ISSUE 82 | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018
www.insidewaste.com.au
INSIDE 17 National Sword cutting deep 30 Another notch in Wastech’s belt 46 The sweet spot
Is Australia ready to power up?
What does it take to clean up the Harbour Bridge in Sydney? A fleet of at least six street sweepers for one. More in our street sweepers section from page 46.
The National Sword crisis RECYCLING contracts in Australia are under threat and a crisis is looming after China implemented its National Sword policy on January 1, which restricts the import of 24 categories of solid waste and limits contamination of those materials to less than 0.5%. The restrictions are already being felt in the sector, with stockpiling beginning and waste collectors across the country trying to find new markets to prevent a disruption of kerbside collection services. At least one recycler, Visy, has put a halt to the processing of materials from some councils in western Victoria. China made it clear in July that it was implementing its National Sword policy this year and the industry hasn’t sat on its hands, warning governments
of the need to improve and enhance local processing. Recycling contracts are at risk of defaulting or being cancelled and the National Waste and Recycling Industry Council has proposed preliminary solutions, including the renegotiation of contracts between local governments and recycling providers to improve risk sharing and lower contamination, increasing stockpiling allowances where environmentally safe, and making Commonwealth assistance available to open new export markets. Meanwhile, Victorian Waste Management Association CEO Peter Anderson believes a taskforce needs to be formed to work out the initiatives that could bring innovation to the sector and create markets for
recyclables. Anderson says it’s not about getting a handout but simply providing financial support to drive investment in recycling innovation. Charlotte Wesley, environmental consultant at Arcadis, warns that turning to alternate international markets is but a short-term solution and says national collaboration and potentially policy changes are required to prevent a loss of confidence in the sector. She says a processing capacity map and quantitative spatial data to identify the larger waste generating council areas could help link supply and demand between regions and facilitate the scale to maximise recycling in as cost- and carbon-effective a manner as possible. More on page 17.
GOVERNMENT and segments of the battery industry in Australia have been working towards a national scheme for handheld batteries under 5kg since 2013, however a recycling program has yet to be realised. The result is a collection rate of about 3% in Australia, compared to 40%-70% in Europe. Equilibrium’s director of communications, John Gertsakis, notes that there is light at the end of the tunnel if you cast your eye towards the chronology of events since late 2015, which demonstrates some very focused activity and decision-making by the Battery Implementation Working Group (BIWG). For instance, in July 2017, the BIWG recommended to Environment Minsters a shared approach that was underpinned by ‘light’ regulation to prevent free-riding and ensure industry-wide participation while minimising cost to government. That same month, the meeting of Environment Ministers (MEM) endorsed the work of the BIWG and agreed to consider approaches that involve regulatory options “to underpin a voluntary scheme … as states see fit.” Environment Ministers are meeting again soon and Gertsakis says this meeting could be a turning point for battery recycling. However, he warned that anything less than a firm decision by governments to regulate may result in industry walking away - leaving Australians with little option but to dispose of old batteries inappropriately, putting our environment and communities at risk.