31 minute read
REDUCE EMISSIONS AND BEAT CONGESTION WITH INTELLIGENT PARKING SOLUTIONS
We’ve all been there – wasting petrol, time and emissions – in a congested city street desperately looking for a parking spot. This is a universal issue for cities worldwide, with many councils turning their attention to making existing parking infrastructure assets smarter, instead of starting from scratch.
Fortunately for city-dwellers, smart solutions are making it easier for timely parking data to be shared to drivers, asset managers and owners – with the objective of advancing parking efficiency, reducing circling and the emissions it creates, and improving traffic flow.
Many will be aware of the available solutions to assist with the management of congestion in busy precinct areas – area counting, precinct wayfinding signage and per-bay parking guidance systems.
Within these solutions are important considerations that should be looked at as part of any smart city parking initiative, including:
DATA EXCHANGE
There are several key standards and norms across the industry that should be considered for simple exchange of data in real time. Arrangements for greater data exchange and processing complexity may also need to be dealt with.
The key though, is that for any project under the smart cities umbrella, Councils own the data either fully or at least jointly with minimal, if any, constraints on what can be done with it.
The exploration of the integration capabilities of existing parking management systems with smart technology should be robust and comprehensive before being adopted by a council.
SENSOR SYSTEMS
Sensors or sensor systems are highly important in smart city initiatives, with a range of varying technologies available including magnetic resonance, infrared, ultrasonic, laser and camera-based sensors.
The main consideration is that the sensors are fit for purpose on the site, highly accurate, long lasting and using reliable technologies with minimal ongoing maintenance costs.
Security, communications capabilities, and size plus frequency of data packets/data payload should be additional considerations.
PINPOINTING THE USABLE INFORMATION
The volume of data collected, even in a straightforward car park set up, can run into millions of data points each day.
Activity reports, API data pushes, alerts, bay occupation status, and wayfinding messaging across multiple LED signs can be updating sometimes multiple times per minute.
Whilst it may seem obvious, this mass of data needs to be aggregated and processed efficiently, automatically and accurately to deliver timely and actionable information to the community using the facilities.
A partnership with providers, such as Park Agility, who are involved in the creation of smarter cities, should not only result in the successful implementation of technology, but also a confidence that the project is delivering both cost effective and tangible benefits to the community.
HARDY AND SUSTAINABLE SMART CITY INFRASTRUCTURE
Smart city technologies are increasingly expected in a range of local government authorities, in rural and metropolitan areas alike. However, these innovative solutions can involve extensive environment altering installation and resources, which is why many councils are turning to wireless solar infrastructure; creating robust and sustainable alternatives to help with a variety of challenges, from illegal dumping to parking management.
Previously the domain of urban, city environments, the benefits of remote sensing, camera technology and artificial intelligence are increasingly being enjoyed in suburban and regional areas.
Smart parking management, security, illegal dumping management, traffic management and measurement are increasingly making communities safer and more efficient.
UPFRONT INVESTMENT FOR LONGTERM BENEFITS
The value that can be derived from smart city solutions requires some capital and operating investment in supporting infrastructure. Infrastructure, in addition to cameras and sensors, often includes power and internet cabling, mounting equipment, control rooms and cloud infrastructure.
Challenges for councils include high costs of cabling for power and internet, which also limits the flexibility to move sensors and cameras. Furthermore, with climate change leading to more frequent and intense weather events, damage can occur to cabled infrastructure from immersion, erosion, or other flood related events.
Recent experiences on the East Coast of Australia have exposed the less obvious repair costs associated with ruined buried services, impacting smart city hardware as well as lighting and other power or data consuming infrastructure.
SUNSHINE POWERED INFRASTRUCTURE
Many of these challenges can be solved with a wireless solarbattery solution. With the power generating capacity and cost of solar-battery solutions diverging, creating a sustainable, and affordable, solution for smart city applications.
Solar and battery power removes the high costs of installation or repair to power cables, particularly when
combined with mobile or Wi-Fi data connection rather than traditional wired data. An additional benefit of wireless smart city solutions is flexibility. Whether it is relocating the hardware at relatively low cost or replacing it due to obsolescence or upgrade, this can be done at low cost and short notice. Even in emergency events, solarwireless solutions can be deployed to provide camera footage, communications, warnings, and other solutions when people cannot safely be deployed. Finally, the environmental impact of a solar powered smart-city solution is lower than an equivalent wired solution. In addition to the green energy generated by the sun, installation impacts are far less, and instead of digging up and disrupting lengthy corridors for cables, the physical footprint of the total solution can be less than a single square metre. One of Spectur’s innovative solar-powered This can avoid the disruption of surveillance cameras. pristine natural ground as well as existing infrastructure.
SOLVING THE CHALLENGES
Solar solutions are not without challenges; power is limited, which can impact the number of sensors and cameras as well as the degree of edge-based artificial intelligence that can be deployed. Even if power is used frugally, the systems can only generate when located in full sun – not in shade. Similarly, data costs associated with using the mobile environment can be excessive, particularly with continuous streaming of video. In answer to these common issues, Spectur has an advanced Australian-developed hardware and software solar and processing platform designed to host cameras, sensors, devices, and smart city applications in a constrained power and data environment.
To find out more about how to improve resilience, flexibility and sustainability with smart city infrastructure, contact spectur.com.au/government
HOW OUT OF HOME MEDIA IS MAKING CITIES SMARTER
by Michael Cali, National Commercial Director, oOh!media Smart cities, and improved digital amenity within communities big and small, are on the rise – so how can government and industry help shape our future to deliver smart outcomes? Let’s begin with the most important element of a community – the people.
Debate continues over the precise definition of what exactly smart cities are, despite the industry continuing to experience exponential growth in recent years.
While the trend to make cities smarter is only set to continue in the decade ahead, how will participants in government, development, technology and media shape the future of collective connectedness of communities, and deliver truly ‘smart’ outcomes? For a start, people must be at the centre of all action.
THE NEW CITIZEN-LED WORLD
Early characteristics of smart cities tended to focus on the reliance of information, communication and technology companies to solve problems, while in turn driving down costs to the government.
Following the Global Financial Crisis, technology that could monitor processes and drive efficiencies was prioritised when government finances were tight.
Fast forward to the 2010s and the explosion in social media means it has never been easier to tell leaders what the community thinks, or engage with fellow citizens to garner support and champion ideas that can be amplified to the masses almost instantaneously.
As a result, more active participation in decision making that delivers for communities and their surrounds is now expected as standard.
For smart cities, this has meant a shift in emphasis from technologycentred top-down (or government and corporate-led) programs, to more human centred, bottom-up (or citizenled) initiatives.
Smart cities are not just about technology, but broader issues including infrastructure, governance, the economy, the environment, culture and public safety.
This is why addressing challenges with a meaningful understanding of the realities faced by the community is of great value.
THE 'SMARTS' OF OUT OF HOME MEDIA
Our purpose at oOh!media is to make public spaces better, and since launching operations more than 30 years ago, there’s many ways we’ve embraced this broader concept of what makes a city smart.
While the provision of clean public infrastructure remains one of the fundamental pillars of the business, we’ve extended our smarts to deliver for communities in other ways.
We’re one of the largest providers of free public Wi-Fi across Australia by location, through our network of cafes, office towers and airports. We utilise our signs – both classic and digital – to turn public spaces into art galleries.
We have also partnered with ‘Ask Izzy’ to drive awareness of services that can aid vulnerable members of the community – connecting them with meals, financial assistance, mental health counselling, shelter, family violence support and more.
As the leading Out of Home media company, we remain cognisant of our responsibility to the communities we engage with; which means continuing to evolve our smart approach.
As we develop new products and public infrastructure, for example adding Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to capture key data for decision making and real-time passenger information displays, we consult with stakeholders – our commercial partners and the communities we serve – to provide solutions that make the greatest impact possible.
Our people-centric approach to making public spaces better will always be paramount – because that’s the truly smart way to make a difference.
To learn more about oOh!media, visit https://oohmedia.com.au/
LOCKYER VALLEY’S FLOOD-FIGHTING Smart Initiatives
Lockyer Valley Regional Council, located in South East Queensland, has gotten used to once-in-a-hundred-year floods, having experienced three extreme weather events in just seven months, beginning in November 2021. When the waters rise, the Council is often first on the scene, making the best out of what resources it has available to warn residents and save lives, and using various smart initiatives to get information to locals when they need it most.
In extreme weather emergencies, as have become increasingly common in Australia in the past few years, communicating evacuation orders and timely updates is a matter of life or death.
Due to this, Lockyer Valley Regional
Council has continued to progress its use of flood cameras, social media messaging, a manually activated siren that uses flood modelling software and other technologies to improve the region’s flood communication responses.
The Council also ensures a range of information is publicly available, to empower the community to make their own decisions based on individual circumstances.
The flood monitoring cameras are published on the Council's disaster dashboard; an online resource for residents, showing in real-time how flooded roads are, and letting residents see for themselves how inundated the region is.
Lockyer Valley Mayor, Cr Tanya
Milligan, said the region had endured three weather events in only seven months and was busy once again navigating the road to recovery.
“Council officers engaged the use of a range of technologies throughout each of these weather events, and those from past years, ensured the most timely and accurate communication of public information.”
SHOWING THE DAMAGE IN REAL-TIME
Mayor Milligan said the implementation of this technology has developed over time and throughout every weather event.
“Guardian software, provided by QITPlus, was first used in the Local Disaster Coordination Centre in 2013,” Mayor Milligan said.
“In addition, Council’s Disaster Dashboard, an innovation by QITPlus, was adopted by Council in 2017.
“The Disaster Dashboard provides residents with information on the activation levels of the Local Disaster Management Group, emergency news, road impacts, social media feeds from Council and other significant agencies (including emergency services, weather, Energex, TMR) and other relevant links; to ensure the most updated information is communicated to our residents.
“The dashboard also includes the link to our twelve strategically-placed flood monitoring cameras.”
Mayor Milligan said all social media messaging is entered into the Guardian software and published to the dashboard.
“Metrics on the dashboard used during an event confirms many residents view the technology as a ‘point of truth’.
“For example, the dashboard metrics for the last two events show that in the peak of the February/March event there were 94,706 page views, and 70,376 views in the peak of the May event.”
Mayor Milligan said that calls to the Council’s call centre were also noticeably lower during the May weather event, compared to the February/March event, which could be attributed to residents relying on the data provided on the dashboard and social media instead.
“We have noticed a considerable uptake from our community in the use
of the disaster dashboard, however it can be a ‘double-edged’ sword, with a reliance on the technology during the last event causing issues when the cameras were not available,” Mayor Milligan said.
Flood monitoring cameras were first installed in the region in 2014, with the aim of providing: ∞ Visual, ‘ground truthing’, and the confirmation of information being received from gauges ∞ The confirmation of creek levels to determine when they become a risk to communities (as creeks change following each flood event, this becomes necessary to ensure data and messaging is correct) ∞ Information for residents to make informed decisions about travel, in connection with road closures published on the dashboard
SMART SOFTWARE PREDICTING POTENTIAL IMPACTS
Council’s flood intelligence software system combines data from rain and river height gauges and Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) forecasts, local geography and previous creek behaviours, to provide an indication of potential flood impacts – based on preceding ground conditions, fallen and predicted rainfall.
Mayor Milligan said the Grantham Siren was installed after the 2011 floods, following a recommendation of the Flood Commission of Inquiry Interim Report.
“The siren is activated manually based on the flood intelligence received from various sources, including flood monitoring cameras, gauges, community and flood modelling software.
“It provides early warning for residents of impending life-threatening flood events with an automated siren and audio message played on activation.
“The siren is tested twice yearly, with appropriate communication to residents to ensure they are aware of the testing and how the siren is used.
“There is also an extensive network of rainfall and river height gauges across the region owned by Council, SEQWater, Department of Resources and BOM, which form a key component of our flood intelligence system.”
Mayor Milligan said that although the smart initiatives have helped the community be more flood resilient, it is important to note that no technology is fail safe and each piece of infrastructure is just “one tool in the toolkit”.
“If a system fails, there may be alternate data to help inform the community and assist in their decision making, however the community should consider the worst-case scenario, including what happens if certain data is not available when creating their emergency plans,” Mayor Milligan said.
SOCIAL MEDIA CONNECTING COUNCIL TO RESIDENTS
Lockyer Valley Regional Council CEO, Ian Church, said Council has utilised social media as a tool to communicate directly with residents in a time sensitive way.
“The safety of our community is paramount, and the preservation of life remains our key focus in these events,” Mr Church said.
“Social media isn’t dependent on any other media sources relaying the message, ensuring timely communication is achieved to the local community.
“While we don’t utilise traditional media releases in a disaster response, we do use other media outlets in a supporting role, such as quoting Council’s messaging in their weather bulletins or sharing our posts.
“The communications team is responsible for tailoring messaging in a way that has both impact and appropriate tone.
“It has to be balanced. While we don’t want to fearmonger, we also don’t want complacency.”
Mr Church said that beyond weather warnings and safety alerts, the Council has also used social media for preparedness messaging, while also supporting the messaging of key stakeholders, such as TMR road closures, and keeping the messaging consistent across multiple social media platforms.
“It’s all about communicating timesensitive information that’s straight from a reliable source.”
REDUCING MISINFORMATION
The Council’s team has also found that, through its team being present across social platforms, the spread of misinformation within community groups has been reduced.
“An example of this is when we communicated when, where and why police were door-knocking residents’ homes in Grantham,” Mr Church said.
“While we didn’t necessarily have to, doing so allowed us to stay in control of the messaging and dialogue swirling in community groups.”
The use of social media also allowed the Council to report on the crisis throughout the various stages – when flooding was imminent, in progress and once it had passed.
“We provided an update on the status of the Local Disaster Management Group, communicated the areas of known risk, let the community know when the immediate threat had passed and what the emerging threats would be,” Mr Church said.
“We maintained the use of these channels as we transitioned into the recovery phase, to support and assist residents to navigate the recovery journey.
“The consistency of the messaging and the actionable information helped us to manage the expectations of the community.”
Mr Church said that the use of social media has played a pivotal role in preparing for, and recovering from, disaster events and “ensuring the safety of the community is maintained”.
Lockyer Valley Regional Council’s Disaster Dashboard. Image: Lockyer Valley Regional Council
HOW MOBILE PLATFORMS
ARE TRANSFORMING LOCAL COUNCILS
Around the world, many are unquestionably living in a mobile society, the likes of which has only been amplified by the pandemic – with remote working, supported by technology, enabling a major workplace transformation. In this new world, there is a huge opportunity for councils to embrace mobile platforms and digitise processes for maintenance workforces.
Mobile technology can maximise effectiveness, productivity and accuracy while minimising paperwork, risk and liability. It’s a tool that allows council maintenance teams to be effective and show the impact of their work, enabling a better quality of service for communities.
SO HOW DOES MOBILE TECHNOLOGY HELP LOCAL COUNCILS?
∞ Allows for quicker response times, greater efficiencies and more accurate reporting: being able to work from anywhere and keep things moving means less downtime and more work orders resolved. Not only is this important day to day, but it’s vital during times of crisis or natural disaster. ∞ Enables greater accountability and transparency both internally and for the public: providing council teams with evidence of what each department has completed or is currently working on enables greater transparency and eliminates potential for miscommunication. The more accurately information is captured, the more local councils are able to proactively communicate with stakeholders and the community. It also serves as a helpful way to manage conflict resolution and complaint management. ∞ Reinforces credibility and creates trust: local councils are often overworked and under-resourced with a plethora of complex stakeholder maps to engage with. A mobile platform connects the field and the office, allowing councils to provide reporting on exactly what stage a work order is at, and provide absolute transparency. This is especially important for managing liability, as a mobile platform delivers a compliant and accurate report of the work completed.
Brightly Software APAC Vice President, Shaun Butler.
CITY OF SALISBURY’S MOBILE INVESTMENT
Recently, Brightly Software worked with its long term partner, the City of Salisbury, to support its digital transformation of field maintenance processes.
Salisbury is a local government area located on the northern fringes of Adelaide, South Australia. It has a population of approximately 145,000, encompasses an area of 158km² and manages over 230,000 infrastructure assets with a replacement cost of $1.5 billion.
With 100 teams, plus contractors, working within the city to inspect and maintain a broad range of community infrastructure, the City of Salisbury needed a solution that could track costs at a detailed level, enforce a range of safe working guidelines and improve operational efficiencies.
City of Salisbury recognised this required comprehensive change management and established a project team to plan and execute this major transformation. The team agreed that Brightly Software’s ConfirmConnect was the best program to manage jobs, inspections, respond to community requests and maintenance across all infrastructure operations.
Brightly Software’s APAC Vice President, Shaun Butler, said, “ConfirmConnect allows councils to use dashboards to track the data for each asset, which includes everything from roads, playspaces, trees and reserve furniture.
“Every team member and manager can now see the status of all jobs, inspections and enquiries they are working on. Additionally, using the ConfirmWorkzone solution, schedulers have a map-based view to drag-and-drop work to different teams.
“It truly is a game-changer for local councils.”
WHY SMART WATER METERING IS the ultimate smart city application
The goal for most smart city applications is to improve liveability, optimise city functions, promote economic growth and improve sustainability – with the idea that by using smart technology and data analysis, the quality of life for citizens is improved. So what better focus for digitisation than the most precious resource councils have? Water.
One of Taggle’s smart water meters.
The availability of safe and accessible water is a resource many Australians take for granted, but managing its source, treatment and distribution is a challenging and expensive task.
Due to this, smart water metering solutions are gaining popularity from councils and utilities alike, to help track and detect usage and leaks with regular updates, and allow customers to access their own water usage data easily.
FAST DATA FOR COUNCILS AND LOCALS
Taggle Systems smart water metering solutions provide a council or water utility with hourly consumption data from every single household, business, and council property, delivering powerful data for both the corporation and the consumer.
Part of the solution is the customer portal, which educates the community and local businesses about their water usage, helping the consumer to understand exactly how much water they are using and when.
The hope is that if behaviour is wasteful, the data may compel customers to modify their usage.
Another major benefit of smart water metering is finding leaks, because a concealed leak can drive up consumer bills and result in high costs to council to resolve and provide a rebate.
Early warning of leaks will also help avoid the additional costs caused by water damage to the property – with an early warning a huge win for both council and the consumer.
Even small leaks add up to significant losses across the water network. In Douglas Shire Council for example, which has recently completed stage one of its smart water program, including just 900 smart meters, has already reduced water leaks by 200KL per day – equalling a saving of around five backyard swimming pools.
The Council is now moving onto stage two following its success in reducing wasted water.
SAVING WATER
During a drought, any reduction in wasted water will prolong the time before restrictions are introduced.
Identifying leaks and educating the community so that they can make informed decisions on how, and when, to use water, will also greatly impact the quality of life of the community and ensure improved economic stability during a drought.
The insights provided by the smart meter data can also inform planning alterations to the network or understand where and when the demand is.
A utility can plan the capacity of the pipe network, enabling efficient pipe sizing, and better manage pressure so it is optimised based on time of day.
REDUCE NON-REVENUE WATER
A council or utility embracing smart water technology will also decrease its non-revenue water significantly, with Taggle seeing non-revenue water reductions of over 50 per cent through the use of its technology.
Smart metering also reduces water theft, making billing more accurate and timelier.
As Australia moves towards digital utilities, with multiple existing systems already in place such as SCADA, billing and CRM, it is beneficial for data to be integrated across existing workflows and business processes to improve efficiency.
Water is essential for life, and while smart parking, bins and lighting improve liveability – water security has much more of an impact.
Smart metering solutions encourage the effective use of one of the country’s most precious resources, and engages with the community in a meaningful way.
Over 50 councils and water utilities across Australia are already benefiting from the data provided by Taggle’s Smart Water solutions. To learn more visit www.taggle.com.au
In recent years the concept of sustainability, and how communities can achieve it, has become increasingly on-trend. As the realisation that natural resources have an expiration date hits and the climate warms, councils are looking at ways to make use of what they have, and reduce waste for future generations.
Creating sustainable solutions is a key focus for councils – encompassing multiple aspects of a community – so instead of introducing stand-alone initiatives many councils are looking for a complete overhaul through the introduction of a circular economy.
Rather than just throwing away waste, a circular system encourages local governments to find sustainable ways to reduce what gets sent to landfill and increase what gets reused.
At Smart Cities 2022, Circular Australia CEO, Lisa McLean, spoke as a keynote speaker, discussing the increasing need for cities to take a circular approach to how they use and consume resources.
Smart Cities is an event which invites leaders in local government to exchange information about innovative technologies and strategies for combating challenges in smart cities and communities around Australia.
Ms McLean has over 14 years of experience as a leader in circular economies, advising industry and government leaders about developing policy to bring about sustainable change in energy, water, waste and mobility sectors in both the UK and Australia.
In her presentation, Ms McLean drew on previous case studies and offered directions for councils to take towards changing their approach to waste disposal.
Circular Australia – previously NSW Circular – is an independent non-profit company which aims to encourage the transition to a circular economy.
It has grown from a New South Wales Government Research and Innovation Network, to helping deliver circular economy infrastructure, data and services to businesses, governments and researchers across New South Wales.
There are many initiatives that councils can implement to reduce waste, but ensuring they all work in unison to create a circular economy that delivers sustainable solutions will be imperative heading into the future.
WHAT IS A CIRCULAR ECONOMY?
According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a circular economy is all about stopping the production of waste.
Currently, materials and resources are taken from the planet to turn into products, only to eventually be thrown away and new materials sourced for new products. This linear process means waste builds up and natural resources are depleted.
A circular economy instead reuses and recycles to create a circular process that doesn’t finish with waste being useless at the end.
The three aims of a circular economy are to: 1. Eliminate waste and pollution 2. Circulate products and materials 3. Regenerate nature
Ms McLean said a circular economy is an industrial system that's restorative and regenerative.
Circular Australia CEO, Lisa McClean.
For councils, creating a circular economy could mean changing waste management systems, manufacturing products from recyclable materials, and encouraging businesses to sell waste through incentives.
Local government has a key role to play in initiating the transition to a circular economy, working with partners and the community to get the (circular) ball rolling.
THE GROWING NEED FOR A CIRCULAR APPROACH
Circular economies are focused on changing how communities think and tackle waste. Rather than a take-makewaste system, the life of products can be extended or reused.
Already governments and businesses are taking steps to reduce emissions and minimise the harmful effects of pollution. For councils, revolutionising waste systems align with this move to create a more sustainable future.
Ms McLean said there couldn't be a more important system transition for the planet than moving from linear to circular waste disposals.
“Circular economy is an economic framework that can support our future growth and future jobs, but also do some really important things like reducing carbon, designing out waste and changing our fatal consumption model, where we use, throw away and flush away things after using once or twice,” Ms McLean said.
“It's about decoupling economic growth from virgin resource use and making sure that we all get what we need, but we get it in a way that designs out waste.”
Taking materials and turning them into products, only to be discarded, is not sustainable in the long-term. Many natural resources are finite so eliminating waste and pollution will help ensure there are more resources available for future generations.
Additionally, transitioning to a circular system will build up natural resources rather than deplete them, while sustainable farming practices and increasing biodiversity can return nutrients, resources and resilience to natural environments.
Circular economies also go hand-inhand with the transition to renewable energy and resources, to remove the wider economy’s reliance on finite resources and aiding governments and businesses with decarbonisation.
“Circular economy is actually tackling almost half of the emissions that we need to cut.” Circular Australia CEO, Lisa McClean.
“They're embedded in food and products like steel, cement, plastics, aluminium, and other things, and circular economy is the mechanism and framework to extract that value out of those products and to cut those carbon emissions.
“So we're really not going to get to net zero without the circular economy.”
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR AUSTRALIA
For local governments, circular economies can not only generate environmental benefits, but also financial ones.
European research shows that transitions to circular economies can increase economic growth between 0.8 per cent and 1.4 per cent annually.
Transitioning to a system which eliminates waste can reduce waste disposal costs, with councils even able to receive government funding to set up circular economies.
“The economic opportunity is just growing and growing for circular economies. Globally, it's sitting around $4.5 trillion, and some recent research is putting that up closer to $7 trillion,” Ms McLean said.
For councils, circular economies can help reduce costs, particularly with waste management and public services, through the reusing of old materials and products, extending circulation and minimising the constant need for replacement.
“Imagine you have one component that you're selling in a linear economy, you'd be selling it once and waving goodbye to that,” Ms McLean said.
“In a circular economy, you might be leasing that or putting it out as a service and at the end of its life, or when it needs repair, you can take that back, extract all that value out of that component and then put it back in the market again for another, potentially at a lower cost.
“If some value has been shifted out of it, opening up a whole new market that you might not have before.”
KEEPING MATERIALS OUT OF LANDFILL AND IN THE ECONOMY
Landfills have become a significant problem for Australia, with 35 per cent of all waste generated every year ending up in landfill, costing businesses $750 million in waste levies.
“Waste really is the new resource that we should all be mining. Big opportunities to keep materials out of landfill and being burnt and back in the economy,” Ms McLean said.
Another area of concern is repair and upkeep of green energy resources, such as solar panels. Ms McLean said these
renewable energy sources cannot be truly circular if they are being replaced instead of repaired to extend use.
“Micro cracking is another problem that occurs with solar panels,” Ms McLean said.
“So they might be new, but they're getting cracks so they can't be used. So how do we start to build the repair industry that can support these valuable pieces of infrastructure going back into the economy?”
For councils to start thinking about changing their thinking from linear to circular, it all starts with materials – how materials are sourced, where they are sourced from and whether they can be replaced with other materials.
Some councils are considering the procurement of materials for construction projects.
“If something's getting demolished, where's it going at the end of that life? If there's components that are coming to the end of their life, where are they going?” Ms McLean said.
“Just bringing that lens to thinking about procurement within the council space is really important.”
In terms of the kinds of projects councils can achieve, Ms McLean detailed two initiatives where Circular Australia helped organisations to set up circular waste programs.
Firstly, Circular Australia worked with St Vincent’s Hospital to collect ampules and needle caps to be recycled at Allmould Plastics in regional New South Wales in Orange. The ampules and needle caps were properly cleaned and turned into wind farm components and roller door wheels.
Secondly, partnering with Sydney Water, Circular Australia teamed up to host a workshop for over 60 partners and stakeholders to identify circular strategies which could be employed by local governments.
With Circular Australia’s help, Sydney Water developed the Upper South Creek Advanced Water Recycling Centre in the Western Parkland Centre, with the intention of designing a city which is sustainable.
The water recycling centre will be operational by 2026 and will treat 100 million litres of wastewater each day at maximum capacity.
This development, the workshop and a follow-up leader’s roundtable would then inform a report published by Sydney Water with consultation from Circular Australia – Unlocking the circular economy in the Western Parkland City.
In the report, Sydney Water outlined six key actions which local governments and organisations can take to initiate circular economy opportunities.
These key actions include: 1. Setting targets and policies that help create a circular city 2. Valuing circular economy outcomes in business cases for infrastructure investment 3. Centralising information with a one-stop-shop for circular economy resources 4. Creating systems and incentives to connect circular supply chains 5. Optimising water cycle management for green, cool and climate-resilient cities 6. Aggregating local organic waste collection for energy recovery
These key actions offer an overview of what is necessary to establish and maintain a circular economy, through policies regarding construction and recycling initiatives.
Ms McLean said that the findings from the projects can be used as proof to councils and businesses to develop similar recycling programs.
“In that particular hospital project, we found that there were savings that could go back into hospitals of the order of employing 40 new nurses.
“So we know the benefits there and it's really important for organisations like ours to be able to provide this evidence base for councils and industry to look at so they can have more confidence in pushing change.”
Changing the way communities think about waste and resources can provide opportunities for councils to reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change, while also providing financial benefits which can go towards other initiatives.
“If we can expand that circular economic opportunity in these key sectors of health and transport, water, and the built environment, we really have got opportunities to drive hundreds of thousands, tens of thousands of new jobs,” Ms McLean said.
Ultimately, Ms McLean believes that circular economies will create a more sustainable and resilient future.
“This is what it's going to be like as we move into this new future, this new climate-changed future that we're all facing,” Ms McLean said.
“So how is our infrastructure going to be more local? By providing that local recycling in a way that can create security of supply and move away from the big desalination plants and dams and infrastructure of the past that is just not going to be resilient in this new future.”
Ms McLean said circular economies are not just about reducing carbon, but also looking at those other critical areas of biodiversity loss and natural resource scarcity, pollution, waste and water contamination.
“One statistic I like to use is that there's now more gold and silver in one ton of iPhones than there is in one ton of ore from a gold or silver mine,” Ms McLean said.
“So there's phenomenal amounts of resources and value in waste at the moment.”
Investigating how processes can be changed to a circular approach helps councils to set targets, which are the best first step to transitioning to a circular economy.
Ms McLean said setting targets for collection and reusing waste is also a natural step to follow after setting carbon neutral targets for councils.
“It doesn't have to be hugely ambitious to start with, but targets are the first step,” Ms McLean said.
“It's a way in which we can focus our attention and bring that lens to those opportunities.”
Register for free to watch the presentation at Smart Cities 2022 on-demand, by visiting smart-cities.com.au
