Corporate Waste Solutions: Issue 1

CORPORATE WASTE SOLUTIONS

RESPONSIBLE PROSPERITY

ISSUE 1 $10.95 inc GST

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The circular network Candice Quartermain on why she doesn’t use the ‘G’ word

TRIMMING WASTE The success of the Bin Trim program TURNING GARBAGE INTO GOLD How business innovation is solving organic waste HEAD-TO-HEAD Should we have a national container deposit scheme?

A BIG ZERO Can we really achieve zero waste?

TIME TO BE RESPONSIBLE Getting serious about product stewardship ISSUE 1 | 2016

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Contents Issue 1 20

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OPENING FEATURE

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Innovation, growth and opportunity

Biosolids – timing is everything

A big zero Ending the isolation between waste streams and taking a longer-term view is key for businesses seeking to implement a zero waste strategy.

In the resource opportunity hierarchy, the highest value for businesses lies in prevention and minimisation.

PROPERTY SUPPORTING PARTNER

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Is your recycling rate rubbish?

NSW businesses trimming waste

New data integrity measures mean there’s an opportunity now for the property sector to create meaningful, measurable and comparable numbers on recycling and waste management.

The Bin Trim program is helping small and medium businesses in New South Wales to cut waste.

INNOVATION

CASE STUDY

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The new conversation

Not an old toothbrush, an idea

What will it take to build responsible prosperity throughout Australia?

A leading think tank says greater collaboration is needed.

The opportunity stream provided by waste gives hope of recycling the previously unrecyclable.

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Research and development in the Victorian water industry is delivering greater efficiencies and environmental benefits in the treatment of biosolids.

50 Organics: turning garbage into gold A Victorian Government strategy is driving business innovation to solving the issue of organic waste.

62 Towards zero landfill Diversified Communications details its initiative to reduce waste to landfill in the expo industry.

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Time to be responsible

The carrot or the stick?

Living up to the promise

Why we need to get serious about product stewardship and pushing the sustainability envelope.

There is a win-win solution available in the recycling of organic by-products from commercial activity.

THE DEBATE

CWS REGULARS

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8 Editor’s comment

The circular network

Should Australia have a national container deposit scheme?

Business-led innovation driving positive social change is what keeps Candice Quartermain focused on spreading the word about the circular economy.

David Carter of the Packaging Council of Australia and Jeff Angel from the Total Environment Centre go head-to-head.

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PRODUCT STEWARDSHIP

OPINION

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The eCycle opportunity

Ever-increasing circles

Telstra leveraged its business centre network to overcome e-waste recycling barriers for small- to medium-sized businesses.

Entrepreneur James Chin Moody says the logistics gap needs to be addressed to encourage more businesses to change their linear model.

Entrepreneurs are showing the way for long-established companies on what corporate social responsibility really means.

PROFILE

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16 Product showcase Round-up

66 Events/book review

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Publisher Joanne Davies

Editor's comment

Editorial Editor Michelle Dunner michelle.dunner @ niche.com.au Managing Editor Ben Creagh ben.creagh@niche.com.au Subeditor Madeleine Swain Advertising

Open your eyes

National advertising manager Lachlan Oakley lachlan.oakley @ niche.com.au 03 9948 4952 Production Art director Keely Atkins

A

mong the various hats I wear is marketer. As such, I’ve always been intrigued about packaging and its role in underpinning brand values.

In recent years, though, as I’ve grown more conscious of the impact of my choices on the environment, my eyes have been opened. Take a recent purchase of moisturiser as an example. It arrived at my door in a plain cardboard box.

But what was inside this box turned out to be, frankly, bemusing.

The expensive pot of goo turned out to be roughly the width of a 50-cent piece and a couple of centimetres deep. It was encased in shiny, glitzy packaging, which I estimated to be at least 10 times bigger.

Rather than be impressed by such ‘luxury’, I was horrified. It felt incredibly wasteful. No matter what wonderful things this product may or may not deliver for me, in all conscience I can’t bring myself to order it again. Such over the top packaging has given me a negative brand association.

Packaging is just the start and the need to consider what happens to it after its original use is an integral part of the end-of-life strategy being adopted for all products. Designing products and packaging so that they can be reused, recreated and reimagined is one of the key themes in this fi rst issue of CWS. As our profi le on Circular Economy Australia founder Candice Quartermain points out, this isn’t necessarily a ‘green’ initiative – it’s just good business. Resource efficiency and responsible prosperity have the potential to drive innovation, create new markets and customers, and reduce cost. Indeed, Deloitte Access Economics last year published a report that identified $9.3 billion in additional value for businesses that embrace the circular and collaborative economy.

We need to come to terms with how to recover and rethink value from existing resources. CWS will bring you examples of leadership, innovation and disruption that will support long-term prosperity.

I hope you enjoy our fi rst issue.

Michelle Dunner Editor

COVER: Circular Economy Australia Founder Candice Quartermain. CREDIT: Joseph Sarkodie.

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Production manager Jamuna Raj jamuna.raj@niche.com.au Digital prepress Monique Blair Publishing Chairman Nicholas Dower Managing director Paul Lidgerwood Commercial director Joanne Davies Content director Chris Rennie Financial controller Sonia Jurista Subscriptions Subscription enquiries Call 1800 804 160 or email subscriptions@niche.com.au Printing Graphic Impressions Printed on an environmental responsible paper from mixed sources, well managed forests and is FSC certified.

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CWS ISSN 1320-3975 Advertisers and contributors of editorial to CWS Magazine acknowledge they are aware of the provisions of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 and the Trade Practices Act 1974 in relation to false and misleading advertising or statements and other unfair practices and of the penalties for breach of provisions of those acts. The publisher accepts no responsibility for such breaches. CWS Magazine is published bi-monthly. Opinions expressed by contributors are their own and not necessarily endorsed by the publisher. www.cwsmagazine.com.au © 2016 HH & M Media Pty Ltd

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Entrepreneurs are showing the way for long-established companies on what corporate social responsibility really means, as PAMELA HARTIGAN explains.

Opinion

Living up to the promise

I

n the last 15 years, we’ve seen an exponential rise in the attention focused on these individuals whom we call ‘social entrepreneurs’ – men and women who, in resourceful and innovative ways, help solve some of the most pressing social and environmental problems of our time.

Most start out local in response to problems faced by a particular community – social issues such as unemployment or indebtedness or environmental toxicity or degradation in the air, water, land or resource base. Yet most of these problems and opportunities for innovative solutions transcend local spheres and extend globally. Thus, many entrepreneurial social ventures also seek to expand their operations further afield to achieve impact.

So, as such, if ‘entrepreneuring’ is ever more widely practised, what is the role of social entrepreneurs? I believe now, more than ever, we need these individuals and their disruptive, systems-changing approaches.

The reality is there are too few entrepreneurs in the world and that isn’t

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There is a whole new trend now to identify ‘intrapreneurial’ teams in the corporate sector to rethink supply chains, product lines, new uses of waste and energy. surprising. It takes a special kind of person to be an entrepreneur – men and women with an unwavering drive to push forward a goal despite continual setbacks, who are impervious to living on the edge of failure and financial ruin in pursuit of that goal, who turn their backs on a steady monthly pay cheque and assured weeks of vacation, and who are deaf to pleas from family and friends to be ‘normal’. Who in their right mind would want that for a life?

But it is these men and women and their dogged determination who are the harbingers of new industries and/or

approaches. Think of Muhammad Yunus at Grameen Bank, and Fazle Hasan Abed at BRAC, both of whom simultaneously spearheaded the practice of microfinance to provide loans to very poor women in Bangladesh and forever changed the perception that the poor – in particular women – were not credit worthy. Think of Tom Szaky and TerraCycle, one of the earlier modern day pioneers of the circular economy.

But it is not only the entrepreneur and the team that are critical. If we look at a comparable example in the world of business, an entire ecosystem of organisations exists to support the birth, growth and success of commercial business. These include angel investors, venture capitalists, banks, a variety of consulting groups, accounting firms and rating agencies, but also governmental organisations that oversee the execution of responsible business practices, as well as enabling public policies that incentivise the creation and growth of commercial business.

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Opinion

In comparison to what exists for the purely commercial sector, the ecosystem to support the birth and growth of sustainable social enterprises is in its infancy. There is huge opportunity to create the social entrepreneurial support ecosystem that is so essential to a thriving sector.

As important as it is to start and scale new ventures, it is equally important to drive change from within existing companies, so that they are more accountable for the social and environmental effects of their operations. There is a whole new trend now to identify ‘intrapreneurial’ teams, particularly in the corporate sector to rethink supply chains, product lines, new uses of waste and energy, and efforts to engage employees in building more sustainable business practices. This has vast implications given the size of these companies.

While these corporate entities are not what we would call social entrepreneurial ventures, their commitment to rethink how business should be operating in the 21st century in ways that create value for business and society is exciting. There is growing recognition that the practice of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a public relations distraction, involving a perfunctory tipping of the charitable hat – usually having nothing to do with their core business – while continuing to operate in ways that are indifferent and even harmful to social and environmental well-being in the name of maximising shareholder value.

An increasing number of enlightened companies, backed by data, are realising that incorporating into their core business

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There is growing recognition among large organisations that the practice of CSR is largely a sham, usually having nothing to do with their core business. a focus on social, environmental and governance aspects ends up being very good for the bottom line. Deutsche Bank recently published a solid piece of research providing further evidence to this effect.

Part of the problem is that currently, anyone doing anything ‘social’ is now designating themselves as a ‘social entrepreneur’. But what sets the ‘real deal’ apart from the rest of the crowd of wellmeaning people that dedicate themselves to social improvement is the focus on disruption and systems change, plus a passion for accountability and sustainability.

And it is the disruptive systems change that tends to be lost sight of in social enterprise, encouraged by the public sector, donors and ‘impact investors’. The role of social entrepreneurs is not simply to become public subcontractors for the delivery of goods and services that the government itself cannot provide for the market.

In this regard, the role of social venture funds is of utmost importance. These funds are the lifeline for disruptive entrepreneurs.

And while the hope is that these social

business ventures will provide some form of financial return that can be reinvested to support other social businesses, many will depend for years, even decades, on some form of subsidy because they are dealing with government and market failures. Thus, the term ‘patient capital’ needs to be at the forefront of their investment approach.

With today’s hype around impact investing, the sad reality is that many of these funds seek to support social businesses that have moved beyond their start-up phase and are well-poised to generate returns to investors.

Where would microfinance be today without the estimated US$20 billion in subsidies and over 30 years it took to get the business models right, to build the enabling environment and supporting ecosystem, including the MIX Market and the like?

During that time, microfinance transformed from an undefined effort sitting between philanthropy, aid and the market, to something much closer to mainstream investing. Today, tens of billions of euros from very mainstream financial players have flowed into the microfinance sector.

But without summoning the courage and ingenuity to support path-breaking innovations that change systems and practices, disruptive entrepreneurs don’t stand a chance – and we will all be the less fortunate for it. ■

Pamela Hartigan is executive director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School.

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“There are nine jobs in every 100,000 tonnes of recycled materials and only two in landfill for the same quantity.”

“Although most companies invest significant resources to design packaging, almost no resources are spent to find ways to deal with end of life solutions for packaging waste.”

Ausseela Thanaphongsakorn, Terracycle

“There is a whole new trend now to identify ‘intrapreneurial’ teams in the corporate sector to rethink supply chains, product lines, new uses of waste and energy.”

Pamela Hartigan, executive director, Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

“We must move beyond ‘old school’ collection and recycling solutions, and focus on upstream priorities that create/ drive a new circular economy.”

John Gertsakis, chief sustainability officer, Infoactiv

“We estimate several thousand jobs will be created (from a container deposit scheme), recycling doubled to 80 percent and over $100 million each year earned by charities. Its impact on reducing bottle and can litter is certain. With an assured supply of clean material for reprocessing, the domestic recycling industry will also grow.

Jeff Angel, director, Total Environment Centre and Boomerang Alliance

“We have the right ideas but not the mechanics; we need to level the playing field so that good small business can get their logistics right and compete with big business.”

James Chin Moody, chief executive officer, Sendle

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“The attitude that waste is an annoyance has moved to the realisation that it’s a value-creation opportunity.”

William Payne, executive general manager of strategy and performance, Veolia

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“Innovative ideas and thinking more creatively about a product or service at the design phase can have advantages including stronger growth, improved productivity and reduced waste.”

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“Just because there are e-waste recycling programs available, it doesn’t mean people will access and use them.”

“We set out to prove that the reduction in a range of pathogen quantities required by the EPA could be achieved after one year of stockpiling rather than three.”

Dr Aravind Surapaneni, South East Water

“Adopting a ‘take-makerecreate’ approach, Australia can become a world leader in generating value through resource productivity.”

Damien Giurco, research director, Institute of Sustainable Futures, UTS

“A CDS is a very expensive option for the community and it doesn’t give any additional benefits ahead of other options canvassed in the regulatory statement, such as the packaging covenant, product stewardship or a semi-voluntary code.”

David Carter, chief executive officer, Packaging Council of Australia

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“Meeting corporate sustainability targets is a core driver to appease stakeholders, but a more appropriate one is creating positive outcomes.”

Patrick Arnold and Scott Ebsary, Foresight Environmental

“Expending funds on re-educating the agricultural community, especially through demonstration (please no more trials and research), may prove substantially more costeffective than seeking exotic solutions such as biochar.”

Peter McLean, executive officer, Australian Organics Recycling Association

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Innovation

Each issue, CWS will feature product innovations aimed at end-of-life solutions, waste management and resource efficiency, from Australia and around the world.

Product showcase Household bio-digesters

Goody gumdrops

After five years in development, Israeli company HomeBiogas is about to take its household waste digester into mass production. The digester maintains a closed-loop ecocycle; organic waste turns into energy and a liquid fertiliser by-product to use in the production of food.

The company has just concluded its first year selling the technology and has appointed an Australian distributor, joining users of the technology in Israel, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa and the US. Business development manager Ami Amir says around two million domestic biogas systems are installed around the world each year, mostly targeting underserved communities in emerging countries. “This is still a drop in the bucket,” he says.

“The market that we’re addressing is immense. There are at least 540 million families around the world that still cook on open fires, using solid fuels. These families are constantly exposed to indoor smoke pollution. Our solution addresses the pollution issue, but also deals with the massive amount of organic waste that is generated daily.”

The company demonstrated its product at the COP21 conference in Paris last year and is also working on projects with the United Nations (UN) to supply refugee camps. It’s now targeting domestic applications with a family-sized appliance and has identified a potential market in the EU alone of more than 21 million households.

The product is available for pre-order on indiegogo.com.

UK firm Gumdrop is looking for Australian partners for a product aimed at reducing the scourge of discarded chewing gum waste.

Gum recycling bins, which have been rolled out across the UK in venues including shopping centres, airports and railway stations, are themselves made from recycled chewing gum. Founder Anna Bullus says the product has been designed as a closed-loop recycling process to encourage and inspire people not to discard used gum – either on the streets or into standard rubbish bins.

“Chewers simply drop their gum into the Gumdrop bin,” she says. “Once they’re full, they’re sent back to us where they’re recycled – into new Gumdrop bins or a range of other products, from wellington boots to Frisbees and mobile phone covers.”

One full Gumdrop bin can be recycled to manufacture three new bins. The company says the cost to councils in the UK of removing chewing gum litter is around $300 million a year. Its figures report that the installation of a gumdrop bin reduces chewing gum litter by up to 46 percent in the first 12 weeks of use.

Further information is available at gumdropltd.com.

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First automated e-waste processing system launched in Victoria Dandenong-based company PGM Refiners has unveiled what it says is Australia’s first automated electronic waste processing system. The Victorian Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water, Lisa Neville, launched the product

in January after the Government invested $470,000 in funding towards the project.

The technology is likely to significantly improve the state’s e-waste processing capabilities, enabling it to process 2500 tonnes of e-waste each year and recycling more than a tonne per hour.

Neville says the technology will produce saleable commodities through resource recovery, which can be used by local manufacturers to create new products.

“This Australian-first technology represents a significant advancement in how we process e-waste, demonstrating our commitment to keeping these materials out of landfill,” she says.

“This machine will reduce environmental and health impacts by eliminating the need to manually dismantle products, which can be unsafe and labour intensive.”

The Victorian Government is currently looking at submissions from a discussion paper ‘Managing e-waste in Victoria – starting the conversation’ to meet its commitment on banning e-waste from landfill.

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End-of-life tyres to increase train safety and payload Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA) has announced a research project that aims to use old tyres to create a new product for use in train track stability.

Wastech releases new transfer trailer Australian waste and recycling equipment maker Wastech has recently unveiled new quad-axle trailers, designed to maximise payload and withstand high compaction forces in waste transfer station applications.

The company says it has recently been awarded a contract to supply three 130cubic metre (two 65-cubic metre trailers plus dolly) road train combinations and an S8000 transfer station compactor for a client in Western Australia. “We estimate the

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payload per trailer will be 27 tonnes, giving a massive total payload of 54 tonnes and that this will be a first for the industry,” says Mike McConnell, national product manager – projects.

“The Wastech unique rolled wall body design incorporates the use of ‘Hardox 450’ high tensile steel plate, which provides greater durability and integral strength, thus maximising tare weight and increasing payload.” The trailers come in a range of configurations and body sizes. Further information is available on 1800 465 465.

Funded by TSA and the NSW Environmental Trust (through NSW Environment Protection Authority’s ‘Waste Less, Recycle More’ initiative), the project is being conducted by the University of Wollongong and industry partner Ecoflex. They’re looking at a Rubber-based Energy Absorbing Layer (or REAL), as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional compacted gravel capping layers for new train tracks. The study is designed to evaluate REAL’s ability to improve track stability and operational efficiency.

It’s hoped the research will help develop a domestic market for recycled end-of-life tyre material.

Results are expected to be delivered in August 2017.

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Supporting Partner NSW Office of Environment & Heritage

Cutting back waste with the Bin Trim program The Bin Trim business grants program is empowering businesses in New South Wales to start wasting less, while saving more.

T

he Bin Trim program is delivering a new waste management culture for small and medium businesses in New South Wales.

The commercial and industrial sector of NSW currently sends 1.8 million tonnes of waste to landfi ll each year, with approximately 45 percent of this material coming from small to medium businesses, according to the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA). It is estimated that up to 70 percent of the waste produced by these businesses can be reused or recycled, including packaging wrap, cardboard boxes, metals, timber and food.

Launched by the NSW EPA in 2014, the Bin Trim program sets out to improve this situation by helping small- and mediumsized businesses quickly identify simple actions they could take to start cutting waste and boosting profits.

Bin Trim’s momentum continues to build, with more than 8000 businesses becoming involved and realising significant savings during the first of the program’s two grant rounds.

On average, manufacturers saved $6000 each per year, while the average savings for food service providers and retailers was more than $1000 each.

With round two having commenced in mid-2015 the program is aiming to engage with more than 20,000 businesses over the life of the initiative, and is on track to

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provide a further 12,000 businesses with free waste assessments by June 2017.

NEW WASTE HABITS Through the Bin Trim grants program, the NSW EPA funds free waste assessments for businesses with fewer than 200 employees to help them reduce waste and increase recycling.

For artist paint manufacturer, Derivan, the Bin Trim program has changed waste management habits that have existed at the business since it was founded 50 years ago.

As Derivan chief executive officer Steve Patterson explains, waste at the business has previously been washed into the sewer or simply put in the bin.

“During the Bin Trim program we identified a piece of packaging that was used – by changing it around and using a different material we ended up over the year finding we should save about 3.5 tonnes of plastic, and also about $50,000,” Patterson says.

“I think it is very important that all business – at home, work, everywhere – we’ve got to get into recycling… reducing, reusing and recycling all the way through.”

Derivan now has cardboard collected for recycling more frequently and boxes collected by a box company for reuse.

It has also redesigned its paint tube packaging and then retrieves its packaging material from retailers.

FREE ASSESSMENTS The free waste assessments, which take from 30 minutes to one hour for small businesses and between one and two hours for medium-sized businesses, quantify the amount and type of materials in each business’ general waste bins, as well as looking at any recycling systems they are operating.

Once the business has been assessed, the Bin Trim assessor produces a tailored action plan to improve the business’ management of waste, before providing them with support and advice to help reduce waste and increase recycling.

Data collected from each business is entered into an online Bin Trim tool, which provides businesses with: a profile of their current waste and recycling, a tailored action plan to reduce, reuse and recycle materials, and practical information to help businesses waste less and save more.

The customised waste reduction action plan developed for the business outlines ways to divert waste from landfill and increase recycling.

REBATE OPPORTUNITIES Under the second part of the program, businesses assessed may be eligible for a rebate to assist with the cost of recycling equipment.

The Bin Trim rebates program is a $9.4 million initiative, which targets small- to

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medium-sized businesses (i.e. fewer than 200 employees) or those managing smallto medium-sized business waste, such as facility managers and recyclers. These businesses can apply for a rebate of up to 50 percent of the cost of the recycling equipment.

Applicants are eligible for one rebate per site of between $1000 and $50,000 for up to five sites. A maximum of $50,000 is available for any one site per financial year, with a maximum of $250,000 on offer to any one applicant over the life of the program.

By June 2017, the Bin Trim rebates program is aiming to help up to 750 businesses improve their recycling through the provision of equipment, which the EPA believes has the potential to divert up to 15,000 tonnes of material from landfill.

The Bin Trim rebates program is designed to accommodate a range of different equipment options. Rebate applications must: divert additional new tonnes from landfill, be cost-effective to fund equipment that will help improve or increase recycling and lead to improved source separation of waste.

Waste assessments pre and post equipment installation are required under the rebates program.

BUSINESS REBATE BENEFITS One business that has taken advantage of the rebates program is Modern Tiles, which is based at Erina on NSW’s Central Coast. According to Modern Tiles employee, Ricky Thomas, the business accumulates about 150 kilograms of both cardboard and plastic every week.

“There was always a big build-up of material, we would have a palette load just of cardboard,” Thomas says. “An assessor from Bin Trim came in – they had been knocking on our door for a while – we thought we would give it a go and since we have it has been perfect.”

With assistance from the Bin Trim rebates program Modern Tiles has purchased a new compactor, which is helping reduce waste and deliver savings for the business.

“Why we got the machine was to help us with the cardboard situation – it’s what we’ve been looking for. It helps with the plastic as well,” says Thomas.

“The EPA has helped us by giving us a 50 percent rebate – they helped us buy the compactor. And after the 18 months it has paid for itself. After that it is just profit (for the business).”

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Applicants are eligible for one rebate per site of between $1000 and $50,000 for up to five sites.

Equipment eligible for a rebate includes material processing infrastructure that diverts waste from landfill, as well as recycling infrastructure. This includes balers, compactors, glass crushing machines, commercial work farms, composters, shredders, EPS compaction equipment and recycling bins/bin equipment.

EVOLVING PROGRAM As more businesses have become involved with the Bin Trim program, the NSW EPA has continued to develop the initiative to better accommodate the needs of the small and medium businesses it targets.

Pauline Coppin, senior project officer, business recycling unit at NSW EPA, says,“ The free assessments through the Bin Trim grants program support rebate opportunities for businesses by helping them identify equipment that will increase their recycling and make savings. “Prior to launching round two of the grants program, we had the opportunity to review the first stage of the program to identify the needs of businesses in NSW and refine what should be included in the assessments, and how to make it easier for eligible businesses to apply for a rebate. The fact that we are on track to reach our target of more

Phil Favero from the Good Guys in Rockdale with the company's new plastic baler.

than 20,000 businesses in NSW receiving free assessments, coupled with increased support to purchase recycling equipment, is a major success for the program.”

The Bin Trim program has also been successful in building stronger awareness of the recycling opportunities now available to small and medium businesses in NSW, according to Heidi Robertson, project officer, business recycling unit at NSW EPA. “Bin Trim is helping businesses become more aware of what’s in their bin. When businesses are assessed they are often surprised that there is a large amount of one type of material in their bins – if they get a recycling service for this material then they could save money and cut back on waste,” says Robertson.

“There is also increased awareness of simple things, like how to talk to their waste service providers, or knowing that if their bin is only half full every week that they could be paying less if they had a smaller bin or had it collected less frequently.”

Round two of the grants program is currently under way and both the grants and rebates programs will continue until June 2017. For more information, visit: www.epa.nsw.gov.au/bintrim ■

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Feature

A BIG ZERO Ending the isolation between waste streams and taking a longer-term view is key for businesses seeking to implement a zero waste strategy, as MICHELLE DUNNER reports.

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ith sustainability high on the agenda for a lot of Australian businesses, the penny is dropping that it’s not just part of their corporate social responsibility plans, but has appreciable bottom line benefits.

As a result, there’s a lot of buzz about the desirability of moving to zero waste. But what does that actually mean in practice? William Payne, executive general manager of strategy and performance at Veolia, says zero waste is a very widely used term.

“I spent eight years for Veolia in Europe and saw zero waste achieved while I was there,” Payne says.

“Zero waste means elimination of waste that’s not able to create further resources down the value chain.

Landfi ll can turn waste into a resource by creating a significant amount of energy that can go on and be used to power homes and other sustainable projects. Indeed, we’re already involved in programs where energy

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generated from landfi ll in the form of heat and power is being used to support commercial fish farming. A further project is in the wings to develop a full-blown commercial Aquaponics facility powered by landfi ll alone.

“We need to think of zero waste as the journey of eliminating everything out of the waste stream that cannot be used for other purposes down the track.

Taken in that context, it’s a very possible aim and a lot of Australian businesses are setting targets,” says Payne.

Several companies have already demonstrated it is possible to achieve zero waste to landfi ll with appreciable benefits to the company. Unilever Australia’s target of zero non-hazardous waste to landfi ll won the waste and recycling award at last year’s NSW Office of the Environment and Heritage Green Globe Awards.

Overall, Payne says Australia can look to Europe for examples of how to achieve waste goals and realise the benefits. “Europe has seen a lot of investment in

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Feature

Achieving zero waste Unilever Australia’s supply chain director Adam Balarin, tracks the company’s journey with its waste partner Transpacific Industries for three of its key sites – Minto, North Rocks and Tatura.

technology to drive maximum resource recovery from the waste stream. That investment is starting to occur here and that will be the driver to achieve zero waste in Australia,” he says.

“The situation here at the moment is that, on the one hand, big organisations are setting zero waste targets while, on the other, companies like ours are investing in the technology and infrastructure to support that goal.

“It’s also important that the technology also drives efficiency. Why would an organisation go down the path of waste reduction if they couldn’t see it would improve sustainability, performance and reduce cost?

“Technology’s role is to enable recycling, reuse and repurposing of waste in the most efficient manner. That requires investment, but also for organisations to work together in a different way.”

Payne says businesses looking to reduce their footprint need to ask themselves what they need to do to get there.

“They need to think differently in their approach to waste, in a couple of areas. Most of them understand it’s not an area of expertise for them and not one they want to exert vast amounts of management time towards. Think about a food manufacturer – they want to spend their management time on what they know best, creating great products, rather than figuring the best waste suppliers to engage for each stream produced. Navigating the

We know that waste reduction is the right thing to do both for the environment, and for the communities in which we operate. By reducing waste in energy, raw materials and manufacturing, we can also create efficiencies and cut costs, which in turn helps improve margins and business performance. At Unilever we are seeing that a focus on sustainability can drive growth, control costs and manage risks; the economic case is clear.

With this in mind, Unilever accepted the challenge to achieve zero non-hazardous waste to landfill from our factories in January 2014. This has been achieved through focused engagement with key waste service providers and Unilever staff.

Discussions with Transpacific Industries encouraged it to be more proactive about finding solutions for Unilever wastes, in particular the non-typical waste streams such as sludge from waste treatment plants.

Services contracts were amended to encourage and facilitate The attitude that waste their role in helping us is an annoyance has achieve this aim. As a moved to the realisation result, Transpacific and Unilever identified the that it’s a value-creation majority of wastes were opportunity. in fact organic in nature, particularly from the Minto Ice Cream factory.

Site staff were organised into a team to identify and implement amended site waste signage, bin placement and handling to remove contaminating wastes from this organic waste stream, so that it was presented in an acceptable form to be routed to produce energy by biological fermentation.

The major challenge for recycling at Minto included separating ice-cream waste from other waste streams. This was done through establishing a team of production and trades staff to brainstorm issues, removing and repositioning waste bins and decontaminating ice cream wastes. The cleaner stream was diverted to EarthPower for generation of power.

The significant waste stream at North Rocks was sludge. Diversion options to other industries were examined. Eventually a waste contractor was found that would process the

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8/03/16 9:51 AM

Feature sludge through bio-remediation to produce landscaping soils and compost.

In Tatura, forming new partnerships enabled us to find new ways to divert plastics away from landfill.

As a result, we are now diverting 60 tonnes of plastic and glass jars away from landfill to plastic forests to be recycled each year.

Working with Transpacific, we enrolled all employees in the ‘greenius’ program to raise awareness of the amended waste practices and recycle accordingly. Each site had a green warrior to reinforce the message. Transpacific became a de facto site adviser and we developed a strong relationship.

The breakthrough for the small amount of general waste still being generated once we had removed organic and recyclable material was provided by Transpacific in identifying a source to use this material as fuel.

Unilever also collaborated with the Office of Environment and Heritage’s Sustainability Advantage Program, with an initiative to use waste contracts more effectively. This initiative has already identified a willingness on behalf of the waste industry to effect a more partnership approach in providing services, data and performance outcomes aligned to customer reporting and, indeed, sustainability objectives.

Unilever’s Australian operations produced over 10,000 tonnes of waste in 2014. Of this, 87 percent or 9091 tonnes of non-hazardous wastes were diverted from landfill through recycling. This represents a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in landfill.

Through a combination of waste reduction and waste recycling, Unilever reduced its total waste per tonne of production in 2014 in Australia by 41 percent. This is an overall reduction in total waste per tonne of production of 64 percent from its 2008 baseline and represents a significant operational cost saving. In addition, the Australian operations of Unilever have been able to directly support and indeed achieve the company’s global manufacturing waste objective and contribute to the broader sustainability agenda.

As the first to achieve this on a global scale, Unilever is aiming to share the model with suppliers, partners, communities, customers and consumers to facilitate a zero waste supply chain. Unilever’s logistics operations are working in collaboration with its warehousing and distribution service providers, to adopt the same zero waste approach across the full supply chain.

Achieving zero non-hazardous waste to landfill is an aspirational goal of many manufacturing businesses, especially in the food industry. Unilever has been able to demonstrate that a systematic approach to understanding where wastes are created and focusing on reducing waste creation first, together with optimising recycling volumes,

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can lead to significant operational cost reductions as well as environmental benefits.

Unilever is also working with other members of the Sustainability Advantage Program to develop new waste management contracts that create greater transparency, align waste reporting KPIs to sustainability objectives, and bring waste contractor performance in line with these corporate objectives.

In addition, Unilever is implementing leadership in tender and contract execution within the waste management industry. Following internal audits to reduce waste creation, undertaken in 2014, Unilever is now trialling innovative waste contracts designed to increase the transparency and effectiveness of waste disposal. This has included waste contract

review and standard clause development to allow movement of resources between contractors, without penalty, to enable utilisation of the waste hierarchy.

The new approach to waste tenders and contracts is being achieved with preliminary lessons and ideas spread among Sustainability Advantage members as outcomes are achieved. It has the potential to set a new best practice benchmark.

As these organisations are major customers of the waste industry, the potential exists for substantial change in the way waste contractors approach service delivery with a greater emphasis on service outcomes against an organisation’s strategic sustainability reporting requirements. This in turn will influence waste service delivery to other customers who seek to optimise transparency and credibility in their waste and recycling activity.

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Feature

Short-term arrangements mean constant procurement cycles and that’s not going to be conducive to investing in sustainable solutions.

“Too often businesses look at waste streams in isolation and drive deals with suppliers that seek the cheapest possible outcome. There’s a growing recognition that this is not an area that is going to add long-term value to their business.”

A number of major Australian companies already “get it”, Payne says. “They’ve made the cultural shift, within their board and executive teams and they’re engaging with us to move to an approach where we can work together so they can see the benefits flow.

“There’s a growing change of mindset in corporate Australia. The attitude that waste is an annoyance is moving to the realisation that it’s a value-creation opportunity – both tangible and intangible.”

CARROT AND STICK

continued from page 22 sustainability journey really requires expert suppliers to work hand in hand with businesses to change behaviour and integrate technology into the value chain.”

This requires an attitudinal shift, Payne believes.

“What’s currently happening and needs to change is companies having numerous waste contractors on shortterm arrangements.

As a result, they’re constantly going through procurement cycles and that’s not going to be conducive to the waste suppliers investing in long-term technology, building partnerships or working on a shift in organisational thinking.

“We encourage our customers to look at waste as a whole and also expand this thinking to include water and energy. Every organisation is different, so we have developed a series of capabilities in a toolkit that look at technology, know-how and process so that an integrated solution can be devised, specific to the particular customer’s business activity.

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While governments at all levels wield regulatory power, Payne considers the ‘carrot’ is the growing recognition of improvements to a business’ bottom line as a result of more sustainable operations.

“The regulatory environment is interesting because it varies from state to state and that can make investing tens of millions of dollars in infrastructure a bit challenging.

“Organisations like ours, as well as some entrepreneurs, are defi nitely migrating in the right direction. There are positive examples of local government understanding what’s needed and supporting us, which in turn allows investment in infrastructure. Veolia currently has infrastructure projects exceeding $100 million underway that directly support the journey of zero value-added waste being lost. All components are working together – landfi ll to energy assets, recycling assets and so on to recover the value from the waste streams.

“But regulation is something that will continue to be worked on and evolve. There’s a lot of time and money at stake. It’s really up to government at all levels and the waste industry to work hand in hand to understand what can be achieved.” ■

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Entrepreneur JAMES CHIN MOODY says the logistics gap needs to be addressed to encourage more businesses to change their linear model.

Opinion

Ever-increasing circles

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s the circular economy all it’s cracked up to be? It is, because it has to be.

Just look at the way we’ve operated as a society. We dig something out of the ground, we make something with it, we throw it back – 95 percent of what we make ends up as landfill. Forty percent of all food we produce doesn’t end up in people’s mouths. The cars we buy remain idle for 80 percent of the time.

In short, there’s a lot of waste. Surely that’s reason enough for smart businesses to look at what the opportunities may be from shifting away from this linear model.

Waste equals opportunity. The circular model takes the traditional concept of ‘waste’ and converts it into feedstock for other projects, creating additional value.

Every diagram I’ve seen that tries to explain the circular economy has two things in common – it has circles and arrows. The circles represent the change in the business model and the arrows demonstrate the logistics – the stocks and flows.

The world has plenty of stocks and there are huge piles of materials sitting dormant, and getting these materials to where they need to be is difficult because the transportation of materials has historically been hard. If you think about it, often the only difference between waste and feedstock is the flow, or movement, of these materials from where they are to where they need to be transformed into something new. Clearly we need to improve the flows.

And that’s where the logistics gap comes in. One example where all of our innovations have not kept up with the pace of change, is the flow of materials from one area to another or, more accurately, one person to another. The big end of town can ship from a big factory to a warehouse, and

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from a warehouse to a consumer, quite easily because the economies of scale are at work. The poor cousin of delivery, and where much of the opportunity lies, is in small business or consumer to consumer, and consumer to business logistics.

Now there are a lot of exciting things happening in this waste recovery space; large companies that are looking to do things differently can achieve a lot with technology if they have the optimum scale.

But there are a lot of businesses out there that can’t get the logistics right because they don’t have that scale. If the flows are too expensive or too hard, they don’t work – and the result is that perfectly useable and recyclable products go to landfill.

We have the right ideas but not the mechanics; we need to level the playing field so that good, small business can get their logistics right and compete with big business. We have circles, we have arrows, but we don’t have the pipes. A circular economy thrives on materials. We need to be the pipes.

That’s why we decided to create Sendle.

Sendle exists to allow small business to take on big business by making delivery simple, affordable and reliable.

Sendle can ship 25 kilograms door-todoor in any capital city for less than $10.

So, anything that people own weighing less than that, with a residual value over $10, suddenly becomes an attractive prospect.

It’s material that can be obtained by a clever entrepreneur for them to figure out what to do with it. Lots of things can be imagined if the logistics are cost-effective and frictionless.

From the largest corporate to individual consumers, we know we can and should get more utility from the resources around

us. We recognise that it’s not a good idea to spend money putting something into a waste stream when it could represent an opportunity for growth somewhere else. Terming this the circular economy, and demonstrating how it can improve the resource efficiency of the country, has changed the language. It strikes at the heart of the business model.

The linear approach is just going to get too expensive – on several levels. Whether a litre of water or a kilogram of metal, they’re going to cost more. Companies may be able to manage their assets effectively and reduce their contingent liabilities, but there are still a lot of questions they need to ask themselves. What’s the shadow price of water? What will happen if and when we put a price on carbon? Companies that can embrace a circular model reduce their risk.

These concepts are gaining increased recognition, but perhaps not yet at the decision-maker level within a lot of big organisations. When this happens, and companies incorporate it successfully, it will be a term that doesn’t need to exist, because the circular economy will just be the economy – the businesses with the most efficient models will thrive and win.

If you talk to people on the street, they don’t say they want a circular economy.

They want things to be cheaper, or they don’t want to leave behind waste for their children. The term is not yet mainstream, but there’s a continuum there – it’s moving from obscurity, to knowledge, to curiosity, to experimentation, to embracing all-out change. Every person, business leader or politician will be at a different spot on that continuum. ■

James Chin Moody is the CEO of Sendle.

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Case study

The opportunity stream provided by waste gives hope of recycling the unrecyclable says AUSSEELA THANAPHONGSAKORN.

Not an old toothbrush, an idea

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lobally, an estimated 22.7 trillion pieces of consumer waste are discarded, totalling in excess of five million tonnes of plastic waste, annually.

Recycling rates remain dismally low in most countries and environmental education is not a priority at most schools. These growing factors are creating a massive challenge both in available resources and the health of our planet and its waterways. On home turf, 22.2 million tonnes of waste are deposited to Australian landfills each year.

The size of the problem presents a range of huge challenges for the future of waste management. A number of organisations are looking to cyclical solutions to this challenge in a circular economy.

TerraCycle doesn’t claim to be the ‘be-all end-all’ answer, but rather one solution to a rapidly growing problem of post-consumer product waste by, for example, providing a second life to an old toothbrush that would normally be discarded in the bin. As a social business with a triple bottom line of ‘planet, people and profit’ TerraCycle’s motivation from its beginning as a worm fertiliser start-up to a global recycling company is to ‘eliminate the idea of waste’.

Through nationwide collection programs called Brigades, that are free and accessible, TerraCycle’s purpose is to recycle ‘unrecyclable’ waste streams that others deem challenging, impossible or unsavoury and provide a cyclical solution through reuse, upcycling and recycling.

TerraCycle does not believe in linear solutions such as incinerating waste or waste-to-landfill.

THE ENTREPRENEUR – BOY MEETS WORM TerraCycle founder Tom Szaky was born in Budapest in 1982. A few years later he emigrated with his family as political

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refugees to Holland and eventually to Toronto. At the age of 14 he started his first business, a web design company.

Szaky arrived in the US in 2001 as a Princeton University student, but the following year he dropped out to dedicate himself full-time to starting TerraCycle. The company now operates in 21 countries, including launching in Australia and New Zealand in 2013 and Japan in 2014.

TerraCycle has developed proprietary recycling processes for waste streams as diverse as coffee capsules to cigarette butts to toothbrushes, and it engages individuals and large companies to collect waste and pay for recycling costs. TerraCycle has diverted over four billion pieces of waste and donated US$9 million to charities globally as part of its programs.

The TerraCycle recycling business model was brought to Australia by Anna Minns, a former criminal prosecutor and businesswoman, who discovered TerraCycle while living in the US. TerraCycle launched in the Australian market in 2014 with a key partnership with Australia Post, introducing a new concept of sending waste in the mail, making previously ‘unrecyclable’ waste nationally recyclable regardless of location via the Australia Post network. TerraCycle in Australia has diverted over 17 million units of waste since its launch.

SPONSORED WASTE IS BORN Where TerraCycle has exceeded normal practice is that its programs are accessible from anywhere in the country. It is completely free for anyone in Australia to participate in the Brigade programs through dropping off waste at their local Australia Post Office. TerraCycle’s recycling model also rewards collectors with a donation to their favourite school or charity for every piece of waste they send.

TerraCycle upcycles and recycles this traditionally non-recyclable waste. These products keep waste out of our landfills and contribute to a cleaner world by offsetting the need for creating virgin materials to make sustainable products.

A significant aspect about the program is that TerraCycle is helping to transform the way major CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies view product stewardship initiatives. TerraCycle’s proactive approach to making more waste streams available to the public to recycle is to seek industry sponsorship.

In Australia, TerraCycle accepts selected items of waste via the following free programs: ■ Colgate Oral Care Brigade: used toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, floss containers and outer packaging ■ Natures Organics Cleaner Packaging Brigade: nozzles and triggers on cleaning, beauty and laundry products, beauty wipe packaging ■ Nespresso Capsules Brigade: only Nespresso capsules are accepted ■ Nescafé Dolce Gusto Capsules Brigade: only Nescafé Dolce Gusto capsules are accepted ■ Whole Kids Snack and Pouch Brigade: snack wrappers and yoghurt pouches, and ■ Australia Post Mailing Satchel Brigade: mailing post satchels.

Although most companies invest significant resources into design packaging, almost no resources are spent to find ways to deal with end of life solutions for packaging waste. The traditional challenge in recycling is that waste must be sorted in order to be recycled – TerraCycle overcomes this problem because the Brigade system sorts all waste before it arrives at TerraCycle’s recycling facility.

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Case study TerraCycle’s research and development team in the US determines the solution for each waste stream and local processors and manufacturing partners are sought in each market.

A new TerraCycle program launched in Australia in 2015. With more businesses using the convenience of online shopping for their daily needs, Australians are being encouraged to recycle their used plastic mailing satchels via a new free national recycling program, the Australia Post Mailing Satchel Brigade.

Although most companies invest significant resources to design packaging, almost no resources are spent to find ways to deal with end of life solutions for packaging waste.

As part of the partnership between Australia Post, customers across Australia can now post their used plastic mailing satchels for free to TerraCycle to have them turned into material used to build recycled products such as park benches and industrial items.

A number of small and large companies, litter groups, community groups, local clubs, schools, councils and many other individuals and groups are highly engaged with the program and continue to ship their waste to TerraCycle via Australia Post.

COMMUNITY MEETS BUSINESS TerraCycle’s recycling system makes a positive impact due to its collective community grassroots approach to recycling waste and strategic partnerships with many environmental and community stakeholders.

TerraCycle’s program changes the way in which people view and understand waste by engaging their environmental consciousness and challenging their longstanding beliefs about what can or can’t be recycled or repurposed. By making products directly from waste, consumers, especially young people, can see how packaging they used to throw away can be reused.

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TerraCycle’s partnership with Colgate Australia and the Bright Smiles Bright Futures program is in its second year.

Primary schools across Australia are invited to take part in the program to learn how to achieve good oral health, but also take steps to create a healthy planet. It is estimated that 30 million toothbrushes and 70 million toothpaste tubes are used in Australia each year. The program is a great school community effort to recycle waste that would otherwise end up in landfill.

The unique recycling solution is a joint initiative with TerraCycle and ColgatePalmolive. Teachers were invited to register for the Colgate Oral Care Brigade and encourage their students to recycle oral care waste and win rewards for their school.

THE FUTURE OF ZERO WASTE TerraCycle’s innovation is unique to the Australian market. We believe there is no other organisation offering the ability to recycle difficult waste streams such as oral care waste, yoghurt pouches and coffee capsules on a national scale.

Where there is no industry sponsorship readily available, TerraCycle has pioneered the ‘Zero Waste’ platform – a consumer pays model for businesses, organisations

and individuals interested in achieving zero waste on a particular waste stream.

The Zero Waste boxes scheme allows a number of different waste streams to be recycled, including hairnets, latex gloves and stationery. The product, which has been successful in the UK and US with clients such as Apple, recently launched in Australia and is sold through online retailers Australia Post and Officeworks.

TerraCycle is also transforming the way manufacturers view recycled plastic. By providing more sustainable options without a premium, as TerraCycle expands, it hopes to provide a sustainable option for major plastic companies and local manufacturers to consider the commercial and environmental viability of recycled plastics linking with ‘closing the loop’.

TerraCycle is looking to expand its Australian arm with more waste streams made available and believes that anything can and should be recycled – from chewing gum to feminine hygiene products and even nappies, with the main aim of educating the wider community to see waste as a resource. ■

Ausseela Thanaphongsakorn is manager of Communications and Strategic Partnerships at TerraCycle.

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Profile

THE CIRCULAR NETWORK 28 | CWS APRIL | MAY 2016

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Business-led innovation driving positive social change is what keeps CANDICE QUARTERMAIN focused on spreading the word about the circular economy, as MICHELLE DUNNER reports.

Image courtesy of Fiona King, Poly www.cwsmagazine.com.au Street Photography.

3/03/16 11:05 AM

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ircular Economy Australia founder Candice Quartermain is not short on energy. A serial entrepreneur, Quartermain is in the throes of developing and crowdfunding a new business aimed at promoting healthy nutrition for children, running a Sydney advertising and design agency, writing books and encouraging innovation at every turn – all while awaiting the birth of her son, as this issue of CWS went to press.

An in-demand speaker on the circular economy, Quartermain has a mission to create ever-increasing networks that embrace the widest possible cross-section of the business community. For her, it’s all about driving “resourcefulness”.

“To me, Utopia would be getting businesses to understand the value of resourcefulness and start driving towards greater efficiencies. We need to encourage new ways of thinking and empower businesses and their staff to go on that journey.

“We’ve got to move away from the old Industrial Revolution way of thinking, which is ‘dig something up, make something, throw it away’. The only way to battle that, is to ensure what we take out of the ground becomes products that can be continually reused and provide the same level of value and that has to be a business-led solution.”

Originally from the UK, Quartermain arrived in Sydney in 2010, having already cemented her entrepreneurial credentials.

“I actually started out at 21 with my first events company. It was all about delivering extreme sports events – skateboarding, wakeboarding, surfing and skiing. It just reflected the things I really enjoyed. I loved the outdoor way of life.

“And then I got approached by someone working in the mobile industry. Mind you, this was before the first iPhone and when this guy told me mobile was going to be the next big thing, I pretty much laughed. But then his assistant sent me a load of reports and I became very intrigued.

“That’s where I fell into the innovation space and my eyes were opened to how technology could help us drive solutions. I was talking to people about how ‘one day’ they’d be buying cinema tickets through their phone or navigating to a location. They thought I was crazy, given most of them were still trying to get their head around how to text at the time.”

The experience also taught Quartermain about the need for good design. “I saw how

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Personal heroes Quartermain cites US architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart as key sources of inspiration. “Their book Cradle to Cradle really opened up my eyes; I thought their way of thinking was absolutely revolutionary. (Systems theorist) Buckminster Fuller is another fascinating person.

“For me it’s about thinkers who not only can see things differently, but also create. I’m heavily dyslexic; I have the reading and spelling ability of a 12-yearold, so I never really fitted into the traditional education system.

“Being exposed to these thinkers was a shift – it told me you can solve problems and create value by leveraging your imagination. My whole world opened up and it was very empowering.”

Quartermain says she’s also developed some exceptional international and Australian networks, including with the noted UK-based Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which has a mission of bringing business, government and academia together to build a restorative and regenerative economy.

important a factor it was in being able to facilitate solutions and that led me to work in design and marketing agencies. At the same time, I still had my businesses on the side. One of the things I did was run pole-dancing and burlesque courses for women and the impact on a lot of them was incredible. They’d come to me to tell me about how their confidence had soared, that they were prepared to try new things.

“I’d always been a bit of a project manager, but understanding the humanistic elements was a real turning point. I saw technology enabling design, design thinking being explored and all with recourse to people’s needs and what they wanted to be getting out of life. It opened me up to consider behavioural factors.”

Another watershed moment came after moving to Sydney. “I was working crazy hours in a tough, ruthless environment.

One night I was working on a brief on how

to sell a particular product to a teenage demographic and failing miserably.

“I started reading the ingredients on the back of the packaging and did some Googling. Everything that came up was carcinogenic, toxic; there were lawsuits in the US. It really got to me. How could I be so passionate about my work when this product I was trying to persuade a young audience to buy could potentially cause negative effects on their health? I had to shift gear.”

It led Quartermain to investigate companies that were aligned with her values. “I wanted to work with people and on projects that were creating a positive behaviour change, rather than just trying to sell something.”

She found herself at agency Digital Eskimo. “It was like finding my tribe. I learned so much about what you can do with design and how design thinking can result in positive social change and add so much more value and wealth. It was the point [at which] I discovered the circular economy.”

WE’VE BEEN GREENWASHED Promoting circular economy principles is a business concept rather than a green initiative, Quartermain says. “No one really knows what ‘green’ is. The concept has been pushed and pulled in so many directions.

“At Circular Economy Australia we keep a ‘tossery glossary’, which has around 30 words in it, including ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’ that we simply choose not to use as part of our branding or in positioning ourselves. It’s not that those concepts aren’t important, but we prefer to focus on identifying the values and how they can be applied to create positive changes for us all – that also has economic benefit.

“This is the world we live in – we constantly ask ourselves, ‘what is the business case?’, ‘how are we going to make money from it?’, ‘how are we going to be profitable’? That is the number one driver of genuine change – and interest, and uptake, and momentum.

“The principles of the circular economy give me something I can take to a boardroom. I can go to a CEO and talk about a viable business opportunity and identify the knock-on benefits – the social positivity, the improved ability to collaborate, the greater transparency with your staff, your suppliers, your customers.

You’re going to generate outcomes using these principles that make great stories for your business.” ■

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Feature

THE E-WASTE OPPORTUNITY Telstra leveraged its business centre network to overcome e-waste recycling barriers for small- to medium-sized enterprises. Telstra’s PAULINE GREGG reports.

I

nformation and communication technology (ICT) delivers myriad environmental and social benefits; however, electronic waste arising from the technological revolution remains a significant global problem.

While programs exist for the recovery and recycling of some end-of-life electronic and electrical goods (called e-waste), environmental and human health damage still occurs in some countries when e-waste is illegally or irresponsibly managed. E-waste going to landfi ll risks releasing toxins over time and poor recycling practices discharge a range of pollutants into air, water and land.

Local and international experience suggests that a number of schemes and innovative approaches for e-waste will be needed to comprehensively manage the mounting problem.

Telstra has supported responsible recycling programs for almost 20 years, but stepped up its activity by developing and piloting eCycle. The Telstra eCycle program provided a convenient and free pick-up service

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to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) whereby a range of e-waste can be collected and recycled through boxes provided by Telstra and transported to accredited recyclers.

Telstra eCycle was supported through participating Telstra Business Centres across metro and regional Australia, accepting a wide range of smaller consumer and ICT e-waste and all materials are recycled.

The pilot program ran until 1 March this year. It was designed to test ways to best overcome the barriers for SMEs when it comes to recycling e-waste – those being convenience, cost, data security and privacy.

A decade of research through the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) and MobileMuster found that while large organisations generally had the skills and resources to properly manage e-waste, SMEs often lack the capacity and knowledge and frequently stockpile e-waste.

The program has shown good results and a full review will now be conducted in parallel with the finalisation of

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Telstra’s Electronics Reuse and Recycling Strategy.

The feedback to date has been positive and, with more than 400 participants and 20 tonnes of e-waste recycled, eCycle is certainly having a positive impact.

Telstra’s Environment Strategy commits to developing innovative products and solutions and eCycle is an example of addressing a known problem for SMEs, whether they are a customer or not.

We are hoping that eCycle allows SMEs to get on with running their business while conveniently using a trusted recycling process to both rid their office of unwanted e-waste and achieve a good environmental outcome.

Equally important is addressing the barriers of data security and privacy as the AMTA research found SMEs are either unsure about destroying data or concerned sensitive information could end up where it shouldn’t be.

Telstra designed eCycle with input from industry leaders and engaged accredited and credible program partners to ensure users can be assured that high quality outcomes

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In Australia e-waste is growing three times faster than any other waste stream.

are achieved, including all material being recycled with none resold and all data being destroyed.

Telstra fully funded the program and engaged Infoactiv Group to provide secure logistics (through its Ecoactiv services) and Sims Recycling Solutions to provide high quality and accountable physical data destruction and material recovery. The scale of the e-waste problem is large and currently increasing. In 2013, the United Nations forecast the volume disposed globally to increase from 48 million tonnes in 2012 to 65 million tonnes in 2017 – and in Australia e-waste is growing three times faster than any other waste stream.

Global experts such as the US-based e-Stewards acknowledge that while there are laws and schemes regarding take-back and recycling of the e-waste, lack of enforcement allows illegal disposal or irresponsible recycling.

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Feature

A global problem The 2014 Global E-waste Monitor, released by the United Nations University last year, found the US and China were responsible for the highest levels of e-waste. The report said 41.8 million tonnes of e-waste were generated in 2014, but only 6.5 million tonnes were taken for recycling.

Globally, three million tonnes of small ICT equipment were dumped in 2014.

The e-waste generated contained an estimated 16,500 kilotons of iron, 1900 kilotons of copper, 300 tonnes of gold (equal to 11 percent of the world’s total 2013 gold production), as well as silver, aluminium, palladium, plastic and other resources with a combined estimated value of US$52 billion.

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In Australia there are a range of industry-led programs that support the take-back and recycling of e-waste such as MobileMuster, FluoroCycle, the Australian Battery Recycling Initiative (ABRI) and the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme (NTCRS).

Telstra has learned a lot about e-waste through supporting MobileMuster for almost 20 years and undertaking its own internal e-waste management program. At Telstra we have long known that e-waste can be difficult for people to manage and, just because there are programs available, it doesn’t mean people will access and use them.

We need to be innovative with our programs and responsive to our customers, and in that way we can support environmental solutions that not only provide environmental improvement but also add business value.

Addressing e-waste presents an opportunity for the information and telecommunications technology industry to move from the current end-of-life recycling

Just because there are e-waste recycling programs available, it doesn’t mean people will access and use them.

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Feature

Who’s using eCycle: Spartan School Supplies WHAT PRODUCTS DID SPARTAN RECYCLE? Spartan recycled almost everything on the eligible product list, including cables, networking equipment, monitors, printers, fax machines, scanners, desk phones and related accessories. There were also several desktop computers, as well as staff-owned machines brought in from home.

WHAT HAD SPARTAN DONE WITH THESE REDUNDANT PRODUCTS PREVIOUSLY? Depending on the volume and types of products, they have either been sent to a metal recycler or ended up in hard rubbish collections. Spartan does its best to responsibly dispose of electronic products, but easily accessible solutions can be hard to find. Spartan staff especially welcomed the opportunity to bring in product from their homes, knowing that secure and responsible recycling was the outcome.

HOW DID PARTICIPATING IN THE PROGRAM BENEFIT SPARTAN? The Telstra eCycle program is a great addition to Spartan’s sustainability program and actions, further reducing the company’s environmental footprint. Spartan was able to safely dispose of all the e-waste, and trust that the highest environmental outcomes were met in the process. Spartan was reassured to know that any data left on equipment is secure, as it is destroyed in the recycling process.

The initiative was also great for Spartan staff as they were encouraged to bring in any old electronics they had stored at home – allowing staff to de-clutter and increase engagement and education around the company’s environmental commitments.

WHAT WAS SPARTAN’S EXPERIENCE USING THE PROGRAM? James Marshman, business development manager at Spartan, notes, “The entire experience was seamless. It was very easy to use and there was very little work involved.

Spartan has used the service on three separate occasions, and has successfully recycled over 20 boxes of e-waste.”

Spartan will be doing an office relocation in the near future, and will definitely be using eCycle to responsibly dispose of any more old electronics. Spartan will also be recommending eCycle to other businesses.

Telstra’s executive director of small business, Andy Giles Knopp, says the service extends to any tech products its customers use, not just those that Telstra sells.

“Unfortunately, many people don’t know how to get rid of old tech properly, so they either throw it out in their regular rubbish, or hold on to it and let it stack up. We created eCycle to give them a safe, secure and easy method for disposing of all that tech equipment,” he says.

“We want to make it easier for our customers to do their thing by taking the hassle out of technology for them. eCycle isn’t just good for the environment, it gives businesses one less thing to worry about so they can focus on running their business.”

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focus, and adopt more innovative solutions across the full product life cycle. Increasing reuse and influencing product design offer opportunities to adopt a more circular life cycle approach and thereby enhance the environmental and social benefits the industry enables.

In June 2015 the Global e-Sustainability Initiative released the report titled ‘SMARTer 2030: Information and Communication Technology Solutions for 21st Century Challenges’. The report details analysis on eight sectors of the global economy to determine the environmental and social impacts of technology.

‘SMARTer 2030’ fi nds that information and telecommunication technology can and does deliver outcomes such as reduced need for transport, more efficient manufacturing processes and improved agricultural practices that lead to reduced energy use and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The report found that technology can enable a 20 percent reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, essentially holding global emissions at 2015 levels.

While ICT can enable significant emissions reduction, the sector needs to be mindful of its own impacts including e-waste. The report notes that “finding more ‘circular solutions’ like reusing, refurbishing or recycling e-waste is critical to ensuring the reliable and affordable sourcing of materials and to reducing supply chain volatility”.

Telstra’s approach aligns with this global thinking, with the eCycle program being one example of the innovation that is needed.

Telstra doesn’t only support end-of-pipe solutions such as eCycle. We are working with our major suppliers to develop better and more efficient products as well as a more circular approach to product and materials management. ■ Pauline Gregg is Telstra’s general manager – environment.

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Feature: Property

IS YOUR RECYCLING RATE RUBBISH? New data integrity measures mean there’s an opportunity now for the property sector to create meaningful, measurable and comparable numbers on recycling and waste management, as PATRICK ARNOLD and SCOTT EBSARY report.

I

t’s time to stop looking at our recycling figures and ask ourselves: ‘is it really working?’. There is no set standard on how we report on asset waste management outcomes. Many organisations use varying methodologies to report on their waste performance, so is it right for us to set targets when everyone is using different measuring sticks?

Many people have the same notion of what a recycling rate is. Generally, it’s understood as the amount of material diverted from landfi ll for the purpose of recycling and the recovery of resources.

The figure represents the percentage of all materials recycled and provides us with a snapshot of our recovery performance over a specified period of time.

Unfortunately, the process of calculating the recycling rate may differ dramatically from asset to asset, based on the stakeholders involved, the systems on-site and

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the facility to which materials are taken. Although the concept of a recycling rate is straightforward, the variables and inconsistencies associated with the way waste data is often reported present challenges for the property sector to calculate this figure accurately and consistently, and in a way that allows for meaningful comparison. While the methodologies of recycling rate calculation may vary, this does not necessarily mean the final recycling rate figure is incorrect. It is only when comparisons are drawn against other recycling rates that an inaccurate picture is made.

For example, imagine two assets, Asset A & B, producing the same type and amount of waste and recycling materials. To make this as simple as possible, each asset only generates two material streams: general waste and soft plastic packaging. Asset A receives a waste report in weight and Asset B receives it in volume. The figures in the table opposite are also reflected in the pie charts.

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MATERIAL STREAM

WEIGHT (KG/Wk)

VOLUME (L/WK)

General Waste (sent to landfill)

495

3245

Soft Plastic Packaging (recycled)

315

4505

TOTAL

810

7750

ASSET A

ASSET B

Weight-based recovery rate

Volume-based recovery rate

Soft Plastic Packaging 39% General Waste 61%

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Soft Plastic Packaging 58%

General Waste 42%

A meaningful comparison can only be made where the same methodology has been applied to other sites.

The recovery rate for Asset A is 39 percent; however, Asset B is 58 percent. Both these figures are ‘correct’ even though they are producing the same type and amount of waste. Looking at this as standalone data, there is no issue in reporting and measuring waste performance figures for an individual asset as long as the methodology stays consistent. The issue arises when drawing on comparisons between sites. In short, a meaningful comparison can only be made where the same methodology has been applied to other sites.

This is of increasing importance in the property sector. As organisations within the industry rely on benchmarks and targets to measure their sustainability performance, there is still a considerable gap in creating meaningful comparisons when reporting on waste and recycling. Properties within the same portfolio may report recycling rate figures using a number of methodologies,

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3/03/16 11:28 AM

Feature as no guidance has been given or standards set. Some of the issues that cause variances to the recycling rate methodology include: ■ material streams reported – are all streams reported for the asset?

■ volume and weight-based reporting ■ density metrics used to convert from volume to weightbased figures ■ on-site/facility contamination, and ■ additional facility recovery.

Stakeholders within the various divisions of a business (site, regional and national) may not even be aware that different sites and contractors are using varying methodologies to report their recovery rates. So, when it comes to measuring portfolio performance, many of the comparisons made may be invalid. This becomes a big issue when measuring the success of waste and recycling programs/initiatives, understanding waste management spend per tonne and future strategic planning. A solid foundation for monitoring and reporting is required in order to create meaningful change in this space – so what are we doing about this?

ends up will also have an impact upon your overall recovery rate. Different facilities have varying levels of contamination outputs that need to be factored in.

■ A bronze rating can be achieved if site-specific densities are used, one source of data is provided and a clear measurement and verficiation process is in place. Site-specific densities provide greater accuracy in reporting the weight of material generated from site. A source of data is required to verify waste data in reports. This may come from waste contractor invoices, cleaner bin tallies, automated bin readers or weighbridge dockets. A clear process is required on-site for collection, management and verification of waste data that is able to validate how these figures have been arrived at.

■ Silver rating is achieved with an additional source of data, an independent audit and applying a site contamination adjustment. An independent audit must be conducted by someone independent of the sources of data. This can typically be done by any stakeholder that is not a waste/cleaning contractor, including building management/owners. The purpose of the audit is to determine that the data presented reflects actual practice.

A site contamination adjustment requires an audit to determine the percentage of non-acceptable material (material that is not accepted by the final disposal facility).

■ Gold is the highest level of data confidence and requires that at least 95 percent of the total waste generated has been reported with actual weights.

This may be from contractors’ on-site vehicles, weighbridge weights when a compactor or skip bring material to the disposal facility or on-site scales used to weigh bins prior to collection.

A SOLUTION The BBP (Better Buildings Partnership) Operational Waste Guidelines (www.sydneybetterbuildings.com.au/projects/ waste/operational-waste-guidelines) is a voluntary guidebook on best practice waste management for properties, developed in conjunction with the 14 largest asset groups in Australia.

These asset groups are committed to the principles in the guide to reform the way in which we manage waste.

One of the pillars of the guidelines is creating transparent and accountable reporting. At the crux of this is the data integrity rating protocol that grades the quality of the data received by an asset. The lowest grade on the rating table is Nominal, where an industry density and a facility contamination adjustment is applied to unverified contractor data. The BBP has suggested that any data that doesn’t meet the Nominal criteria should not be reported publicly as the data confidence level is too low to allow for any meaningful comparisons or performance reporting.

Improved data quality can be achieved by: ■ conducting regular audits to ascertain and apply sitespecific densities and contamination adjustments ■ using more than one independent source of data to verify the primary data (i.e. contractor invoices, bin tallies, weighbridge dockets), and ■ obtaining ‘actual’ weights through on-site scales, contractor on-vehicle scales and/or weighbridge receipts.

The data integrity rating protocol levels the playing field and creates a structure of reporting data where comparisons between different assets will now be meaningful. A tier structure of evidence has been outlined to determine levels of data confidence. How would your waste data/reports compare against the below: ■ A nominal rating is received if a site uses industry densities and a facility contamination rate has been factored. Industry densities are usually applied to the number of volume-based systems, such as wheelie bins, that are collected. The facility where your material

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RATING

EVIDENCE REQUIREMENTS

GOLD

Actual weights (AW) Two sources of data Independent audit Site contamination adjustment

SILVER

Site density (SD) Two sources of data Independent audit Site contamination adjustment

BRONZE

Site density (SD) One source of data Measurement and verification Facility contaminator adjustment

NOMINAL

Industry/national density (ID) Contractor unverified data Facility contamination adjustment

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Feature One of the pillars of the guidelines is creating transparent and accountable reporting. At the crux of this is the data integrity rating protocol that grades the quality of the data received by an asset.

The upshot of this new grading system is to increase data integrity and increase the confidence we have in waste data, but many asset groups are concerned that this will result in a drop in their recovery/recycling rate from what was previously reported.

As an isolated issue this would not necessarily pose a significant problem to the asset groups; however, the primary concern results from the fact that most corporate waste targets were set between two and six years ago, and were based on data that we now know to be less accurate than the data we are working with today.

WHAT NEXT? The BBP Operational Waste Guidelines were publicly released in July 2015 and they are still in their infancy.

Meeting corporate sustainability targets is a core driver to appease stakeholders, but when we look at the business holistically, we believe a more appropriate core driver for a business should really be creating positive outcomes.

It is difficult to measure positive outcomes when your indicator – the recovery rate – is potentially inaccurate and unreliable. This is a critical stage where the adoption and alignment of new processes should be the focus rather than pursuing arbitrary targets.

It’s important to note that despite the perceived/ reported drop in recovery rate, the waste programs and recycling efforts of the asset groups are largely unchanged – in most cases they have made improvements to their performance (based on the material that is actually getting recycled). The major change is that we are now better equipped to report waste data in a more accurate way, which has revealed that in many cases what was previously reported may have inflated the recovery performance of many assets.

So now, surely the pertinent concern is not that your recycling rate may be perceived to have dropped due to increased data integrity, but that your corporate recycling target is now obsolete and quite possibly nothing more than an arbitrary number that has little correlation with the actual recycling potential of your asset/portfolio.

This is food for thought in an environment where many corporate stakeholders are taking steps to improve the integrity of their waste and recycling data, while simultaneously having to reconcile the fact that their recycling target may not be relevant in light of their improved, more accurate recycling data. In following issues, we will be exploring this subject further and seeking input from industry stakeholders to get their take on this issue and how they are taking steps to address it within their businesses. ■

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A snapshot There is no set standard on how we report on asset waste management outcomes. Many organisations use varying methodologies to report on their waste performance. Is it right for us to set targets when everyone is using different measuring sticks?

The BBP Operational Waste Guidelines is a voluntary guidebook on best practice waste management for commercial properties, developed in conjunction with the 14 largest property groups in Australia and the waste industry.

These groups are committed to the guide’s principles to reform the way we manage waste.

A pillar of the BBP Operational Waste Guidelines is creating transparent and accountable reporting. At its crux is the data integrity rating protocol that grades the quality of the data received by an asset. This levels the playing field and creates a structure of reporting data where comparisons between different assets will now be meaningful.

In an effort to increase data integrity and increase the confidence in what is reported, many property groups are concerned that it may result in a drop in their recovery/recycling rate from what was previously reported. As an isolated issue this would not necessarily pose a significant problem to the property groups; however, the primary concern results from the fact that most corporate waste targets were set between two and six years ago and based on data that we now know to be less accurate.

Patrick Arnold and Scott Ebsary Foresight Environmental

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Feature: Product Stewardship

TIME TO BE RESPONSIBLE JOHN GERTSAKIS and ROSE READ say we need to get serious about product stewardship and pushing the sustainability envelope.

W

e must move beyond ‘old school’ collection and recycling solutions, and focus on upstream priorities that create/drive a new circular economy.

There are many models of product stewardship and extended producer responsibility (EPR) in Australia and abroad. It is diverse but also a catalyst for great innovation and new business models focused on social and environmental benefit, value and impact reduction, especially among progressive brands.

Its essence, however, remains intact; manufacturers, producers, retailers and brands must take greater environmental responsibility for their products across the life cycle, and well after the consumer has fi nished with the product. It also requires consumers and other relevant stakeholders to play their part and ensure responsible disposal of products through official programs and schemes.

Action on product stewardship in Australia is increasing and evolving. The ongoing transition to greater producer involvement and funding of resource recovery

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by product type or industry sector is showing signs of refi ned policy thinking as well as greater communityfacing implementation.

On-the-ground implementation (and associated pilots) has reached an all-time high with take-back solutions covering mobile phones, packaging, televisions and computers, printing consumables, carpet tiles, office furniture, batteries, paint, tyres and mercury-containing lighting.

The introduction of EPR was an evolutionary step in environmental regulation where the producers’ responsibility was broadened from just a traditional focus on the abatement of emissions and effluents from factories, and related industry facilities, to the whole life cycle of the product.

In its simplest form, EPR is about companies taking their environmental responsibility beyond the point of manufacture, sale and warranties, and effectively managing the total life cycle of their products.

EPR prompts companies to place greater emphasis on responsible design and manufacturing processes in

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Feature addition to integrating systems to recover, reuse and recycle products once they are discarded.

Assigning producers responsibility both fi nancially and/or physically for the treatment or disposal of postconsumer products via EPR can provide incentives to prevent waste at the source, promote product design for the environment, and support the achievement of public recycling and materials management goals.

Product stewardship, as defi ned in the Australian Product Stewardship Act 2011, is a broader policy approach than EPR. It acknowledges that those involved in producing, selling, using and disposing of products have a shared responsibility to ensure that those products or materials are managed in a way that reduces their impact, throughout their life cycle, on the environment and on human health and safety.

This article, the first of two parts, provides some insights and observations on several collective schemes and industry-wide product stewardship programs. It shares some basic information about each initiative, but also outlines highlights and future challenges. The views expressed reflect the authors’ direct and indirect experience, as well as general stakeholder knowledge about how these programs are performing, perceived or otherwise.

A range of new and upcoming product stewardship pilots and programs will be covered in the next issue, including initiatives for tyres, paint, vinyl, batteries, agricultural waste, carpets and commercial furniture.

CARTRIDGES 4 PLANET ARK http://cartridges.planetark.org PRODUCT: Printer and copier cartridges and related imaging consumables Office consumables such as paper, toner and printer cartridges continue to be consumed in vast quantities, to the extent where the paperless office sometimes seems an unlikely goal. Reductions have been achieved, however, and further bolstered by the level of refi lling and recycling of imaging consumables.

Running since 2003, Cartridges 4 Planet Ark is an exemplary take-back initiative in the product stewardship space established and operated on a voluntary basis. It is funded by printer manufacturers, promoted by Planet Ark and underpinned by Close the Loop (CtL), one of Australia’s most innovative resource recovery businesses.

The label ‘recycler’ does not do justice to what CtL does in terms of R&D, investment and advocacy, both here and in the US. The ‘Zero Waste to Landfi ll’ pledge

by CtL provides a compelling argument in favour of its approach and processing technology, which is obviously attractive to participating office equipment manufacturers such as Brother, Canon, Epson, HP, Konica, Minolta and Kyocera.

Over 13,100 tonnes of cartridges have been diverted from landfi ll, which translates into some noteworthy environmental benefits, including significant water, energy and resource savings as a result of the recycled

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materials being used in the manufacture of other products. As they are manufactured from a complex mix of metals, plastics, foam, ink and toner, there’s a pressing need to recover and reprocess the materials found in cartridges – an important contribution towards higher levels of product sustainability and ensuring more efficient use and reuse of scarce and non-renewable resources.

The program benefits substantially from having a comprehensive nationwide network of drop-off and collection points hosted by retailers such as Australia Post, Officeworks, Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, Office National and Cartridges Direct. This extensive network clearly contributes to maximising consumer participation and making the process userfriendly, uncomplicated and free. Through Australia Post outlets alone, approximately 40,000 cartridges are recycled each month.

Future challenges for the program include the need to involve ‘free-riding’ copier manufacturers and consumables suppliers, which currently don’t participate, or fail to run their own independent collection and recycling services, thus creating an uneven playing field when it comes to who is funding the responsible recycling of cartridges.

Innovation in product design features for copiers, printer and consumables also requires ongoing attention to ensure that manufacturing methods and techniques also help to maximise end-of-life resource recovery, as well as minimal environmental impacts across the product life cycle.

The ongoing transition to greater producer involvement and funding of resource recovery by product type or industry sector is showing signs of refined policy thinking as well as greater communityfacing implementation.

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A 42728_

Feature MOBILEMUSTER (mobile phone industry recycling program) www.mobilemuster.com.au Product: Mobile phones, their batteries and accessories Established in 1998 by the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA), this voluntary, government-accredited product stewardship program is managed and funded by most mobile phone handset manufacturers and all network carriers.

With the goal of keeping old mobiles, their batteries and accessories out of landfi ll and ensuring everything is recycled to the highest environmental standards, MobileMuster has set the standard in electronic product stewardship in Australia. Driven by the rapid growth of mobile phones in the late 90s and the need to fi nd a solution to the disposal of hazardous nickel cadmium batteries at that time, MobileMuster has worked to increase community awareness and make recycling simple, easy and convenient to all.

The industry has invested over $17 million in marketing and communication efforts to increase the public’s awareness and engagement in mobile phone recycling. By 2011 over 80 percent of people knew they could recycle their mobile phones (up from 46 percent in 2005) and less than two percent threw their previous phone into landfi ll (down from nine percent in 2005).

With more than 3500 public drop-off points across Australia as well as a free post back service, recycling couldn’t be more simple and convenient.

Likewise the amount of phones being recycled has grown year-on-year with more than 1168 tonnes of mobiles and accessories recycled since the program started. This includes more than 9.95 million handsets and batteries. In 2014-15 the program collected over 54 percent of available phones (up from 18 percent in 2005). With over 95 percent of the materials in these products being recovered for reuse into new products.

While MobileMuster has done an excellent job in recovering old mobiles, keeping them out of landfi ll, optimising resource recovery and increasing community awareness, it has not been able to stem people’s desire to keep their old mobile phones. As a result, there are now more than 22.5 million old mobiles sitting in homes lying idle, of which at least a quarter still work. This is, arguably, a greater challenge for the mobile phone industry. How can it entice people to return these products as working phones or for material recovery and reuse for future manufacturing?

Like many voluntary programs, the other main challenge is maintaining manufacturer participation and preventing free riding. When the program started, over 80 percent of manufacturers (based on the number of handsets imported into the market) and 90 percent of network carriers funded the program. Fifteen years on, the players in the mobile phone market have

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Feature changed substantially and, now, less than 50 percent of manufacturers (based on the number of imports – Samsung, Microsoft, ZTE, HTC, Alcatel One Touch, Huawei, Motorola) contribute to the program with the current market leader Apple, plus Sony Mobile, LG and BlackBerry, not participating.

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION MEASURE ON USED PACKAGING MATERIALS (NEPM), AND THE AUSTRALIAN PACKAGING COVENANT (APC) www.packagingcovenant.org.au www.environment.gov.au/protection/ national-waste-policy/packaging-covenant Product: Consumer packaging Established in 1999, this co-regulatory product stewardship scheme was created to reduce the environmental impacts of packaging, particularly those arising from the disposal of used packaging, as well as to conserve resources through better design and production processes, and facilitate reuse and recycling.

There are two elements to this product stewardship scheme – the NEPM for used packaging materials and the APC (initially known as the National Packaging Covenant then renamed to the Australian Packaging Covenant in 2010).

The NEPM is the regulatory underpinning for packaging product stewardship in Australia and was put

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in place to deal with free riders and non-signatories to the covenant. It is applied at state level and requires that brand owners with a turnover larger than $5 million must either become a signatory to the covenant or comply with the NEPM. The APC is the voluntary component of this co-regulatory scheme that provides a framework for a shared approach between all sectors of the packaging supply chain: consumers, collectors, re-processors and local, state and federal governments.

Currently there are over 900 signatories to the agreement including from business and industry, government and non-government.

Since its inception, the APC has gone through three iterations with the focus evolving from addressing the fi nancial challenges faced by local government in running kerbside schemes back in the late 90s to a broader focus of managing the whole life cycle from design through to recovery and reducing litter.

Since 2005, government and industry has funded over 128 projects with a total project value of over $126 million. Projects have ranged from development of collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure, market development and other sustainable packaging initiatives to, more recently, public place recycling and activities to reduce packaging litter. As a result packaging recycling rates have grown from 39 percent in 2003 to 64.2 percent in 2014 and the number of packaging items has dropped by 20 percent.

Funding of activities up until now has been shared by governments and industry. As part of the current refresh process, however, governments have indicated they plan to withdraw funding from the covenant.

Discussions between government and industry to refresh the current APC started in 2013 and appear to have slowed with both the New South Wales and Queensland governments investigating the feasibility of container deposit legislation. As discussions continue to slow, the likelihood of the covenant lapsing on June 2016 increases.

The industry’s preferred option is a covenant with strategies and KPIs similar to those in the current APC, but under the management of a new producer responsibility organisation and with a substantially higher annual budget from $3 million to $11 million, of which around $5 million will be spent on actions to prevent litter. This may result in substantial increases in member contributions. Environment groups believe the introduction of container deposit legislation is the best way forward, especially in reducing and recycling litter.

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A 42729_

Feature REFRIGERANT RECLAIM AUSTRALIA https://refrigerantreclaim.com.au Product: Ozone depleting substances One of Australia’s most significant product stewardship initiatives deals with the recovery, reprocessing or destruction of ozone-depleting substances and was driven by the Montreal Protocol, widely considered as one of the most successful environment protection agreements.

Australia was one of the fi rst countries to ratify the Montreal Protocol, and its leadership continues being well ahead of its requirements.

More specifically, the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989 and its regulations help ensure Australia meets legal obligations under the protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

In practical terms, since the late 1980s the Act has required the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry to deal responsibly with ozone-depleting gases. In response to the protocol, contractors must recover the gases and wholesalers must accept them for safe reprocessing or destruction.

At an industry sector level, Refrigerant Reclaim Australia (RRA) has been the key organisation for delivering product stewardship solutions for this industry. As a not-for-profit created specifically for the task, RRA works nationally to share the responsibility for, and costs of, recovering, reclaiming and destroying surplus and unwanted refrigerants. Its take-back programs have received international recognition for helping to prevent emissions and more safely manage an otherwise invisible substance.

RRA’s program of activities highlights the various elements of objectives and actions involved in operating a mature product stewardship organisation based on the specific needs of the industry, its individual

In practical terms, since the late 1980s the Act has required the refrigeration and airconditioning industry to deal responsibly with ozone-depleting gases.

companies and the scope of the environmental issue being addressed. It appears to be delivering positive outcomes and measurable achievements with increasing amounts of refrigerants being recovered and processed each year with thousands of tonnes recovered and processed to date according to the RRA sources.

Furthermore, the equivalent of more than 10 million tonnes of (carbon dioxide) CO2 has been prevented from being emitted.

NATIONAL TELEVISION AND COMPUTER RECYCLING SCHEME (NTCRS) http://www.environment.gov.au/protection/ national-waste-policy/television-andcomputer-recycling-scheme Product: Televisions, computers and IT accessories The need for regulatory intervention on e-waste in Australia has been an obvious and outstanding requirement in order to stimulate some nationwide resource recovery action by producers. Sensible policy reform was simply overdue compared to most other OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries.

Created under the Product Stewardship Act 2011, NTCRS represents a high level of policy innovation that involved considerable consultation and review from across sectors, industries and non-government organisations.

While the scheme has its critics (especially some social enterprises and some councils), the facts underscore measurable success. Over 1800 collection services have been

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2/03/2016 12:01 PM 2/03/16 8/03/16 1:30 9:48 PM AM

Feature

provided to communities through events and permanent drop-off sites, and more than 130,000 tonnes of television and computer e-waste have been collected and recycled through the NTCRS. Not only has this demonstrated a step change increase in recycling rates over a very short period, it has also diverted hazardous and toxic substances away from landfill.

Designed as ‘framework’ legislation, the Act provides a framework to manage the environmental, health and safety impacts of products, and in particular those impacts associated with the disposal of products. The degree of flexibility is, in theory, unmatched and the Act has the potential to address a diverse range of products, materials, waste streams and industries. Most importantly, the Act recognises the specific needs of different industries and allows for voluntary, co-regulatory and mandatory product stewardship arrangements. This level of elasticity in regulatory application is noteworthy and provides affected stakeholders with a menu of possibilities when it comes to the design producer and retailer-funded product stewardship initiatives.

Two of the challenges and major costs to product stewardship schemes in Australia are collection and transport of the product and community awareness and participation. One way to address these challenges is to take an integrated approach by establishing shared e-waste collection facilities and implementing joint promotional activities.

As most councils know, for any collection/recycling program to be successful it needs to be simple, easy, free and readily accessible to the community. Having different collection sites for different e-waste types is clearly a barrier to community participation as is lack of promotion of the schemes. Therefore, setting up shared e-waste collection sites for all types of e-waste, not just TVs, computers or mobile phones, is one way to simplify recycling for consumers. As is running joint promotional campaigns informing and reminding consumers why, how and where they can recycle their e-waste.

What is still missing and disappointing is the absence of comprehensive education and effective marketing campaigns.

Without meaningful community education, measurable and increasing environmental benefit will be undermined. PR stunts are no replacement for long-term and enduring community education on e-waste.

The ongoing proliferation of energy-using gadgets and devices, combined with an insatiable consumer desire, demands that we get serious about electronics product stewardship and pushing the sustainability envelope.

In practical terms, since the late 1980s the Act has required the refrigeration and airconditioning industry to deal responsibly with ozone-depleting gases.

KEY DRIVERS Environmental impacts, the need to manage hazardous materials, minimising community burden and addressing market failures have been the key drivers in establishing these product stewardship schemes. While solutions in most cases have focused on end of life, over time we see approaches and initiatives focusing on improving design and material use to prevent these issues. Also it’s to ensure the true costs of the product are internalised and met to varying degrees by the producers, retailers and individuals who benefit from using the products, rather than by the broader community and the environment.

The opportunities to create product stewardship solutions that are cradle to cradle-based are obvious and directly facilitate a circular economy.

However, we must move beyond ‘old school’ collection and recycling solutions, and focus on upstream priorities including product design, supply chain greening, low emission logistics, reuse, extended product life and environmentally driven consumer innovations. ■ John Gertsakis is chief sustainability officer, Infoactiv and Rose Read is chief executive officer, MRI PSO.

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4/03/16 4:14 PM

There is a win-win solution available in the recycling of organic by-products from commercial activity, says PETER McLEAN.

Opinion

The carrot or the stick

T

he first cities were established in Mesopotamia around 7500 BC. Since that time we have developed and refined systems and practices for the disposal of our waste, including organic material. That’s almost 10,000 years of accumulated experience of throwing unwanted stuff into a bucket or pile, and a person, whose job it is to do so, taking it away. Problem fixed.

In commercial environments this is an especially important service as disposing of unwanted material represents a cost in time and money. Efficient procedures have developed to reduce the cost of disposing of unwanted stuff. Often, the most efficient way is to chuck everything into a single receptacle and move on. What then is going to motivate us to change age-old practices that may well have an adverse impact upon efficiency and cost?

For waste producers the carrot and stick cliché supported by an education program has been proven in many jurisdictions.

But how much must the carrot or stick approach be tailored to meet individual circumstances?

Triple bottom line benefits are useful when a business values its standing as a global citizen. This driver is not so easy when times are tough and the business is struggling, as with the majority of smaller enterprises in Australia. Given appropriate training, however and, most importantly, an understanding of ‘the reason why’, most businesses and employees will commit to practise change. A financial (dis)incentive enhances the response and creativity in finding solutions.

Often, the ubiquitous plastic bag provides the universal solution and the biggest problem. When the most vexing item of contamination is the

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Expending funds on re-educating the agricultural community, especially through demonstration (please no more trials and research), may prove substantially more costeffective than seeking exotic solutions such as biochar.

fundamental tool in current practice, we meet the greatest challenge. Perhaps the compostable plastic bag is the simple solution. Banning un-compostable plastic bags may be a more beneficial tactic than landfill bans. On the subject of landfill bans, it may be wise to support any such strategy with a stockpile ban until markets for a finished product are established.

Ultimately, recycling requires the identification of a market for recycled organic by-products. There are two markets where this raw material may prove beneficial and where the scale is large enough to absorb the likely volumes: power generation and agriculture. Power generation has specific needs and tends to result in cherry-picking of raw material for specific roles. The remainder ends up with composters.

The major synthetic fertiliser companies dominate their key growth market. Since the development of synthetic NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) fertilisers during World War II, relatively little attention has

been given to the health of agricultural soils that have been worked relentlessly and fed on a sugar diet of NPK to sustain the agricultural revolution and the astonishing yields they have provided.

Today, those yields are plateauing and in some cases reducing, as the depleted soils can no longer sustain their capacity to make the massive quantities of NPK plant available. Unhealthy soils cannot derive the same value from synthetic fertilisers that healthy soils can. Indeed, healthy soils are more efficient in their utilisation of synthetic fertilisers, which can reduce farm input costs at the same time as improving yields.

Of course, reduced demand for synthetic fertilisers is not in the best interests of the synthetic fertiliser industry and it has substantial marketing budgets.

Expending some funds on re-educating the agricultural community, especially through demonstration (please no more trials and research), may prove substantially more cost-effective than seeking exotic solutions such as biochar. Before the invention of NPK fertilisers and even before the first cities, farmers were making compost to keep their soils healthy. Perhaps it’s time to relearn those old skills.

There is a win-win solution available in the recycling of organic by-products from commercial activity. Existing technologies and proven practices are available to create the products, but change is required in the practices of producers and managers.

If political will can be generated to drive and support change, the desired outcome of diverting organics from landfill can be achieved. Perhaps the first change should be to consider what the end user wants. ■

Peter McLean is the executive officer of the Australian Organics Recycling Association.

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Feature: Water

BIOSOLIDS

–timing is everything Research and development in the Victorian water industry is delivering greater efficiencies and environmental benefits in the treatment of biosolids.

MATT MOLLETT reports.

W

hen Benjamin Franklin popularised the term ‘time is money’ back in 1748, it’s unlikely that sewage sludge was on his mind, but ask anyone involved in the processing of biosolids, and they’ll tell you that time is a big factor.

The major by-product in the water treatment process, biosolids are made up of waste sewage sludge, which has typically undergone treatment to remove pathogens (bacteria, parasites and viruses) and volatile organic matter. Once stabilised, it’s a product with a broad range of applications – from fertiliser, compost and road base to biofuel, glass manufacture and jewellery.

As you’d expect, all biosolid applications are regulated and, in Australia, those regulatory regimes are some of the strictest in the world.

South East Water currently produces around 3000 dry tonnes of biosolids each year across four of its eight treatment plants in Melbourne’s south-east and on the Mornington Peninsula. This Victorian Government utility is committed to 100 percent beneficial use of its biosolids, and operates treatment processes that convert the sludge into biosolids-based fertiliser. The

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Opposite page Top: Untreated sewage is 98 percent water.

Bottom: Solar drying takes a fraction of the time of pan drying.

product is then shipped to local farms where it’s used to improve soil quality and structure, most commonly for cattle pasture.

These treatment processes are tightly regulated by Victoria’s Environment Protection Authority (EPA), which requires that specific steps are taken to ensure that potentially harmful pathogens such as E. coli, salmonella and enteric viruses are not allowed to contaminate the end product.

For South East Water that means a rigorous program of testing and analysis and a minimum drying and storage period of three years in order to achieve the highest quality grade (Treatment Grade T1) which, from a microbiological perspective, is suitable for ‘unrestricted’ use on local farms.

With sludge volumes set to rise significantly in the coming years, however, this mandatory storage period is presenting South East Water with a major headache.

“South East Water services some of Melbourne’s fastest growing regions, and we expect sludge volumes to triple in the next three decades,” says product quality scientist Dr Aravind Surapaneni.

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Feature

A drain on real estate Stockpiling isn’t the only drain on real estate in the water treatment process. Before biosolids can be stockpiled, the material must have a maximum moisture content of 40 percent. When raw sewage arrives for treatment at South East Water’s plants, it’s typically 98 percent water, and a long way from the dry, powdered material that farmers spread on their pastures at the end of the process. Traditionally, sewer treatment has involved the use of vast, open drying pans to dry the sludge. While cost-effective to build, drying pans can present space and odourmanagement challenges for plants located in semi-urban locations, which is why South East Water has invested heavily in solar sludge dryers – it now has five, more than any other Victorian water utility. These glassed indoor environments capture the sun’s heat to accelerate the drying process, with the sludge spread out in thin layers over hundreds of square metres. Drying times can be cut from as much as a year to just two months, while reducing the plant’s overall footprint, and the potential for odour to impact local communities.

“Our treatment plants have a fi nite space for stockpiling biosolids. The three-year storage requirement means that sooner or later we will run out of space, and that will require significant capital expenditure, unless we fi nd a way to do things differently.”

With the company’s commitment to the beneficial use of biosolids non-negotiable, Surapaneni and his team undertook a project to examine the possibility of reducing the storage period of biosolids without compromising their ‘unrestricted’ classification.

They began by examining research commissioned by the Smart Water Fund, an initiative established by the Victorian water industry in 2002 to help address the ongoing challenges posed by climate change and water scarcity.

The fund’s research, which involved Imperial College London and RMIT in Melbourne, explored alternative methods to treat biosolids and reduce the pathogenic risk.

Surapaneni and his team set out to validate this research with a one-year R&D project of their own, based at South East Water’s Boneo and Somers treatment plants.

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“We set out to prove through rigorous sampling and monitoring that the reduction in a range of pathogen quantities required by the EPA could be achieved after one year of stockpiling rather than three,” says Surapaneni.

From November 2014, fortnightly samples of raw sewage and waste-activated sludge were taken. Samples were also taken at drying pans (Boneo and Somers), solar dryer sheds (Boneo), and one-year stockpile stages, and measured against equivalent samples from the three-year process.

Over the 12-month testing period, the reduction in enteric viruses, E. coli and salmonella bacteria was found to meet and exceed the EPA log reduction requirements. The removal of the parasite Ascaris ova could not be proven, as it is not endemic in Australia and could not be detected in sewage. South East Water submitted the research for peer review and further examination.

“It was clear that both the aerobic and anaerobic drying processes we operate at Boneo and Somers could achieve the same microbial safety levels after one year of stockpiling,” says Surapaneni.

“We also found from literature and RMIT research that the beneficial elements in the biosolids – particularly nitrogen, phosphorus and organic carbon – degraded over

We set out to prove that the reduction in a range of pathogen quantities required by the EPA could be achieved after one year of stockpiling rather than three.

Top: Biosolids are rich in nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and organic carbon.

Above: Biosolids undergoing the stockpile process.

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3/03/16 1:39 PM

Feature time and were significantly higher in product stored for one year than in product stored for three.”

South East Water took its research and fi ndings to the EPA and, in December 2015, was granted approval for one-year stockpiling of sludge at Boneo and Somers using the now validated treatment process to achieve Treatment Grade T1.

The validated treatment process has been documented and formalised in a quality management system certified to the HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control points) food safety standard. A commitment has also been made to the EPA that periodic monitoring of sewage for the presence of Ascaris ova will continue in case the incidence of this parasite increases as a result of changes in demographics.

“This is a game-changer for how we manage our biosolids programs,” says Surapaneni. “It shows how highquality research and development can drive important change in our industry, and deliver greater efficiency and better environmental outcomes.”

Local farmers are obvious beneficiaries. Growers across the south-east region of Melbourne will be able to take advantage of better quality biosolids fertilisers, and in larger quantities.

For South East Water though, annual cost savings at the two treatment plants will run into the tens of thousands.

The need to regularly turn stockpiles using heavy equipment is significantly less, while the cost of weed control and stockpile segregation is dramatically reduced.

Below: Dr Aravind Surapaneni, product quality scientist at South East Water.

Bottom: Space can be a major contraint in the stockpiling of biosolids.

Across Boneo and Somers almost 20,000 square metres of storage will be freed up to cope with the expected growth in sludge in the years ahead. There is no need to construct new stockpile areas, or acquire new buffer zones.

South East Water will now seek approval to reduce stockpile durations at other treatment plants and is also examining longer-term opportunities to reduce the oneyear requirement to a matter of months, unlocking further savings in operating and capital expenditure across the organisation.

“Further reductions in storage will mean even greater streamlining and operational efficiencies, and I’m hopeful we can deliver more savings back to our customers,” says Surapaneni.

Franklin was right, even after all these years. Time is money after all. ■

Getting the right partnerships The biosolids treatment business may traditionally be the domain of the water industry, but as pressure on landfill continues to grow, water utilities are now partnering with councils and waste management authorities to see how other waste types can be integrated into the treatment process. Unless recycling processes are improved, by 2041 Melbourne will need to send an additional one million tonnes of waste to landfill every year. South East Water is one of several utilities currently engaged with local councils on a plan to include organic waste in the biosolids treatment process. Partnerships of this kind would not only give councils costeffective access to the necessary infrastructure and buffer zones required for biosolids treatment, but would also provide additional revenue streams for water authorities.

Furthermore, the methane associated with green waste disposal would no longer end up polluting landfill environments, but could be harvested in greater quantities as part of the biosolids treatment process. It’s a win-win, and we hope to report more on this in the future.

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Case study

A Victorian Government strategy is driving business innovation to solving the issue of organic waste, as MICHELLE DUNNER reports.

Organics: turning garbage into gold

W

hile there are long-established environmental and health reasons supporting the need to reduce the amount of organic waste headed to landfill, the business case is now gaining momentum.

There’s a concerted push not only for shared responsibility on organic waste, but to create the conditions so that businesses can participate in market-driven positive outcomes. The goal is to turn garbage into gold.

Late last year, the Victorian Government outlined a new organics resource recovery strategy. Sustainability Victoria chief executive Stan Krpan says it’s the first time an Australian state has been able to develop a whole-of-government strategy, embracing both state and local governments as well as regulatory authorities. He believes it should result in clear and consistent guidance as well as greater opportunity for Victoria’s business community and $2 billion waste industry.

While he isn’t aware of specific figures about the value of the organic waste industry in Victoria, Krpan says there are some telling economic indicators. “If you compare resource recovery to landfill, there are nine jobs in every 100,000 tonnes of recycled materials and only two in landfill for the same quantity.”

The most recent Sustainability Victoria figures show that, in 2011/12, approximately 2.25 million tonnes of organic waste were generated in the state with about 1.27 million

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tonnes ending up in landfill. The economic loss to the state was estimated at $30 million, while the waste is likely to generate more than 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 greenhouse gas over its lifetime, around 30 years. Clearly, a better solution needs to be found.

“We need to achieve best practice environmental management and recovery of organics, and that depends on a few things – a thriving industry, a robust market to purchase organic products created through recycling, good infrastructure, technology innovation and solid education programs that go across all levels of the community,” says Krpan.

“We are seeing strong growth in jobs, technology and innovation in this sector, and we need to encourage more of that.”

Krpan says the community has a growing expectation of better recovery and management practices for organic resources.

“Significant volumes of organic material are being produced. It continues to grow and it’s a problematic waste stream. In recent years the market has been quite fickle and while some businesses are producing great products, they’ve had to deal with stockpiles. We’ve also seen a number of smaller operators not meeting the standard and had to close them down.

“Government stewardship needs to send clear market signals around policy and regulation and developing market partnerships. Along with the New South

In 2011/12, approximately 2.25 million tonnes of organic waste were generated in the state with about 1.27 million tonnes ending up in landfill.

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Case study

Food waste “There are nine jobs in every 100,000 tonnes of recycled materials and only two in landfill for the same quantity.”

Wales (NSW) Government, we’ve been working with the Australian Organics Recycling Association (AORA) to develop new standards and product specifications.

The industry has huge potential to grow, but it must lift its game to meet the expectations of customers and the community.

“Some of the markets are national, producers in NSW service Victorian markets and Victorian businesses service interstate markets as well. Consistency across state borders is important. All the states have

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signed up to AORA and we work closely with our counterparty agencies in NSW and South Australia.

“Particularly in the first couple of years of this strategy, we see a three-pronged approach and all are equally important.

“We’re interested in viable markets. The industry doesn’t care which government agency it deals with, as long as there’s consistency. We’re not afraid to hear concerns or criticisms from the industry, because we use that to improve the quality of government service. Partnerships with

Collaboration with local government is a high priority for Sustainability Victoria. “Councils are really the key because they manage most of the organic material, especially from households,” Krpan says. “Since the 1990s, we’ve gone from 20 kilograms of organic material per person being recovered to 70 kilograms now.

“About 70 percent of councils collect garden waste at least to recycle and there is very strong interest in Victoria and NSW around food waste collection, most of which at the moment is going into garden waste.

“It needs a lot of community education and support for households, so people learn what goes in the right bin. Food waste diversion resonates with the community. We did a study that showed 40 percent of waste thrown into residual bins is food, half of all food resources are lost postconsumer and there are 200,000 tonnes of avoidable food waste annually.

“We’ve been running a campaign called ‘Love Food Hate Waste’, as is the NSW Government. We’ve had it for two years, but it has been going longer in NSW. We licensed this from a very successful UK program devised by WRAP (a not-for-profit circular economy organisation), which has been a world leader in waste avoidance in the last decade.

“It’s a fantastic campaign, mainly below the line, so not a lot of prominent paid advertising. It’s aimed at communities, kindergartens, schools and local government facilities, and focused on waste avoidance, organic collection and recycling, and then the industry across the whole value chain.”

Krpan says the need for public education and engagement is ongoing. “Investment in education is divided between organics and other streams. Late last year the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water, Lisa Neville, announced $10.5 million to support businesses wanting to reduce waste. We are looking at ways to share responsibility for waste education between government, local government and industry, especially in terms of consistency of message.”

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Case study

Victoria’s strategic plan The Victorian Organics Resource Recovery strategy has a 30-year vision, 10-year strategic outlook and a fiveyear action plan. Sustainability Victoria chief executive Stan Krpan says that by the end of the first action plan he expects a healthy market for compost and value-add products, a range of new technologies and a partnership between governments and business resulting in the right policy settings.

“We haven’t necessarily set targets,” he says. “We’ve done some modelling based on the current settings and our current level of recycling will grow because the community appetite is there. If we can inch up from our current 70 percent, towards 75, that will result in around $500 million worth of potential investment and new jobs across the whole resource recovery sector. That’s certainly what we’re looking to encourage.”

THE 30-YEAR VISION A vibrant, functioning recycled organics market will ensure that the environment, human and animal health, and amenity impacts of organic waste are eliminated. Organics resources will be contributing to climate change adaptation and mitigation by improving the quality of our soil and providing an energy source to local infrastructure.

SEVEN STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS AND OUTCOMES STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS Best practice environmental management

Sustainable markets

Leverage existing assets

Identify future needs

Education to facilitate change

Building collective knowledge

Streamlined governance and strong leadership

Market demand drives product development and innovation Victorian soil condition is improved because of the use of quality products

Organic waste management facilities are not subject to community concern

Local organic management infrastructure is financially viable and is supporting local economies

Demand for organic resources is exceeding supply

Local government and industry partnerships deliver local solutions for social and economic benefit

Policy and market settings support innovative technological advances for organic management with limited government intervention

OUTCOMES Environmental, human and animal health, and amenity impact of organics waste management are eliminated

Value of organic resources exceeds the cost of disposal

Source: Victorian Organics Resource Recovery strategy

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Case study industry are important; in the market development space, you can’t recycle anything unless someone’s prepared to buy it at the end. Otherwise you’re stockpiling or eventually getting rid of it to landfill.

“And there needs to be an understanding of the customer – we’re not the best at that, but the industry is. Our role is to help improve the end product and we do that by assisting with research and development and supporting industry associations such as AORA.”

INNOVATORS A lot of organic recycling and recovery has focused on compost, but Krpan says there’s strong interest in value-add initiatives as well as energy from waste technologies, particularly in regional Victoria.

The Clean Energy Council reports that, at the end of 2014, Victoria had 28 bioenergy plants – significantly fewer than Queensland

“You can’t recycle anything unless someone’s prepared to buy it at the end.

Otherwise you’re stockpiling or eventually getting rid of it to landfill.” (sugar cane waste being the most common form of Australian bioenergy generation for both electricity and heat) with 43 and NSW with 37.

Krpan says there are some innovative players in the technology market. “Yarra Valley Water is currently building an anaerobic digester to process garden waste in Melbourne’s north and turn it into biogas. Here’s an example of a company that’s effectively a water retailer being able to minimise waste and generate energy.

“There are also bio waste companies in the north of the state and the western district producing energy and fertilisers.

This is being supported by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, which has invested significant funds to companies looking to generate energy from organic waste.

“A big priority for the industry and AORA is to improve the standard and specifications of products produced from recycled organics. We’ve already started

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Money for councils to explore clean technologies Late last year the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) launched a $250 million program to fund council investment in clean technologies.

Funding will be available for a range of resource efficiency initiatives, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and low emission technologies, as well as energy from waste.

“The CEFC has identified energy from waste projects as an area where councils can generate energy by reusing landfill waste,” executive director of corporate and project finance Paul McCartney says. “We’ll also be speaking with councils about improving air-conditioning, installing smart controls and voltage optimisers to improve the energy efficiency and performance of their buildings.”

Council loans will be at least $10 million for a single project or package of works, with the funds able to be drawn down over three years and the CEFC says multiple councils can apply for joint financing arrangements for eligible projects.

“Because these investments lead to lower energy use, councils can reduce their ongoing operating costs,” McCartney says. “These savings may be sufficient for councils to repay the loan without impacting their net cash flows.”

on strategies to help with that. AORA represents around 150 businesses with $1 billion in turnover, so it’s a very important partnership, with huge potential.

“There’s a need to look at value-add. If you take composters as an example, who are their clients? They’re farmers. Victoria has some of the cleanest produce in the world, and suppliers to farmers and the industry need to meet a very high standard.

“We’re working with them to improve standards and quality assurance, but we’re also seeing innovation. Gibsons Groundspread, for example, takes green waste from Melbourne and Gippsland, converts it to compost and then blends it with fertiliser and lime. It has around 3000 customers who just love that product.”

Another key aspect is around the standard of council waste collections. “We kicked off a project with them late last year to help them gain consistency, particularly with food and garden waste to avoid contamination,” Krpan says. “Education is a big challenge in this sector and crucial to success. If there are things in the bins that shouldn’t be there, it impacts on the quality of the recycled product at the very least or leads to a level of contamination where it’s no longer viable to use.

“A third factor in driving this is ensuring the governance is right. We need to work across government and bodies such as the EPA (Environment Protection Authority) to ensure consistency and develop best practice in regulation and standards.

“The intersections we are seeing in the industry now, particularly between water and waste, are very interesting. It’s how innovation happens and I’m excited about that.” ■

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3/03/16 12:58 PM

Feature: Innovation

The new conversation What will it take to build responsible prosperity throughout Australia?

A leading think tank says greater collaboration is needed, as MICHELLE DUNNER reports.

T

he figures make compelling reading, particularly for business leaders. The World Economic Forum estimates global material cost savings of a circular economy could be US$1 trillion each year, by 2025.

For the same time period, there are also attractive metrics for Australia. Based on World Bank estimates on our relative share of global GDP from 2013, the value of a circular economy could be $26 billion a year. Deloitte Access Economics published a report last year on the Collaborative Economy and identified that making the most of opportunities in this model would be worth $9.3 billion in additional value for Australian businesses.

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Feature Damien Giurco, research director at the UTS ISF (University of Technology Sydney, Institute for Sustainable Futures), along with colleagues Nick Florin and Elsa Dominish, published a paper titled ‘Action Agenda for a Circular Economy’. The goal was to achieve greater focus on the importance and benefits of resource productivity and innovation.

The paper characterises these as themes of national importance, yet Giurco believes Australian companies have not fully tapped into the potential opportunities. “One part of the equation is how to recover value from scrap, waste and existing resources; the other is coming to terms with disruptive innovation,” he says. “The digital era has changed both the way we consume and how we move things around.”

ISF believes there needs to be a new conversation. “How do we use technology, along with energy and resource productivity to create the future we prefer and, most importantly, how can we collaborate to drive a new wave of responsible prosperity?”

Giurco asks.

In the paper, the researchers say current levels of interaction between business, academia, government and the community are limited. Their ambitious call-to-action is to seed new conversations and collaborations.

DRIVING THE CHANGE So how do we drive change? The researchers identified four opportunities for Australia’s future.

1

The four Ps – replenish stocks and rethink value

The paper points out that the four Ps – planet, people, policies and practices – are stretched to their limits and need radical alignment to support long-term prosperity. Referencing their own work and a host of Australian and international studies, the authors contend that: ■ Australia must focus on improving its economic productivity, competitiveness and sustainability to build a productive economy that preserves and replenishes stocks of natural capital rather than degrades them.

■ Australia should establish a national system of environmental and waste accounts, recognising both are valuable resources.

■ We need to rethink the value of resources, acknowledging value not just when fi rst sold, but across their full life cycle.

By adopting the ‘take-make-recreate’ approach of the circular economy, Australia can go from being a global leader in primary resource production to being a leader in generating value through resource productivity. This opportunity applies

Simply doing what was done last year with waste contracts can be a potential barrier to innovation.

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Feature

to manufacturing, construction, transport, logistics and the waste sector.

■ Rethinking value requires raised awareness, a digitally-enabled skill-base, and alignment between policy and industry that promotes innovation.

■ A new business focus is needed for delivering long-term economic and social value while improving the productivity of energy, water, materials and knowledge.

2

Design for renewable energy and resource cycles

According to the United Nations Environment Program, US$270 billion was invested globally in renewable energy last year. The researchers believe this not only brings significant cost reductions, but is disrupting patterns of centralised supply.

“Australia has an opportunity to couple renewable energy to valueadd in other sectors, including advanced manufacturing, mining and minerals processing and future transport – boosting resource productivity,” Giurco says. “Australia should be looking at tapping into its vast solar resources to power mines and drive intensive minerals processing operations. It’s a clear opportunity to add value to Australian exports, powered and processed by clean energy.

“We also need to future-proof current industries in adapting to a carbon-constrained world, especially in heavy industry and manufacturing, and we must challenge old limits to cycling resources. Recycling, reuse and remanufacturing processes rely on cheap energy and logistics to be viable. A greater uptake of renewable energy to power these processes would overcome many of these limits.”

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In years gone by it may have made sense to send waste to China or Korea for processing, but Australia needs to find its niche in this new landscape.

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Feature Global supply chains must look to the social and environmental impacts of the way they do business. The researchers found growing consumption rates and new consumer awareness are driving an increasing emphasis on these impacts.

“There’s greater expectation for responsible sourcing of resources and stewardship along the supply chain, supporting fair labour standards and eliminating adverse effects on human and environmental health,” Giurco says. “New collaborations and information exchange across industries along the supply chain are critical for ensuring that resources and products provide a pathway to second life through reuse, remanufacturing or recycling.”

3

Harness disruptive innovation for production and consumption

The researchers believe disruptive innovation must be thoughtfully harnessed to make sure it improves well-being. “New materials and digital technologies, advanced and additive manufacturing, and open innovation are transforming conventional business practices,” says Dominish.

“Australian fi rms can influence the design of products for easy remanufacturing and recycling, whether made locally or overseas.

These innovations can overcome barriers affecting traditional value pools in Australia’s manufacturing and processing industries, such as the distance to market and size of the market.”

Florin says we should take full advantage of such innovations as: ■ real-time digital tracing and tracking of materials, so that business models can be aligned with effective resource management

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■ greater transparency of material flows and ownership that can shift the business model from focusing on the volume of sales to a more value-added service oriented approach, and ■ 3D printing, with open innovation, which could enable distributed manufacturing of niche components for machines with lower material inputs – it could also enable the timely replacement of non-durable parts of products, extending operating lifetimes with shorter downtimes.

“Innovation is not limited to technology and materials; it’s also emerging in business models, and the way consumers own and use products and services,” says Giurco.

4

Leverage know-how into new networks and markets

The researchers say Australia starts from a vast base of knowledge, skills, and technological and technical know-how, which can be aligned to provide a competitive advantage for capturing new markets and growing strategic networks.

“Half of the software used globally for mining was developed in Australia. This know-how can be applied to access new markets and unconventional resources. Likewise, Australian technologies for mining and minerals processing can be exploited for delivering value from above ground metal waste streams,” explains Giurco.

WHAT ABOUT SCALE? Giurco says economies of scale are changing. In the past, recycling was all about collecting, aggregating and delivering to central processing.

“Modularisation and process intensification can change all that. In future we may see a small recycling plant fit on the back of a semi-trailer, which drives from town to town to achieve the processing required for a geographic area that previously wouldn’t have been able to justify the cost of transporting waste, and so on,” he says.

“Indeed, we need to think differently in terms of geographic scale more widely; in years gone by it may have made sense to send waste to China or Korea for processing, but Australia needs to fi nd its niche in this new landscape, one that’s consistent with new business models and designs. We need new information on where the value from waste lies.

“What does this mean for corporates? I don’t know if this has been sufficiently considered. Simply doing what was done last year with waste contracts can be a potential barrier to innovation. We need to work with stakeholders along the supply chain to bring about a change in the system. We must rethink when it’s appropriate to contract out waste services and when it may be preferable to bring parts of them in-house, even just to pilot new approaches, which can later be scaled up.

“Let’s take those ‘keep cups’ for takeaway coffee as an example.

What if we had something equivalent for lunchboxes that big corporates and places like shopping centres could roll out? The aim there is to keep things out of landfill, but it requires a transformation in thinking; that it’s not just the right thing to do, but an opportunity, that there’s new value to be derived, whether in base economic terms or in creating healthier environments for all.

“The bottom line is that unless we change our thinking, and bring together business, research, technology and policy to try new things in practice, we may never derive the insights and create the unforeseen spin-offs that are going to improve our long-term well-being.” ■

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3/03/16 1:55 PM

✓

More than a sound bite

The debate

Working with industry to drive cost-effective solutions rather than impose a container deposit scheme is the way forward, says DAVID CARTER.

DAVID CARTER

W

henever and wherever the idea for a container deposit scheme (CDS) surfaces, it precipitates a political and emotional discussion. At the risk of being dismissed as an ‘old antagonist’, I bring a unique perspective here. I’ve been involved with industry associations and on the board of a super collector in South Australia that is part of that state’s container deposit scheme. I’ve seen the numbers, the politics and the emotion, and I want to put forward the reality.

There’s no doubt, on face value, most people would say a CDS is a great idea. We can fix a problem and all go off and do something else. It’s a great sound bite for politicians.

But this belies the actual advice governments are receiving.

Indeed, when state and federal governments got the Office of Best Practice Regulation to do a regulatory impact statement on the various schemes around container litter and recycling, it found that, of around 10 options, container deposit legislation was the worst by far in terms of its cost-benefit analysis.

The debate is raging again because, in New South Wales, Premier Mike Baird made a CDS part of his re-election platform. There are some easy lines for the politicians: big companies just want to make profits, they’re ‘mean spirited’, they should be ‘forced’ to pay for their containers that end up as litter. That’s reinforced when we see a branded container in the streets. We believe that organisation is somehow failing in its corporate responsibility.

But it belies the fact that a CDS is a very expensive option for the community and it doesn’t give any additional benefits ahead of the other options canvassed in the regulatory statement, such as the packaging covenant, product stewardship or a semi-voluntary code.

These are just as effective and a lot less costly.

Basically, CDS is thought to be a simple and effective solution to litter. This is markedly misunderstood. For a start, it’s an expensive way of addressing away from home container waste and it also has the potential to create a negative impact on kerbside collections for recycling from household waste.

If the New South Wales Government does introduce container deposit legislation – and it has a plethora of working groups now proving why it should be in place – it will be because, politically, it’s seen as a good thing to do, rather than the best cost-effective outcome for consumers.

Recently, I met a large manufacturing company to talk about the cost impact on its business and products should the legislation be enacted. The company believes the costs will run into millions of dollars, just in New South Wales alone. Those costs will be passed on to consumers, but governments don’t like to hear that kind of

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language because it sounds like a tax. The community gets angry and industry and governments start facing off against each other.

The debate becomes irrational.

Don’t get me wrong, we need to do something to reduce the number of containers ending up in landfill, but we’re advocating for the ‘best cost’, not ‘no cost’. The packaging covenant spent over $120 million to encourage packaging recycling and litter reduction over the last 12 years in Australia; container deposit legislation only addresses eight percent of the waste stream and will cost around $100 million.

Let’s look at the South Australian CDS – it’s horrendously expensive and there’s no real incentive for it to be any other way, but governments love it because the numbers look good and they’re not paying the bill.

It’s not just the 10-cent deposit on the container – there’s a handling fee involved to get the containers to a super collector for recycling, which is equivalent to or greater than the deposit.

If you’re lucky, the deposit gets back to the consumer, but the handling fee never gets back to anyone – it’s just a cost and one that gets passed on to the original purchaser.

There’s a need to work with industry across a lot of waste streams, not just containers. But this is something that requires patience and a long-term relationship. A CDS is a popular outcome for politicians who only have to worry about their three-year election cycle.

The industry needs to work to provide governments with a sensible alternative and it has tried to do that through the COAG (Council of Australian Governments) process and by engaging with the regulatory impact statement work. It’s a laborious process – we are trying to develop litter improvement, recycling improvement and better use of materials. All the CDS will do is make consumers spend more money on containers for something that won’t fix the problem.

And that problem is litter. Containers, for example, end up in two streams – we currently recycle about 75 percent of our materials at home, so I’d say with all sincerity that’s an issue that’s not broken and doesn’t need to be fixed.

But what’s consumed away from home is something that needs to be addressed. Do we seriously think that people, once they’ve finished their can of soft drink or bottle of juice are going to walk around with it until they can find a recycling depot? The incentives put in place are not sufficient to make people do the right thing all the time. The real issue we need to look at is education, behaviour, and industry and community working together.

I believe a more sustainable solution can be achieved at best cost.

The packaging covenant supports school education programs, so we can train kids to adopt a different attitude to litter and take it through to their adult years. Environment is now on the school curriculum and drives the messaging to recycle responsibly.

David Carter is the chief executive officer of the Packaging Council of Australia.

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On the verge of change It’s been a long and hard-fought battle, but JEFF ANGEL says both jobs and the environment will win from a national container deposit scheme.

JEFF ANGEL

T

here have been long running calls for a container deposit system (CDS) in Australia since the introduction of disposable drink containers in the 1970s. As these flooded the market, the litter plague quickly overwhelmed parks, creeks and public spaces.

Governments and industry responded with anti-litter campaigns, effectively blaming the consumer for the consequences of developing the throwaway container. The clean-up responsibilities were shunted onto local councils and ratepayers.

Today the problem is far from solved and is being exacerbated by plastic bottles that can break up into 10,000 smaller pieces adding to the toxic microplastic load in the marine environment.

In 2003 we began another campaign. Our aim was a national CDS or at least a growing number of state schemes. The big beverage companies, like Coca-Cola and Lion, were determined to oppose us. Flushed with millions of dollars, they were confident they could overcome another community effort, and deploy their financial and political capital to manipulate government.

Recent revelations confirm that whenever a government seriously thought about a CDS, these companies threatened attack ads during election campaigns (in previous Western Australia and New South Wales elections and again in late 2014 in New South Wales).

Nevertheless, community support grew (polls showed public support in the high 80 percent area) and the Boomerang Alliance (hosted by the Total Environment Centre) grew from nine allies to 34.

The roadblocks were numerous – governments (and industry) pressed for a national ‘packaging covenant’. It was a weak agreement with industry, ostensibly created to ward off regulation. Study after study was commissioned, which conveniently dismissed CDS on economic grounds, overstating costs and understating benefits such as environmental gains, jobs and charity income.

One bright spot was the unanimous support in the Northern Territory Parliament for a container deposit law. It started operation in 2012, and continues today despite one interruption from a procedural court challenge by Coke, Lion and Schweppes.

The pressure came back onto New South Wales. Our campaign was incredibly intensive, as was the industry’s. But this time we had great support from Environment Minister, Rob Stokes and on Saturday 21 February 2015 at Coogee Beach, after 12 years of dogged effort, the Premier Mike Baird and Stokes announced that New South Wales would begin a CDS on 1 July 2017 – the “best CDS in the world’’. And the Australian Labor Party (ALP) opposition supported the decision.

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✗ The debate

But as the months went by it became apparent this was not the end of the battle. The Government had agreed to consider an industry alternative, called Thirst for Good – essentially a litter-collecting model. The New South Wales Government is poised to make a final decision in April.

The scheme being proposed by environmentalists is drawn from those considered the best around the world. Beverage suppliers would be obliged to add a fixed amount, being the deposit, to the price of each regulated beverage container and to provide a refund for that amount to anyone who returned the empty container to an authorised collection point. There are several options for returning containers, including: ■ redeeming the container through a reverse vending machine ■ taking the container to a community recycling centre ■ continuing to place their containers in their kerbside recycling system – the containers would be captured and redeemed, with the refund offsetting the cost of council waste services, which households pay through their rates, and ■ giving their containers to a local school or charity.

Today the problem is far from solved and is being exacerbated by plastic bottles that can break up into 10,000 smaller pieces adding to the toxic microplastic load in the marine environment.

It’s broadly similar to the existing schemes in South Australia and the Northern Territory, but modernised to eliminate some serious inefficiencies such as multiple coordinators and a lack of automation.

We estimate several thousand jobs will be created, recycling doubled to 80 percent and over $100 million each year earned by charities. Its impact on reducing bottle and can litter is certain. With an assured supply of clean material for reprocessing the domestic recycling industry will also grow.

Despite these obvious benefits, the beverage industry continues high level lobbying to stop a CDS. If New South Wales finally implements a CDS, other states are sure to follow. Queensland is already actively investigating one and is keen to harmonise with New South Wales. The 35-year battle for a bottle deposit scheme is in its final stages. ■

Jeff Angel is director, Total Environment Centre and Boomerang Alliance www.boomerangalliance.org.au

ISSUE 1 | 2016 CWS | 59

4/03/16 4:17 PM

Case study

In the resource opportunity hierarchy, the highest value for businesses lies in prevention and minimisation, says SHAILESH TYAGI.

Innovation, growth and opportunity

S

ince the Industrial Revolution, the world’s major economies have continued to develop more efficient ways to extract and process a diverse array of natural resources that are available to society. While the availability and affordability of different resources has fluctuated over the years, due to a combination of economic and geopolitical factors, accessibility has increased as a result of technology enablers and innovation. Despite these advances, however, externalities such as waste generation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and overall impacts on the natural environment have largely remained outside the core focus of organisations, instead managed as cost and regulatory issues.

Fast forward to today and it is clear that we must adapt our current way of life and business models if we want to be part of a sustainable future. Across all areas of the economy and within all industries, significant opportunity exists to limit our generation of waste and consumption of environmental capital – which is becoming increasingly scarce – in favour of circulating resources and identifying commercial opportunities to partner across economic sectors to reuse materials after their initial ‘useful life’.

The concept of a circular economy is not new. At the recent United Nations climate conference, COP21 in Paris, circular economics were at the heart of the event with an emphasis on the ‘three Rs’, namely reduce, reuse, recycle. By reducing the consumption of resources, finding value in products that would otherwise go to waste and promoting recycling, there are numerous opportunities to be realised

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across many industries. Businesses incorporating this long-term strategic view to sustainable operations are realising the benefits – economically, environmentally and socially. It has been estimated by the World Economic Forum that, by 2025, the circular economy will represent $1 trillion globally. Within Australia, this is estimated to be worth $26 billion.

The key drivers for harnessing the circular advantage include: ■ increasing price volatility and supply restrictions ■ environmental and producer responsibility regulations ■ changing consumer culture, and ■ an intensified rate of technological change.

The resource opportunity hierarchy represents the value spectrum in the circular economy. Where the highest value lies is in prevention and minimisation.

Forward-thinking companies looking across their value chain will look to embed the principles of circular economics in all areas.

INNOVATION Designers and entrepreneurs have the opportunity to take the lead. Bringing innovative ideas and thinking more creatively about a product or service at the design phase, for example, can have advantages including stronger growth, improved productivity and reduced waste.

How can materials be used more creatively to promote secondary uses and extend product life beyond its intended use? Can the provision of services be redesigned so consumers can effectively share resources?

Can unlikely partnerships be formed to link

sectors such that value is found in products where seemingly there was none?

One company that is viewed as a leader in successfully incorporated circular economics throughout its business is Unilever.

CASE STUDY 1: Unilever – seizing the opportunities presented by embracing the circular economy Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch multinational consumer goods company, with a portfolio of over 400 brands ranging from nutritionally balanced foods to ice-creams, affordable soaps, shampoos and everyday household care products, understands the opportunities presented by a circular economy. Unilever is using circular economy thinking to challenge its approach to design – by moving away from the linear ‘cradle to grave’ model, to a circular model that eliminates waste by design.

Unilever is increasingly designing products so that they can be used in a cyclical way, rather than being used once and discarded. Through embedding this Recycling thinking at the design stage, Unilever is doing more than diverting waste generated from landfills; instead it is looking to eliminate the concept of waste entirely by making smart sourcing a number one priority and ensuring any materials not used up in the manufacturing process are reused.

Some materials are reused on-site, some traded into other industrial supply chains, and organics are composted. Achieving zero waste in Unilever factories has saved the company $226 million, according to an article published on Greenbiz.com.

Some of the key initiatives implemented

by Unilever over recent years to embed

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Case study circular thinking across the organisation have included: ■ the introduction of ‘Design for Recyclability’ guidelines in 2014 to help the company’s packaging engineers better understand how best to put materials together ■ organising day trips to recycling facilities for employees to provide them with a first-hand view of some of the challenges facing recycling ■ hosting pilot workshops to develop innovation solutions focused on circular economy principles across Unilever’s categories ■ encouraging senior management to complete an executive education circular economy course by Bradford University

Innovative ideas and thinking more creatively about a product or service at the design phase can have advantages including stronger growth, improved productivity and reduced waste.

School of Management and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation ■ continuing to increase the use of recycled plastic in their packaging – in 2014, Unilever reported on its website that it used 3951 tonnes of recycled plastic in its packaging (as Unilever is able to embed the circular model further, one of the goals is to recapture its own used packaging as opposed to purchasing recycled products) ■ in developing countries, where Unilever’s single-use sachets provide an economic way for local populations to access essential hygiene products, Unilever is working on innovative solutions to capture and repurpose the sachet packaging to prevent it ending up in landfills, and ■ despite the above achievements, one of the key challenges that Unilever currently faces with respect to further embedding circular economy thinking across its operations is access to recycled packaging products at an affordable price; however, as companies across industries become aware of the

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economic opportunities associated with the recycling and repurposing of key materials, such as plastic, it is expected that the current supply issue will be addressed, in turn providing further circular opportunities.

REUSE AND RECYCLE Materials recovery and waste management is an industry with a growing footprint.

We are a materialistic society, which increasingly puts pressure on landfills and waste facilities. In Australia, landfill pricing has been one factor contributing to our dependence on waste facilities as a final destination.

One of the challenges for products is that disposal becomes more cost-effective than recovery. When it comes to profitability, where is the impetus for companies to rethink disposal? It is often this shortsightedness and desire for short-term gains that continues to herald the end of the traditional linear growth model that we see today – one of ‘take, make, dispose’. For example, where manufacturers previously saw waste as a final step, it now presents an opportunity for new partnerships. Effective management of waste can yield materials that can be used as inputs for other products.

CASE STUDY 2: tyre recycling – turning old tyres into repurposed and valuable goods With car ownership rates in Australia continuing to grow at an average annual rate of 2.4 percent, the quantity of old and used tyres requiring management is also increasing at a significant rate, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ 2015 Motor Vehicle census. This is coupled with the quantity of large tyres and belt conveyors at mining companies that are also reaching the end of their useful lives and are requiring disposal. At present, thousands of tonnes of scrap tyres are illegally dumped every year in Australia alone, which not only costs millions of dollars annually to manage, but also produces severe health hazards and environmental damage. From a health perspective, dumped tyres can create a dangerous breeding ground for mosquitoes that transport disease, such as Dengue fever and the Ross River virus, while from an environmental perspective – regardless of whether they are dumped, burnt or landfilled – every tyre that isn’t properly recycled leaches significant toxins and hazardous compounds into the environment.

When recycled in a responsible manner, however, the rubber and steel in old tyres have the potential to be recycled and repurposed in a diverse range of products of benefit to companies across a range of sectors. For example, recycled rubber granules can be an important component in athletics tracks, brake pads, building insulation, civil engineering, new tyre manufacturing and road surfaces.

Tyrecycle, a leading tyre recycling and repurposing company with operations in Australia, has understood the economic and associated environmental and health opportunities presented by responsible tyre management and recycling, featuring this as a core business mission on the company’s website.

Tyrecycle currently collects and processes over 50 percent of waste tyres generated in Australia. In addition to turning old tyres into the above listed range of products, Tyrecycle also produces tyre-derived fuel (TDF), which can be used by industry rather than reliance on traditional fossil fuel sources.

CASE STUDY 3: coal mining companies – producing electricity from coal mine waste gas The presence of the Australian Carbon Pricing Mechanism from July 2012 to June 2014, and existence of a price per tonne of carbon dioxide released during this period, presented coal mining companies with the challenge of identifying opportunities to reduce the emissions intensity of their operations.

One option that has been pursued by several coal mining companies located in Australia’s Hunter Valley region has been investment into on-site power generation facilities, which have enabled coal mine waste gas to be converted into power for on-site use, thus reducing the need to purchase electricity from the grid. Other companies have engaged in partnerships with neighbouring power generation companies enabling them to transport their coal mine waste gas off-site to be used in local power generators.

As Australia continues to shift towards a low-carbon economy, it is expected that investment in such initiatives will continue.

Increasingly, both businesses and consumer attitudes are shifting, forcing business models to change. ■

Shailesh Tyagi is APAC sustainability partner at Deloitte Sustainability.

ISSUE 1 | 2016 CWS | 61

3/03/16 2:18 PM

Case study

Diversified Communications details its initiative to reduce waste to landfill in the expo industry.

Towards zero landfill project

T

he Towards Zero Landfill project is a goal, process and a way of thinking that profoundly changes the Australasian Waste and Recycling Expo’s (AWRE) approach to delivering the show.

It’s about reducing the impact AWRE has on the environment with the majority of waste produced by the show either recycled or reused.

Towards Zero Landfill is an initiative that is aiming to reduce the amount of waste that is sent to landfill year on year.

The project is not only about recycling and diverting materials from landfill; it’s also about leading a behavioural shift within the AWRE community.

The challenge for the project was bringing together and engaging with clients and suppliers to join the journey. The key partners and suppliers of the project included ExpoNet, Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre, Ikon Cleaning, Fifteen Trees, Eco Guardians, Pac Trading, Eco Bin, Cardia Bioplastics, Who Gives A Crap, AusPen, MobileMuster and Secondbite.

The project ensured that only 10.7 percent of total waste was sent to landfill compared to 80 percent in 2014 – a 70 percent increase on recovering waste and recycling it.

After the success of the project launched at AWRE 2015, this initiative will be employed across the portfolio of exhibitions that Diversified Communications delivers.

It will continue to be implemented through engaging with partners, exhibitors and contracts to deliver sustainable exhibitions.

This will be communicated in future through white papers and shared with trade and mainstream press.

HOW IT BEGAN Diversified Communications Australia, organiser of AWRE, was founded in 1982

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as Australian Exhibition Services (AES), specialising in providing market knowledge for customers across a variety of industries.

AWRE is Australia’s leading event dedicated to the waste and recycling marketplace. This event brings together the industry’s most influential waste and recycling professionals and is the first event at Diversified, to launch a Towards Zero Landfill Project.

The project is a goal, process and a way of thinking that profoundly changes AWRE’s approach in delivering the show and minimising the environmental impact. The majority of waste produced by the show is either recycled or reused. Any remaining waste sent to landfill has been substantially minimised. Not only is the project about recycling and diverting materials from landfill, but also about leading a behavioural shift within the AWRE community.

The project was initially implemented at AWRE 2015 and will be implemented across other Diversified Communication events without minimising activities.

Sustainability is a key focus for the company with a dedicated Sustainability Group consisting of 10 employees across a range of job functions implementing

sustainable changes such as using electronic invoices to reduce paper usage, introducing e-waste facilities within the office and staff volunteering at charity organisations. The challenge for the project was bringing together and engaging with clients and suppliers to join in the sustainability journey.

OBJECTIVES – WHAT AND WHY? The exhibition and trade show industry is among the largest producers of waste, second only to the construction industry globally, generating 600,000 tonnes of rubbish every year. Each of the 60 million people worldwide who attend consumer or industry tradeshows produce, on average, 10 kilograms of rubbish, totalling more than $2 billion annually. This led to Diversified the company addressing its carbon footprint.

The Towards Zero Landfill project was thus created with the goal of minimising AWRE’s carbon footprint as much as possible and working towards making it the most sustainable exhibition in Australia to date.

The main objectives of the project are outlined in the table at the top of the opposite page.

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Case study DRIVERS

ENVIRONMENT

COST SAVINGS

SUPPLIERS AND STAKEHOLDERS

EDUCATION/COMMUNITY

KPI

To send less than 20 percent of general waste produced at AWRE 2015 to landfill.

Save minimum of 15 percent on total operation costs from AWRE 2014.

To communicate the project to as many suppliers, sponsors and exhibitors as possible to get them involved and create a community of different assets within the project benefiting AWRE, the environment and the ROI for our customers.

To engage the wider community and use the project to create new initiatives to educate and inform partners, visitors and customers of the new and existing sustainable opportunities.

To offset the carbon footprint that AWRE produces.

As the project gained momentum, suppliers began to embrace the underlying principles of the project. For example, the toilet paper at the venue was replaced by biodegradable paper and all of the food waste consumed at the show was hydrated overnight, turning it to compost.

The carbon footprint of AWRE was reduced dramatically and resulted in delivering a reduction of event costs while benefiting the environment. The project has created stronger relationships between AWRE and its partners, and is an excellent example of how Diversified Communications can deliver sustainable initiatives across its portfolio of events.

INNOVATION AND INFLUENCE The project is unique as it began within the organisation and developed into a community effort including exhibitors, sponsors and suppliers of AWRE showcasing their products and services at the exhibition.

Innovative products were engaged for the project, including GaiaRecycle composter, which was used to compost all the organic waste on-site at the exhibition, in an odour-free process.

New initiatives introduced by Diversified included not supplying 2000 show bags or printing any marketing collateral for at show promotion. Exhibitors were also asked to bring minimal, or no, marketing flyers, in order to reduce the excess being sent to waste.

Recycle bins were also placed at the exit of the exhibition, where visitors and exhibitors were encouraged to recycle their lanyards and name badges.

AWRE worked with MobileMuster to create a feature wall of 570 phones and 570 circuit boards to create an AFL pitch. This highlighted that there are 5.7 million old mobiles in storage throughout Victoria – enough to cover the surface

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CWS0316_62-64_zero landfill.indd 63

To change the behaviour of Diversified Communications suppliers.

Outcomes (demonstration of innovation) The success of the project was down to establishing a community of exhibitors, sponsors, contractors and suppliers who would work along with us to create a ‘towards zero landfill’ event.

The project prompted the following action items from the community: DIVERSIFIED COMMUNICATIONS: ■ engaged a variety of contractors,

■

■ ■ ■ ■

■ ■ ■ ■

suppliers and sponsors to begin the project didn’t print PVC banners for AWRE 2015 – all PVC banners used were from previous years, saving 32 square metres of PVC reused all feature areas from previous years removed aisle carpet, saving 2023 square metres of floor tiles delivered a completely paperless exhibition didn’t print invoices/quotes, but electronically processed them instead didn’t print floor plans didn’t print feature plans used laptops/tablets as tools for taking notes, and used current available software programs for document management.

EXPONET: ■ only used new LED lighting,

which draws less power, creating a saving of $2297.08 compared to AWRE 2014 ■ used cardboard for all 24 new event signs instead of Forex, which is a difficult material to recycle ■ used sustainable/recycled furniture hire options, and ■ used 100 percent recyclable features.

MELBOURNE CONVENTION EXHIBITION CENTRE: ■ switched to green power for the duration of the exhibition ■ used light at 50 percent during the exhibition ■ shut down power from 6pm until 6am every night ■ separated organic waste on-site (in cooperation with Ikon Cleaning) ■ monitored CO2 ■ utilised a rainwater treatment plant, and ■ ensured that coffee cups and other catering packaging were of recyclable material.

IKON CLEANING: ■ provided correct bins for separation

of waste on-site (co-mingled/paper and cardboard/organic) ■ separated recyclables on the docks – minimising the use of another contractor, and ■ collected organic/food scraps and sent them to a facility where they were reused.

FIFTEEN TREES: ■ planted 100 trees to offset the light

carbon footprint of 960 kilograms of general waste produced at AWRE – the trees were distributed to Manor Lakes Secondary College, Wyndham Vale, where the students planted the native trees on their school grounds.

One tree (over its lifetime) will absorb 268 kilograms of carbon. Therefore, to collect one tonne (1000 kilograms) of carbon (for example, to counterbalance one tonne of waste) you would need to plant four trees. continued next page

ISSUE 1 | 2016 CWS | 63

3/03/16 2:31 PM

Case study

continued from previous page ECO GUARDIANS: ■ used GaiaRecycle unit to hydrate all

organic waste collected from the Central Networking bar and turn it into compost.

PAC TRADING:

of the MCG more than 1.5 times. If every person attending an AFL game at the MCG recycled two old mobiles during the season we could divert these mobiles from landfill. This would keep 985 tonnes of waste from landfill, which has the equivalent environmental impact of planting 30,000 trees.

■ used Pac Trading Biodegradable

packaging throughout AWRE within the Central Networking Bar and Coffee Cart.

ECO BIN: ■ provided over 60 colour coded

waste bins made from corrugated plastic, encouraging all visitors to separate their waste at the source.

CARDIA BIOPLASTICS: ■ provided compostable bin liners for all the bins used during move-in, show and move-out.

WHO GIVES A CRAP: ■ provided 100 percent postconsumer waste recycled fibre toilet paper throughout the venue, which is biodegradable, and ■ donated 50 percent of profits to WaterAid to build toilets in the developing world.

FUTURE PROSPECTS After the success of the project launched at AWRE 2015, the initiative will continue to be implemented through engaging with partners, exhibitors and contracts to deliver sustainable exhibitions. This will be communicated in future through

for all seminars (in Australia alone 40,000,000 white board markers are sent to landfill every year.

MOBILEMUSTER: ■ provided collection boxes for mobile phones to encourage visitors and exhibitors to recycle their old phones.

SECONDBITE: ■ collected leftover food.

64 | CWS ISSUE 1 | 2016

CWS0316_62-64_zero landfill.indd 64

This is an abridged report of Diversified Communication’s Towards Zero Landfill Project.

AWRE

2014

2015

% DIFFERENCE

Total # visitors

1169

1995

71 percent increase

Waste created

6.1 tonnes

8.9 tonnes

45 percent increase

Waste diverted from landfill

20 percent

90 percent

350 percent increase

Waste sent to landfill

4.9 tonnes

960kg

82 percent decrease

IKON Services documented the different waste streams collected at AWRE 2015 and collected the data below:

AUSTRALIAN WASTE & RECYCLING EXPO 2015

AUSPEN: ■ provided refillable marker pens

white papers and shared with trade and mainstream press, highlighting Diversified as an industry leader.

The project’s impacts began with assisting the environment locally by only sending 960 kilograms of general waste produced at AWRE to landfill. It also educated the community nationally by highlighting how other events across the country can further minimise their waste impact. The project was shared with AWRE’s international exhibition partners – Waste Expo (Las Vegas) and IFAT (Munich) to encourage them to execute a similar campaign across their events.

The long-term strategy of the project is to increase the participation of exhibitors and sponsors, and to source new partners to increasingly minimise AWRE’s carbon footprint year-on-year, ensuring the project is close to zero by 2017 – ensuring only a maximum of five percent of the waste produced at AWRE is sent to landfill.

Diversified Communications’ strategy is to implement AWRE’s Towards Zero Landfill project across all events to reduce costs and, most importantly, our carbon footprint as an entire organisation. ■

Paper/Cardboard

General

Organic

Commingle

Plastic

Kilograms

2820

960

720

4320

120

% of Total

31.5%

10.7%

8.1%

48.3%

1.3%

Plastic 1.3%

Paper/Cardboard 31.5% Paper/Cardboard General

Commingle 48.3%

Organic Commingle Plastic Organic 8.1%

General 10.7%

www.cwsmagazine.com.au

4/03/16 11:01 AM

Each issue, CWS will provide a wrap-up of trending issues and government announcements across Australia.

Round-up

The state of play NATIONAL Federal solar funding initiative gains momentum Twenty-two organisations have made it on to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA) shortlist of eligible projects, hoping to gain funding through its $100 million program for new, large-scale solar projects.

Companies were invited to lodge expressions of interest with ARENA; the 22 proposals now under consideration have been invited to submit full applications. In total, the shortlisted organisations are seeking $332 million for projects valued at $1.68 billion, to deploy large-scale solar farms in Queensland (10), New South Wales (8), Victoria (2), South Australia (1) and Western Australia (1).

A statement by Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt says while Australia leads the world in rooftop solar PV (photovoltaics) and costs have dropped significantly in recent years, large-scale solar here lags behind comparable countries, with higher supply chain costs and only 240 megawatts total large-scale generation capacity. This competitive round for funding is designed to support the development of around 200 megawatts, bringing the total to 440.

Downward pressure on packaging recycling rates The Australian Packaging Covenant (APC) has recorded a drop of 2.9 percent in the recycling rate for post-consumer packaging in the 2014/15 financial year.

The current level of packaging recycling sits at 61.3 percent. The APC says the longerterm trend for recycling rates continues to be positive, despite what it terms ‘year on year fluctuations’. It put this year’s drop down to reduced glass recycling volumes.

Even allowing for exports, the APC says the recycling rate is a factor of both the volume being consumed and the structure of a

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relatively undersized end market for recycled products, compared to the international picture.

Total consumption of packaging materials rose 3.7 percent over the period to 4.74 megatonnes.

NEW SOUTH WALES A step closer to a Container Deposit Scheme Submissions have closed in response to the New South Wales Government’s discussion paper on a Container Deposit Scheme (CDS), which was released in January 2016.

NSW Premier Mike Baird made an election promise to introduce a CDS by July 1 next year.

The discussion paper, released by the EPA (Environment Protection Agency), outlines an incentive-based approach to reduce drink container litter, with a stated aim of achieving a 40 percent reduction in litter volumes by 2020.

The CDS is targeting drink consumption away from home; the discussion paper suggests technologies such as reverse vending machines may be employed, but that any model will need to complement existing kerbside waste collections rather than compete.

The discussion paper flags that incentives may not be limited to cash refunds, but could involve discount coupons, prize draw entries or the opportunity to direct funds to charity or a local government group.

VICTORIA Litter innovation fund launched The Victorian Minister for Environment and Climate Change and Water Lisa Neville has announced a $700,000 fund aimed at reducing the amount of litter and illegal dumping throughout the state.

Opportunities to apply for grants of up to $20,000 each close on 8 April. While organisations, including local government, community and industry groups can seek

funding for innovative initiatives to reduce litter, a proportion of the fund will be earmarked for projects for the Yarra River as well as Port Phillip catchments.

The fund is a plank of the draft Victorian Community and Business Waste Education strategy and has a stated aim of lessening waste sent to landfill by increasing recycling rates and reducing contamination. Public consultation on the draft closed in early March.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA Green Growth Plan moves ahead Public consultation has begun on the Western Australian (WA) Government’s strategic assessment of the Perth and Peel regions to gear for growth while protecting environmental assets. The Green Growth Plan includes recommendations for sequential land use, use of land for urban development after raw material extraction and co-locating critical infrastructure such as water supply and power along one corridor.

A key consideration by the WA Government is to consider environmental values upfront and avoid native vegetation impacts wherever possible.

QUEENSLAND Landfill bans on the agenda The Queensland Government continues to look at landfill disposal bans, with a waste stakeholder group reporting back on options for consideration in February 2016. Particular waste streams such as concrete, tyres and green waste are in the Government’s sights.

The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection says the idea of landfill disposal bans is being explored, alongside strategies to address the state’s other priority wastes, a pilot program for recycling emergency and exit lighting batteries and power tool batteries, and product stewardship for fluorescent lights.

ISSUE 1 | 2016 CWS | 65

7/03/16 11:45 AM

Events TOTAL FACILITIES 2016 Efficiency and productivity in the built environment Total Facilities brings together Australia’s facilities management (facilities directors, facilities maintenance managers, facilities consultants) and workplace professionals (office managers, OH&S managers, operations managers) who manage, maintain and enhance the built and work environment.

When: 6-7 April Where: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre More information: www.totalfacilities.com.au

COURSE – SUSTAINABILITY IN THE WORKPLACE The Green Steps program, part of Monash University’s Sustainability Institute, is conducting courses in April and May for professionals looking to gain skills in implementing sustainability projects in the workplace.

When: 21-22 April, 5-6 May Where: Melbourne More information: www.greensteps.edu.au/organisations/currentcourses/green-steps-workplace

WASTE NSW 2016, NATURAL DISASTERS, RISK MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE As Australia continues to deal with natural disasters, this conference, organised by WMAA (Waste Management Association of Australia), looks at how the increasing frequency and ferocity of disasters may affect businesses in waste management and resource recovery, as well as strategies for debris collection and processing.

When: 27-29 April Where: Crowne Plaza, Hunter Valley, NSW More information: www.wmaa.com.au/CONF/cwnsw2016/_home.html

WASTE 2016 CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION Celebrating 20 years, the Coffs Harbour Waste Conference is one of the largest in the country, with over 500 delegates. It’s targeted at anyone working in or with an interest in waste management issues and is particularly relevant to local government.

When: 3-5 May Where: Opal Cove Resort, Coffs Harbour, NSW More information: www.waste2016.impactenviro.com.au

WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ACTION With a focus on products, Waste Management in Action will be set inside the International Truck, Trailer and Equipment Show (ITTES) at Melbourne’s Showgrounds. The show will have indoor and outdoor exhibition space with a number of full-scale displays of the latest waste management equipment.

When: 5-7 May Where: Melbourne Showgrounds More information: www.wastemanagementexpo.com

| 2016 66 | CWS ISSUE APRIL |1 MAY 2016

CWS0316_66_event/book.indd 66

Book review GREENING THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT A relatively new and dynamic addition to infrastructure, green roofs are also delivering new water waste management techniques.

Incorporating plant life into the fabric of buildings has been a relatively recent and welcome addition to the built environment. Making use of roof spaces and sections of façades to incorporate vegetation is a visually exciting development that also has positive implications for waste controls and water filtration.

Such state-of-the-art buildings as the ANZ headquarters in Melbourne’s Docklands and a dramatic high-rise apartment development in Sydney’s newly gentrified Chippendale are leading the way in incorporating vegetation into their designs.

Melbourne-based consulting firm Do It On The Roof has created an e-book, All About Green Roofs, aimed primarily at facility managers.

It’s a mix of information and workbook on incorporating ecologicallysustainable garden spaces within existing buildings, as well as explaining how to allow for them within new designs and projects. The company was moved to create the book, having realised green roofs and walls were still being largely overlooked as part of sustainable infrastructure.

Rather than give specifics, the book takes note of the diversity of Australian conditions, as well as the limitations of types of buildings, to assess what may be feasible. The 60-page book focuses on the management and maintenance considerations and reviews a host of research projects and current practice around the implementation of green roofs as part of the built environment.

Refreshingly, the book is not a sales pitch; it identifies practical advice for management of the green assets and is designed to support training for facility management and sustainability professionals. Each section is followed by key points and test questions.

A major outcome for the construction industry is that green roofs can prevent water damage to the underlying building, capture and reuse water on-site and thereby reduce the building’s water demands, while contributing to the amenity of the building for tenants, promoting greater use of the available space.

The plant life also acts as a filter for rainwater. The publication demonstrates how green roofs intercept and retain water in the substrate, which then can be used or stored in the foliage, or allowed to evaporate. The plants also collect particulate pollution like a sieve.

Examples of successful implementation from Australia and around the world are included, as well as commentary on what building owners and managers need to know about the various technologies and styles of gardens.

The book, costing $20, is available for purchase from the company’s website: www.doitontheroof.com/projects/all-about-green-roofs.

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3/03/16 3:11 PM

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