biological treatment of organic waste in the system. He will also address regulative processes, development processes and further work.

Attendees will also hear from DELWP’s Angela Hoefnagels, Sustainability Victoria’s Matt Genever, CSIRO’s Daniel Roberts, Recovered Energy’s Ian Guss and ResourceCo’s Henry Anning.

Other discussion topics include WtE in a Circular Economy, Anaerobic Digestion, License to operate, current project updates, project development considerations and future opportunities and developments.

The Forum will also provide an opportunity for organisations to gain visibility and exposure in an interactive conference environment, with a number of social events and networking functions.

For more information click here.

Image curtesy of Paul Benjamin Photography. 

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