The recipient of the Australian Organics Recycling Association (AORA) scholarship discusses her motives for applying and reflects on her time at the AORA Conference.
Each year the Australian Organics Recycling Association (AORA) holds the AORA Annual Conference, a forum for education, discussion and networking related to organics recycling.
Now regarded as the principal conference in Australia for the organics recycling industry, it is also an opportunity to celebrate outstanding achievements in the industry.
To encourage growth for the next generation of waste leaders, AORA offers a $3000 scholarship to help a young professional attend the conference which features workshops, presentations, social functions and an equipment demonstration day.
Themed Collaboration for Success – Securing our industry’s future, the 2024 conference was held across three days from June 5-7 at the Seaworld Conference Centre, Gold Coast, Queensland.
Violet Edwards, a 26-year-old agronomist, who was working at Verterra Ecological Engineering at the time, was this year’s Komptech CEA Young Professionals Scholarship recipient. She says it was a privilege to be awarded the scholarship and attend the conference.
During her time at Verterra Ecological Engineering, Violet worked as an agronomist, focusing on recycled organics and the beneficial reuse of biosolids via direct land application in agriculture.
It was here she discovered the AORA scholarship.
“I wanted to apply for the scholarship for several reasons, one was primarily due to working in the space of biosolids and the beneficial reuse of what most people consider a waste product,” says Violet.
“The stigma around recycled products can be somewhat influenced by negative public perception. Being able to highlight the benefits of recycled organics and learn more about their valuable contribution to the circular economy was extremely important.”
Violet says the scholarship also provided a unique opportunity.
“There is a lot of talk around composting FOGO (Food Organics Garden Organics) and recycled green waste, but not a lot of information on biosolids and the benefits it has to an agricultural production system,” she says. “We are actively trying to break down the community perception of it being waste and trying to highlight the benefits.”
As a young professional in the industry, Violet says she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to network with other industry professionals.
“It can be difficult to network and leverage in smaller industries, so I was glad to have the opportunity to attend the AORA conference where there was a concentration of industry people who are willing to pass on knowledge and have valuable discussions,” she says.
“It is very important to make those connections and speak with people in the space to leverage and learn. Particularly for young professionals.”
Violet describes the conference as an in-depth display of topics and discussions pertinent to the industry.
“A demonstration day sponsored by Focus Enviro kicked off the event and offered a fantastic display of technological innovation. I think it covered all bases and was quite in depth.”
More than 20 machines were on site for the demonstration, including shredders, compost screens, loaders, and excavators.
“The first day of the actual conference focused primarily on regulations and legislations, as well as the application of recycled organics,” Violet says.
The presentations began with a keynote presentation by Professor Sally Brown on the versatility of compost, which turned out to be one of Violet’s favourite presentations.
“Presentations and sessions on this day centred around shaping the industry’s future while analysing its current standings,” she says.
“Janine Price from Scolexia was another speaker who broke down and reviewed current state regulations on soil amendments and specific feedstock from each state’s EPA’s (environment protection authorities).”
Violet says this presentation was a standout for her as it shed critical light on discrepancies between each state’s regulations.
“Janine discussed many areas for improvement and standardisation within those regulations,” she says.
To finish off the conference, day three centred around primary producers, highlighting the application and significance of compost products in agricultural production systems.
Violet says as an agronomist, she enjoyed the presentations throughout the third day as they focused primarily on agronomic topics, diagnostics and the research that’s going on within recycled organics.
“Learning of the positive advancements that recycled organics are having on Australia’s agricultural, horticultural, and viticultural industries was eye-opening and rounded out the conference perfectly,” she says.
With time to reflect on her experience, Violet says she is looking forward to the growth of the industry.
“In the grand scheme of things, the industry is still small, so I am looking forward to seeing positive growth within the recycled organics industry in the coming years,” she says.
“For an industry that is still evolving, it is poised for substantial growth. I enjoyed learning about the quantity of research going into the recycling industry.”
For those looking ahead to next year’s scholarship and conference, Violet couldn’t recommend the experience enough.
“The opportunity to speak with like-minded people within the industry is enough of a reason to apply for the scholarship,” she says.
“On top of that, all the information and knowledge that you take in from the conference itself is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“I would definitely recommend it to young people in the recycled organics space.”
For more information, visit:
www.aora.org.au and
www.aoraconference.com.au