Australian company Vortair’s patented technology is set to revolutionise waste recycling solutions and address the volumes of municipal solid waste being sent to landfill.
Australia is grappling with a growing waste crisis, marked by escalating waste generation, a shrinking number of landfills, and mounting environmental degradation.
Jeff Lang, Chief Executive Officer of Vortair, says decisive action is required to reduce waste volumes and enhance recovery rates. Failure to address the challenges will lead to consequences for Australia’s environmental and economic wellbeing.
Vortair technology can provide an on-site waste management solution that reduces the volume of waste as well as maximising value of recovery from waste streams.
Jeff hopes to introduce the technology to local councils to help meet environmental and business objectives.
According to estimates derived from the 2022 National Waste Report, prepared for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, about 75.8 million tonnes (Mt) of waste is generated annually. Of this, 14 Mt is attributed to municipal solid waste (MSW), which forms the cornerstone of council services.
Australian waste management trends reveal disparities in the recycling and recovery of different materials. In 2020-21, the largest waste categories were building and demolition materials (33 per cent), organics (19 per cent), ash (16 per cent), and hazardous waste (10 per cent).
While metals and building materials had high recovery rates of 87 per cent and 81 per cent respectively, plastics lagged with only a 13 per cent recovery rate. Textiles had an even lower rate at five per cent, excluding charitable donations.
Environmental costs
Landfills are a major source of methane, a potent contributor to climate change. About 30 per cent of the nation’s methane emissions are produced by landfills. Additionally, organic waste in landfill generates 13 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
Groundwater contamination necessitates costly remediation efforts by local councils. The situation is exacerbated by the leakage of plastic waste into marine environments,threatening wildlife and ecosystems.
Jeff says addressing these issues is crucial for mitigating environmental harm and reducing Australia’s overall carbon footprint.
Economic problem
There are 14 million tonnes of municipal solid waste generated a year in Australia. The average price per tonne to dispose of all kerbside waste for councils is estimated to be $235 per tonne.
“If we assume a similar cost of $235 per tonne to councils nationally, Australian councils will pay about $3.29 billion per year on collecting and processing municipal solid waste,” Jeff says.
“Councils are facing increasing pressures from state and federal governments and external stakeholders to be more environmentally sustainable. This combines with increasing populations, less availability of landfill sites and extra bureaucratic hurdles.
“Councils also need to navigate the ambitious targets of the National Waste Policy, additional levies and hence additional cost pressures.”
He says Australia’s resource recovery rate for municipal waste rose from 37 per cent in 2007 to 42 per cent in 2021, but still far short of the 80 per cent target set by the National Waste Policy. It’s a similar story for organic waste levels which remain high despite a national target of 50 per cent reduction of organic waste to landfill by 2030.
“These goals are far from being realised,” Jeff says. “The current trajectory indicates that without the introduction of revolutionary technology and innovative solutions, these critical targets will be missed, leaving councils struggling to manage the growing waste crisis.”
Vortair’s solution
Vortair offers autogenous grinding systems to process waste materials into value-add materials. Jeff says the turnkey systems can mill waste materials into a fine powder to reduce waste volume by up to 90 per cent.
The patented technology, designed and manufactured in Australia, uses air vortex frequency pulverising technology that releases stored kinetic energy within materials, enabling waste materials to be processed and refined into dry powder or liquid paste.
The technology is applicable across multiple industries, milling materials such as plastic, glass and cardboard, thus reducing the volume of waste, minimising disposal costs and in many cases turning the waste into a saleable commodity.
Jeff says the technology is applicable for more than just waste processing as it can also micronise various foods, metal powders for 3D printing, pharmaceuticals, minerals and agriculture biomass.
He says Vortair’s business model of minimising waste and maximising the recovery of value from waste streams, aligns closely with the environmental policies and business objectives of local councils.
Vortair is interested in discussing potential strategic partnerships with councils to implement Vortair technology. This would involve a work plan that includes exploration of capital expenditures (CAPEX), operational expenditures (OPEX), and revenue and profit generation.
For more information, visit: www.vortair.com.au
.png){kind=small}
