Inside Waste February 2024 by Prime Creative Media

ISSUE 118 | FEB/MAR 2024

30 Artificial Intelligence 32 C&D Waste 34 Stewardship

Rules of engagement By Inside Waste

Image: Adobestock/Tanaonte

Verification important facet to recycling/ecological claims By Inside Waste

PP: 100024538

ISSN 1837-5618

GREENWASHING is a term used when companies or individuals make claims about the positive environmental impact their entity has on the planet when there is little or no evidence to support them. In extreme cases, some people/companies tell outright lies about any negative impacts their product or service has on the environment and rely on peoples’ laziness or lack of care to investigate such claims. Greenwashing is a particularly touchy subject in the waste/resource recovery industry as the very nature of the activities carried out by large swathes of the industry have impacts on the environment – some of which are negative. The Product Stewardship Centre for Excellence recently had an online seminar titled Avoiding Greenwashing for Product Stewardship Initiatives, where guest speaker Nick Heys, who is the ACCC’s executive director for its

Consumer Fair Trading Division, gave the low down on the do’s and don’ts when it comes to greenwashing. Thirteen years ago, the ACCC had what Heys called a “good guidance for green marketing”. He said the agency has known for some time that it needed to update the policy, but it has only really become an issue over the past three years as consumers demand more transparency in the green space. The ACCC recently undertook an internet sweep to see what claims were out there, and how it related to greenwashing. Heys said that a lot of how the new policy guidelines will be written will be based on discussions between the ACCC, consumer groups, business groups and a range of international stakeholders. He said the ACCC is taking a principlesbased approach. “Throughout the guidance, we do try and talk about what are the legal obligations under the Australian Consumer Law. But we also are looking at good practice examples to try and give businesses certainty about what

type of issues we will look at and what type of issues are concerning,” he said. To Heys and the ACCC, there’s a “pretty simple prohibition” as it stands – “someone in connection with the supply of goods or services shouldn’t engage in misleading and deceptive conduct”. “That’s really what we’re talking about here as part of this whole scheme,” he said. “What’s misleading? What’s deceptive? What’s going to be a false and misleading representation?” He said another principle deals with evidence. Heys believes it’s not only important that a company has evidence to back up its claims, but people need to know how it has gathered the evidence. He found that some businesses spoken to wondered what the expectation was from a regulator like the ACCC. He said that sometimes, it’s what is not being said that is the issue. “There’s no hiding important information – again it is a fine line,” he said. (Continued on page 24)

LOVE or hate them, regulations make up an integral part of how the waste and resource recovery industry goes about its business. Some can be heavy handed, while others don’t go far enough. As an industry, most company heads and compliance officers want a set of clear and easy to follow rules and regulations that can be adhered to and interpreted in such a way as to cause the least disruption and cost to a business. That doesn’t mean regulators themselves aren’t accountable, or that questioning the whys and wherefores of a particular regulation or rule shouldn’t be considered – especially if it’s archaic or appears not to be fulfilling the spirit/reason it was enacted in the first place. What do regulators do in their dayto-day lives? What are they looking for? Do they stick to the letter of the law, or can they use discretion? Do they like the regulations they are charged with enforcing? Is there any time when their own moral judgement is called into question? At the Waste Expo Australia event held near the end of 2023, a panel was put together to discuss, What Does a Modern Contemporary Regulator Look Like? Moderated by Boral’s national business development manager Melinda Lizza, the panel consisted of Ray Hassall, national heavy vehicle regulator; Simon Farrar, director of major hazards and goods WorkSafe Australia; Tony Circelli, CEO of Recycling Victoria; and Suzy Neilan, director of strategy for EPA Victoria. (Continued on page 28)

PROCESSING SOLUTIONS DISCOVER MORE

focusenviro.com.au

Picking Stations | Trommel Screens | High Torque Shredders | Grinders | Food Depackers

3-Stage Grinding Process

The Impact Release System Protects Your Investment

The Second Line of Defence

Astec - Peterson's powerful up-turn 3-stage grinding process provides better fracturing of material and a more consistent product, giving you just the product your buyers are looking for.

Astec - Peterson's patented Impact Release System's air bags provides uniform grinding and protection from contaminated feedstock, a feature unique to Astec - Peterson grinders.

Urethane cushions and shear pins help protect the mill from catastrophic damage in the event of a severe impact from contaminants in the feedstock.

Provides Faster Reduction

Land clearing, mulch, compost, asphalt shingle tiles, scrap wood, biomass, green waste-we can handle it am www.komatsuforest.com.au

The Impact Cushion System

Astec - Peterson offers horizontal grinders from 433-839 kW, offering grinding solutions with output at the lowest cost per ton. Visit us at www.astecindustries.com and see why we have been leading the industry for over 35 years!

2710D Horizontal Grinder Portable 6 Efficient

Engine Length Weight Feed Opening

433 kW or 570 kW 1612 cm 30900 kg 153 x 81 cm

5710D Horizontal Grinder

6710D Horizontal Grinder

High Production with Consistent Sizing

Largest Grinder with Highest Output

Engine Length Weight Feed Opening

722 kW 1800 cm 42184 kg 152 x 102 cm

Astec - Peterson is represented by Komatsu Forest in Australia and New Zealand, providing industry-leading product support and expertise.

839 kW 1860 cm 48987 kg 168 x 127 cm

Komatsu Forest Pty Ltd. 11/4 Avenue of Americas Newington NSW 2127 Australia T: +61 2 9647 3600 E: info.au@komatsuforest.com

Komatsu Forest Pty Ltd

Editor’s Note //

Chief Operating Officer Christine Clancy christine.clancy@primecreative.com.au Managing Editor Mike Wheeler mike.wheeler@primecreative.com.au Brand Manager Chelsea Daniel chelsea.daniel@primecreative.com.au Design Production Manager Michelle Weston michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au Design Blake Storey, Kerry Pert, Client Success Manager Glenn Delaney glenn.delaney@primecreative.com.au Head Office Prime Creative Pty Ltd 379 Docklands Drive Docklands VIC 3008 Australia p: +61 3 9690 8766 enquiries@primecreative.com.au www.insidewaste.com.au Subscriptions +61 3 9690 8766 subscriptions@primecreative.com.au

Articles All articles submitted for publication become the property of the publisher. The Editor reserves the right to adjust any article to conform with the magazine format. Copyright Inside Waste is owned by Prime Creative Media and published by John Murphy. All material in Inside Waste is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical including information and retrieval systems) without written permission of the publisher. The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information, Prime Creative Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequences arising from reliance on information published. The opinions expressed in Inside Waste are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by the publisher unless otherwise stated.

Inside Waste is available by subscription from the publisher. The rights of refusal are reserved by the publisher ERIEZ_RecoveryAd_InsideWaste.qxp_Layout 1 7/26/23 6:30 PM Page 1

Greenwashing – what you need to know GREENWASHING is a hot button topic due to many industries trying to up their ‘eco/ greenie’ bona fides to a discerning public, who are looking at a company’s social license when it comes to claims about their eco/carbon/recycling capabilities. Waste is an industry that gets intense scrutiny over the issue due to its very nature. When you’re collecting, recycling and disposing of society’s unwanted trash, you want to dispose of/recycle it in a safe manner. Letting the public know that you are doing so by instilling best practice processes is intended to give them reassurance that their local environs are free from issues that might cause them harm. And this is where the confusion or deliberate obfuscation can occur. In our cover story, the ACCC’s Nick Heys gives readers a generic overview of the government watchdog’s take of the legislation that surrounds claims of ‘carbon neutral’, ‘eco-friendly’, ‘compostable’ and ‘recyclable’ products. Saying something is recyclable, and it being true, are not the same thing. Most companies have good intent when it comes to complying with legislation that allows them to make claims about their products, but on various

occasions when the ACCC has done a little digging, the claims are found wanting. How does a company know if it is complying with legislation, and that the claims it is making are true? Heys wouldn’t be drawn on definitive answers but did offer advice. While certain aspects of Consumer Law are not up for interpretation, other aspects get murky. From what basis are the claims being made? Is there an audit process that can help you back up your claims? If so, who controls that audit process and what are their qualifications? And there lies the rub. While Heys gives up some good advice and information in the article, the responsibility when it comes to claims still lies with those making them. Entities such as the various state EPAs and the ACCC have a remit to ensure the environment is kept as pristine as possible, and that consumers are being fed reliable, transparent information when it comes to a product’s environmental impact. In a society that is now starting to scrutinise eco/green outputs, getting it wrong can cost a company more than just regulatory authorities turning their investigative eyes toward dubious claims.

Turn Waste into Proﬁt

Maximize Metal Recovery Achieve better recovery and a higher grade product while delivering it at a lower cost per ton

Ultra-High Frequency Eddy Current Separator • Process sub 3mm particle size • Large number of frequency changes • Rotor spins at far higher RPM than standard eddy current

P-Rex Scrap Drum Magnet

• Exceptionally STRONG magnetic field • Greater pick distance • Wide pick up and carry arc in over flow or under flow applications

Shred1 Ballistic Separator • Produces a premium #1 low copper shred • #1 shred contains less than 0.2% copper • No x-ray scanning needed

Eriez.com.au | 613 8401 7400 4 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

News //

Patented technology set to extend battery life A FINLAND-based company, CeLLife Technologies, has patented diagnostic technology that can give rapid and reliable testing of battery cell health. Battery waste in the European market is expected to grow at a rate of around 20 per cent per year until 2040. Waste would be reduced if battery cells were recycled, but the key challenge is their non-uniformity – or rather the fact that the condition of battery cells cannot be determined on an industrial scale. CeLLife has opened a pilot plant in Tampere, Finland, where mass testing of battery cells can be carried out at record speed and safety. “The battery industry is in dire need of lifecycle management. Using cells to the end of their useful life is the most sustainable and sensible way to reduce battery waste. There is no sense in the current procedure, which uses heavy

chemical processes to separate raw materials or crushes even like-new cells to fill the landfill,” says Marko Tulonen, founder and chairman of the board of CeLLife.

Numerous applications for second-life batteries CeLLife’s factory will initially process 4,000 to 5,000 battery cells per day, which is many times more than what the big battery companies can do. Due to mass testing, up to 90 per cent of the cells of used batteries can be made good as new for the manufacture of batteries. Important application targets for the use of such rechargeable batteries are, for example, 5G network base stations and modular energy storages. “Here we solve the chicken-and-egg problem: The demand for recycled cells is still low, because accurate, efficient

On 14 December 2023, Ibrahim Elmustapha (“Elmustapha”) was convicted by the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales (“the Court”) for six offences against s 144AA(a) of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (“the Act”) for providing false and misleading information in the course of dealing with waste. Between 9 February 2017 and at least 31 December 2018, Elmustapha was the sole director of the company Southland Waste Pty Ltd (“Southland Waste”), the occupier of a licensed waste facility located at 8 Kiama Street, Bowral NSW 2576 (“Bowral landfill”). Elmustapha was also the Landfill Operations Manager at the Bowral landfill. As the operator of a licensed waste facility Southland Waste was required to provide the Environment Protection Authority (“EPA”) with monthly records identifying the quantity of waste received at the Bowral landfill each month. During the offending period, Elmustapha provided false and misleading information about waste to consultants engaged by Southland Waste to prepare the monthly records. That information failed to include information about waste received at the Bowral landfill from three major customers. The EPA prosecuted Elmustapha who pleaded guilty to the six offences and on 14 December 2023, the Court convicted Elmustapha and ordered him to pay a total of $263,000 in fines, together with the EPA’s professional costs. 6 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

and safe solutions have not yet been available,” said Tulonen. “Everyone needs batteries. A solution has been found. The demand will come to hand explosively within a year or two.” The factory has approximately 200,000 battery cells in stock, which come from large data centres in southern Finland. “Some of them have come from backup batteries, which have not necessarily been used at all, but after a couple of years of warranty, these practically new batteries are taken out of service and their fate is to be crushed,” says Tuomas Messo, founder and technology director of CeLLife Technologies. “There is no need to dig up new lithium, cobalt, manganese, and many other substances from the planet if we can give battery cells a new cycle of use At the factory, the cells are tested automatically. When the capacity or charge level of the cell is known, they are sorted with the help of a robot. When rechargeable batteries are assembled from cells of the same condition, their service life can be maximised. “Here we could use the analogy of a basket of apples, where one bad apple can ruin an otherwise good basket, i.e. the weakest cell determines the quality of the battery. And correspondingly, when the apples are equally fresh, they age in the basket at the same rate,” explains CeLLife founder and CEO Roni Luhtala.

Demand for mass testing at every stage of the value chain CeLLife Technologies also offers mass testing of battery cells as a service. The company already has paying customers at every stage of the battery value chain, from manufacturing to end users and recycling, because the current testing is inefficient and slow. “Traditionally, in quality control, impedance is only measured at 1-2 points, but the measurements don’t tell anything essential about the cell’s quality, safety and performance. Similarly, it takes up to half an hour to obtain accurate measurement results with traditional methods, which means they are only suitable for laboratory use,” says Luhtala. CeLLife, on the other hand, measures the impedance of each cell at 2000 different points. The results are obtained in seconds and the measurements give an accurate picture of the condition of the battery and what is the cause of its possible decline in condition. CeLLife talks about the electronic fingerprint of the cells because each cell is an individual. Perhaps the most important part of the diagnosis is an understanding of the battery’s remaining useful life. The technology can be used to test all battery chemistries and models, i.e. there is no need for a separate measuring device for different battery types. The measuring device is light like a tablet, and all measurements use the same database. CeLLife’s technology is internationally patented.

It is possible to process up to 5,000 batteries a day Image: CeLLife Technologies

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

safe, powerful & flexible The RUBBLE MASTER RM 90GO! is powerful, versatile and profitable. The mobile crusher transforms any mineral materials into high-quality cuboid final aggregate. With efficient diesel consumption it processes up to 200 tonnes of material per hour. Together with the mesh screen and refeeding belt, the crusher produces even more specific material - perfect for immediate reuse. AVAILABLE NOW - FOR HIRE OR PURCHASE Call 1300 859 885 for more information or visit www.triconenvironmental.com.au

Michael 0417 261 795 Paul 0488 012 384 Chris 0488 288 374

News //

ACT expanding its landfill gas capture capabilities THE ACT Government has expanded its landfill gas capture capabilities at the Mugga Lane landfill. This will reduce emissions and providing renewable energy that could power up to 10,800 homes each year. In a partnership LGI Limited, the expansion will further enhance capabilities that capture methane emissions building on a successful threeyear program. “The ACT Government is excited to be expanding this innovative approach to tackling emissions from landfill by converting harmful methane gas into reliable renewable energy,” said Minister Transport Canberra and City Services, Chris Steel. “As Australia works to divert more organic waste from landfill, we know we also need to tackle the emissions from landfill. Over the past three years, we

have been able to reduce 764,000 tonnes of emissions through our partnership with LGI.” The project will generate 50,000 Megawatt hours of dispatchable energy. The expansion project is designed to include the establishment of two additional 1-Megawatt gas to energy generators, an additional 12 Megawatt of battery storage, as well as a 20 Megawatt grid connection with Evoenergy. The addition of this new battery system is expected to provide storage capacity and rapid dispatch of the renewable energy generated by the engines at times when the grid requires it most,” Steel said. Further upgrades to the Mugga Lane facility will allow us to go even further with our emission reductions building on the more than 89 million3 of biogas

The gas capture capabilities will allow up to 50,000 MW hours of dispatchable energy. Image: Shutterstock/LuFeTa

captured at Mugga Lane. This has allowed for 105 Gigawatt hours of renewable energy to be generated.” It is expected LGI will commence work on the expansion over the next three months, which will include all relevant

development approvals. The project will see two additional full-time positions employed on the site and investment into the local economy through the engagement of local contractors for everything from concreting to catering.

ER EM A G R O U P

T O F U L L R E C YC L I N G S O L U T I O N S

Feasibility and pre-invest studies

Engineering and integration services

Turnkey projects

We have everything covered, regardless of whether your new project is for polyolefin or PET recycling. Each of the individual process steps is perfectly tuned to ensure that what you get in the end, is what you were expecting from the beginning. The right sorting and washing equipment, the most suitable water treatment, the perfect extruder. Get the best results from EREMA Group‘s decades of experience in plastics recycling.

www.keycycle.at

8 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

“ANY ISSUE IS FIXED STRAIGHT AWAY. THAT’S THE BENEFIT OF A LOCAL SUPPLIER WITH FULL TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND BACK-UP.” STEVE MORRISS, CLOSE THE LOOP, SOMERTON, VIC

At Applied, our number one priority is ensuring that our customers across the country get the machinery they need, with the support they expect. With nearly 30 years’ experience, and thousands of satisfied customers across the country we’re here for the long term. We’re a true machinery partner – just ask Steve Morriss. Real Service. Real Support. Real People. That’s Applied Thinking. Call: 03 9706 8066 Email: sales@appliedmachinery.com.au Visit: appliedmachinery.com.au genoxmachinery.com.au

News //

Former landfill owner fined $263,000 for hiding asbestos waste THE former owner of Bowral Landfill has been fined $263,000 after the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) discovered incomplete weighbridge information had been provided. At least 14,000 tonnes more general solid and asbestos waste had been deposited at the tip than was documented. Ibrahim Elmustapha pleaded guilty in the NSW Land and Environment Court to six charges, for providing false or misleading information when dealing with waste between September 2017 and March 2018. At the time he was operations manager at Bowral Landfill and sole director of Southland Waste Pty Ltd, the company with an environment protection licence for the Landfill. The EPA investigation uncovered approximately 430 truckloads of waste had been taken to the landfill but omitted from submitted weighbridge records,

Asbestos was one product that was not documented Image: Adobestock/Mario Hoesel

avoiding payment of a waste levy. EPA executive director regulatory practice and services, Stephen Beaman, said the waste levy is an important economic tool to increase recycling. “Trying to make a quick profit by avoiding the waste levy undermines

ANNEXURE A Ghossayn Group Pty Ltd and George Ghossayn convicted of waste offences On 17 November 2023, Ghossayn Group Pty Ltd (Ghossayn Grouo) and George Ghossayn, the sole director of Ghossayn Group, were convicted by the Land and Environmental Court of NSW for a total of nine offences under the Protection of the Environmental Operations Act 1997 relating to the unlawful transport and disposal of waste material, which included asbestos waste, and the subsequent supply of false or misleading information about the waste. Ghossayn Group and Mr Ghossayn were convicted of six offences relating to the transport of waste material, contaminated with asbestos, from a construction site and Dulwich Hill to a residential property in Luddenham in July 2019, where it was unlawfully dumped. Ghossayn Group and Mr Ghossayn were convicted of two offences relating to the subsequent supply of falsified waste delivery dockets (also known as tipping dockets) to the developer of the construction site at Dulwich Hill, which falsely recorded that the waste material had been lawfully deposited at a licensed landfill facility. Ghossayn Group was also convicted of one further offence of supplying a further set of false or misleading waste delivery dockets that again misrepresented that the waste material from the Dulwich Hill site had been lawfully deposited at a licensed landfill facility. Ghossayn Group and Mr Ghossayn were prosecuted by the NSW Environment Protection Authority and pleaded guilty to the nine offences. Ghossayn Group was: (1) Fined in total $550,000 for the five offences it committed and (2) ordered to pay $14,468.60 to the prosecutor for its investigation costs. Mr Ghossayn was fined a total of $132,625 for the four offences he committed. Both Ghossayn Group and Mr Ghossayn were: (1) ordered to pay the prosecutor’s costs of the proceedings and (2) ordered to place and pay for this publication notice. This notice was placed by the order of the Land and Environment Court of NSW.

10 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

everyone’s efforts to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill and isn’t fair on all the waste operators who do the right thing,” Beaman said. “The regulatory regime is also in place to provide the correct checks and balances for asbestos waste, and any

attempt to get around that impacts our ability to monitor its safe disposal. This sort of criminal behaviour has the potential to cause environmental harm, and we’re very pleased the court agreed and handed down a significant penalty. “The professionalism and persistence of our officers shows that it pays to do the right thing when it comes to disposing of waste.” Elmustapha was fined $263,000 and ordered to pay the EPA’s legal costs as agreed or assessed which have been estimated to be up to $145,000. Prosecutions are one of a number of tools the EPA can use to achieve environmental compliance, including penalty notices, formal warnings, licence conditions, notices and directions, mandatory audits, legally binding pollution reduction programs and enforceable undertakings.

ANNEXURE A Dani Geagea convicted of conspiring to supply information about waste knowing that the information was false or misleading On 17 November 2023, Mr Dani Geagea, sole director of Masters Civil (Aust) Prt Ltd, was convicted by the land and Environment Court of NSW of one offence for conspiring with others to supply information about waste knowing that the information was false or misleading in a material respect, pursuant to section 144AA(2) of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997. Between 21 June 2019 and 9 September 2019, Mr Geagea conspired with others to cause 49 waste delivery dockets (also known as tipping dockets) to be supplied to a developer of a construction site at Dulwich Hill. The 49 waste delivery dockets falsely recorded that waste material, included asbestos waste, was lawfully deposited at a licensed landfill facility, in circumstances where it had in fact been unlawfully deposited at a residential property located in Luddenham, NSW. Mr Geagea was prosecuted by the NSW Environment Protection Authority and pleaded guilty to the offence. Mr Geagea was: (a) fined $54,000; (b) ordered to pay the prosector’s costs of the proceedings; and (c) ordered to place and pay for this publication notice. This notice was placed by order of the Land adn Environment Court of NSW.

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// News

Alice Springs increases refund on wine and spirit bottles ALICE Springs residents can now get more bang for their buck when they recycle glass wine and spirit bottles at the Regional Waste Management Facility. Alice Springs Town Council and the Northern Territory Government have partnered to increase the refund on wine and spirit bottles to 15c a bottle, up from 10c effective immediately. The initiative aims to help keep wine and spirit bottles out of the city’s landfill and remove litter across the town by incentivising individuals to bring them to the Regional Waste Management Facility. “We are thrilled to offer this increased refund to our residents. It’s a small change that can make a big difference in encouraging recycling and reducing waste in Alice Springs,” Mayor Matt Paterson said. “By increasing the refund for bottle returns, we aim not only to boost

recycling rates but also to significantly reduce litter in our public spaces. Keeping our community clean and litter free is a priority, and this initiative is a step forward in achieving that goal.” The increase in the refund is made possible through grant funding from the Northern Territory Government. “This is a great environmental initiative that will encourage locals to recycle glass containers and that’s why the Territory Government has come on board to assist the Alice Springs Town Council with associated costs,” NT Government spokesperson Chansey Paech said. “I commend the Alice Springs Town Council for introducing this measure because resource recovery, recycling, and reprocessing are important steps towards better management of our waste products and, ultimately, a cleaner,

Up to a maximum of 500 bottles can be returned per person at one time. Image: Adobestock/monticellllo

greener planet.” Residents can take advantage of the increased refund by returning their wine and spirit bottles to the Regional

Waste Management Facility from 9:30am 2:30pm every Saturday. A maximum of 500 wine and/or spirit bottles can be claimed per person per transaction.

What can you do? With the right Government policies, our sector can reduce Australia’s 464MT of annual greenhouse emissions by up to 10%. How? 1

Better recycling

Organics diversion from landfill

Soil sequestration via compost and biochar

Better gas capture on landfills

Energy from Waste

Electric collection trucks

SM A

LL CO

TA NSUL

Contact our award-winning team today to find out what you can do.

Call 02 8541 6169

or email info@mraconsulting.com.au mraconsulting.com.au

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

AUSTRALIAN PLASTIC PIPES.

SAFE. DURABLE. SUSTAINABLE.

NOW THAT’S USING PLASTIC FOR GOOD www.pipa.com.au

// News

CPA Altona biggest MRF opens in Victoria

A NEW $50 million facility capable of recycling the equivalent of up to one billion 600ml PET plastic beverage bottles a year has commenced operations in Melbourne, coinciding with the start of Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme. The Circular Plastics Australia (CPA Altona PET) plant will convert used beverage bottles, into high-quality foodgrade resin, which is then used to make new recycled PET beverage bottles and food packaging such as meat trays and fruit punnets. The plant will play a role in recycling PET bottles collected through the Container Deposit Scheme as well as PET plastic packaging from household and office recycling bins. The facility is the biggest of its kind in Victoria and equipped with state-of-theart equipment capable of producing 2.5 tonnes of recycled PET resin per hour. Multiple infrared and optical sorters firstly separate out any non-PET material, such as bottle lids, labels, and metals. The PET bottles are then shredded, ground, and washed, before the flaked material goes through a two-stage heating and drying process. The washed flake finally undergoes an extrusion and purification process to produce the recycled PET resin certified to US FDA standards. When fully operational, the plant will be able to produce around 20,000 tonnes of recycled PET resin each year, equivalent to the weight of two Eiffel Towers. At full production, the facility is expected to employ about 45 people for its 24/7 operations and supported around 60 full time jobs during its construction.

This is the second Circular Plastics Australia (PET) recycling facility now operational in Australia, with the first, a similar sized plant in Albury NSW, commencing operations in March 2022. Circular Plastics Australia (PET) is a joint venture between Pact Group, Cleanaway Waste Management, Asahi Beverages, and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) and was formed to provide a bottle-to-bottle solution to help accelerate the local plastic circular economy. While competitors in the beverage market, CCEP and Asahi Beverages have come together for this joint venture to help deliver an increase in the volume of PET plastics recycled in Australia. Pact managed the build and now operates the two recycling facilities. Cleanaway provides used PET plastic to be recycled through its collection and sorting network. Asahi Beverages and CCEP use the recycled resin from the joint venture to make new 100 per cent recycled PET beverage bottles while Pact manufactures recycled food and beverage packaging for its customers. By recycling plastic waste locally, the two Circular Plastics Australia (PET) plants are helping to create a “closed loop” solution for plastic beverage bottles. This will help reduce Australia’s reliance on virgin and imported recycled resin. The CPA (PET) project in Altona North received $6 million in funding through the Australian Government’s Recycling Modernisation Fund and the Victorian Government’s Circular Economy – Recycling Modernisation Fund.

NO DOWNTIME FLOORING Heavy duty floor topping & repair system for waste handling sites > Leachate Resistant > Industrial Strength > High Impact Rating > Rapid Cure Times > Joint Repairs Call us for more information

02 8840 8888

The plant will produce about 20,000 tonnes of recycled PET resin annually. Image: CPA Altona

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

enquiries@ascoatings.com.au | www.ascoatings.com.au

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

News //

Business fined $730k over illegal waste dump THE NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has successfully prosecuted a company and two individuals in the Land and Environment Court, fining them more than $730,000 in total for the unlawful disposal of waste and supply of false or misleading Up to 1200 tonnes of waste was dumped illegally by the Ghossayn Group. Image: Adobestock/Philipp Berezhnoy

information about that waste. The EPA brought nine charges against Ghossayn Group Pty Ltd and its sole Director George Ghossayn for a range of offences relating to the unlawful transport of more than 1,200 tonnes of waste from a demolition site in Dulwich Hill to a residential property in Luddenham in 2019. The Court also convicted and fined Dani Geagea, the sole director of demolition and waste removal company Masters Civil (Aust) Pty Ltd, for his role in conspiring with others, including Ghossayn Group and Ghossayn, to create false waste delivery dockets. This is the first time the EPA has brought a conspiracy charge in the NSW Land and Environment Court. EPA priority compliance and investigations director, Greg Sheehy, said the illicit transport was done knowingly and was covered up. “On Friday, 17 November, Chief Justice

Preston handed down $734,000 in fines for the incident, including $550,000 to the Ghossayn Group, $130,000 to Mr Ghossayn and $54,000 to Mr Geagea, in addition to EPA’s investigation and legal costs,” Sheehy said. “Our investigations found that the fill transported to the Luddenham property contained 379 tonnes of asbestos waste, and a hydrocarbon called benzo(a)pyrene, which we understand to be a carcinogen. “Not only was the receipt of this waste illegal, it adversely impacted the soil at the property and posed a threat to human health and the environment. “The Court held Ghossayn Group and Ghossayn intentionally transported and disposed of the waste material, including the asbestos waste, at the Luddenham property to avoid paying waste disposal fees. “The Court also found Ghossayn Group and Ghossayn engaged others to draw up 49 falsified waste delivery

$140 million set aside to tackle plastic waste THE Solving Plastic Waste Cooperative Research Centre was announced as one of the successful Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) to be supported by the Federal Government. Minister for Industry and Science, The Honourable Ed Husic, confirmed the Solving Plastic Waste CRC, one of two national CRCs to be funded in the current CRC Program selection round, would be established with $40 million in federal funding. The total resources available to the Solving Plastic Waste CRC is valued at $140.6 million, including the CRC Program grant and contributions from partners. The bid was led by Griffith University and brings together industry, government and the research sector to establish a CRC that will assist in solving Australia’s plastic waste problem by enhancing end-user driven collaboration, which addresses the current challenges across the entire plastics value chain. “Plastics play a major role in the global economy, benefiting a wide 16 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

range of industries like agriculture, healthcare, packaging, construction, and transportation,” interim CRC CEO Dr Ian Dagley said. “But the existing linear plastic value chain is unsustainable. It sees most of the end-of-life value of plastics lost and the result is plastic waste pollution, which poses a major environmental challenge.” “The Solving Plastic Waste CRC will work with the plastic sector to accelerate Australia’s progress towards eliminating plastic pollution, establishing a circular and Climate Neutral plastic economy, while growing its advanced manufacturing sector,” said Solving Plastic Waste CRC research director Professor Chengrong Chen from Griffith University. “It will deliver major economic and environmental benefits and support training for careers in Australia’s transformed plastics industry.” The Solving Plastic Waste CRC is a collaboration involving 11 Australian

dockets claiming the fill had been lawfully disposed of at a licensed facility, which were then sent to the developer of the Dulwich Hill site in an invoice for works completed. “The prosecution should serve as a reminder to any companies or individuals believing they can falsify documents to evade disposal fees – your fraudulent behaviour will be uncovered. “After a thorough investigation, we’re pleased to see this matter come to a close.” Last year, the EPA also successfully prosecuted John Cannuli for the same incident. Cannuli was convicted, fined $50,000 and ordered to pay over $20,000 in costs in Penrith Local Court for his role in causing the pollution of land at the Luddenham property, which he was subleasing at the time. The illegally transported waste has since been cleaned up at a cost to the owners of the property.

The Solving Plastic Waste CRC is determined to accelerate eliminating plastic pollution. Image: Adobestock/sawitreelyaon

universities, CSIRO and more than 33 industry and other end-user partners. CRC research programs, identified through engaging with industry and government, will focus on: • materials and design – to reduce products’ environmental impact; • maximising the recovery and value of end-of-life plastics; • implementing a circular economy for plastics in Australia; and • mitigating the risk of microplastics in agricultural soils. Griffith University vice chancellor and president, Professor Carolyn Evans, said the Solving Plastic Waste CRC would serve as an bridge between industry, researchers, and governments, demonstrating the University’s commitment to providing solutions to humankind’s great challenges. “It is with tremendous pride and excitement that Griffith University has

led the development of the Solving Plastic Waste bid through to successful endorsement by the Federal Government, and we acknowledge the tireless efforts and commitments made by our partner universities and industries,” Evans said. “The plastics value chain is fundamental to advanced manufacturing, packaging, food and groceries, as well as the waste and resource recovery sector. “Through its activities, the CRC will contribute to the global competitiveness, productivity, and sustainability of Australian industry. “It will deliver new technology, skills and regional solutions to grow sustainable businesses and new markets, creating a valuable circular economy and a cleaner and safer environment.”

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

IT’S TIME TO UPGRADE YOUR BRAMIDAN BALER!

TRADE IN AND GET:

Financial benefits

Updated technology

Better working environment

Improved safety

Remote controlled assistance

Trade in and upgrade your old baler now –

for less than you expect!

Connect, Monitor and Analyze your Bailing Equipment – with Bramidan Intelligence

Benefits of having a BRA-IN System

Make the most of your equipment with our intelligent monitoring

Data collection – of fill

solution. We call it BRA-IN, With BRA-IN you can make faster and

levels, bales ready for collection,

better decisions, reducing your costs of operation while minimizing

equipment errors etc.

your impact on the environment.

Visualization – follow

Our BRA-IN solution requires a connection via modem and an

performance and location

active subscription to collect data and connect with your baler

of machines.

or compactor. This can be integrated on equipment, purchased

Interaction – with your

separately or suppliedas a part of your service program.

machines, via relevant

Notifications and automated services can be activated by the

notifications to you or

local service team, and data visualized in the BRA-IN webportal.

service partners.

LEARN MORE!

1 800 465 4 6 5

info@wastech.com.au

wastech.com.au

News //

Lithium battery technology aimed at increasing transparency AN Australian-based startup has launched an ESG technology project aimed at supply chain transparency and carbon footprint verification in the lithium battery recycling sector. Loop Critical Minerals (Loop CM) is a joint venture between recycling technology company Battery Pollution Technologies and blockchain supply chain technologist Blockhead Technologies. Lithium battery disposal is a growing challenge around the world with many batteries ending up in landfill where they cause complexities including the leaching of dangerous chemicals. There has also been a spate of Electric Vehicle (EV) battery fires in Australia and internationally, including when cars are dumped, and smaller lithium batteries exploding while charging, causing major property damage. Those “thermal runaway incidents” are now extended to large-scale battery storage systems. Emergency services are grappling with how to manage lithium battery fires that can only be contained and not quickly extinguished. With global efforts focused on

•

Lithium is an important element in the battery manufacturing industry. Image: Adobestock/merial

combating climate change and creating a circular economy, Loop CM’s technology is being designed to eliminate greenwashing and deliver a data-driven, objective assessment of a company’s recycling processes. It will monitor the recycling process from battery end-of-life recovery and transportation to chemical engineering battery metals extraction processes.

Loop CM’s technology is also being designed to: • Assist companies meet increasing regulatory compliance, including in the transportation of spent battery cells and disposal verification. • Monitor and manage the safety and hazard issues. • Measure residual waste and how it is responsibly reprocessed or disposed.

Assess the use of energy in the recycling process as the world transitions to a zero net carbon footprint. The Joint Venture will not only target Australia, but the large, established Northern Hemisphere markets. The blockchain technology is a sustainability solution within the battery ecosystem including battery producers, car manufacturers, financiers and regulators. “We are excited to be working towards a transformative solution that empowers businesses in the lithium battery recycling sector to take meaningful steps towards transparency, sustainability and the journey to net zero impact,” said Nicholas Assef, Founder and CEO of Battery Pollution Technologies. “The Loop CM technology is aimed to provide visibility into the complex recycling supply chain, which will also allow verification of a variety of data points that are specific to the lithium battery recycling industry, enabling companies to make environmentally conscious choices.”

Upcycling plastics project gets funding for Macquarie Uni MACQUARIE University researchers will share in the $26.1 million funding pool awarded as part of the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Projects scheme. One project includes the upcycling of mixed plastics. Two Macquarie University projects have been awarded a total of almost $1.2 million, a sum that will increase via contributions from partner organisations. The Linkage Projects scheme supports projects that initiate or develop long-term strategic research alliances. “The Linkage Projects scheme provides important opportunities to further drive innovation, knowledge and industry collaboration in our local and national interests,” said deputy vicechancellor (research), Professor Sakkie Pretorius. 18 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

Macquarie’s successful projects, both from the Faculty of Science and Engineering, address the environmental challenges of plastics upcycling and flood mitigation. Executive dean of Macquarie University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering, Professor Lucy Marshall, who is also a chief investigator on one of the successful projects, said she was delighted by the faculty’s success. “These grants are a testament to our commitment and capability in addressing key environmental challenges faced by our community,” said Marshall. “We are strongly committed to advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals. “In light of the increasing severity of floods in Australia, and the likelihood that our changing climate will exacerbate these, I am excited to

collaborate with Professor Kirstie Fryirs from the School of Natural Sciences. “Together, we will develop innovative, nature-based strategies for flood mitigation, partnering with multiple NSW Local Land Services and the NSW Department of Planning and Environment. “I’m also very proud of the successful application by Professor Yijiao Jiang and her team, who will embark on a groundbreaking project to upcycle mixed plastics from bioprocessed municipal solid waste. “This project is not only crucial for tackling our own escalating waste management issues, but can also be extrapolated globally, helping to make a significant step forward in sustainable practices.” Macquarie University’s successful projects are:

Upcycling of mixed plastics from bioprocessed municipal solid waste Macquarie University chief investigators: Associate Professor Yijiao Jiang (Lead), Professor Vladimir Strezov, Professor Stefan Trueck Partner organisation: Arc Ento Tech Ltd, Project funding: $475,573

Natural flood management: Nature-based flood mitigation in the 21st century Macquarie University chief investigators: Professor Kirstie Fryirs (Lead), Professor Lucy Marshall, Dr Tim Ralph Partner organisations: North Coast Local Land Services, Hunter Local Land Services; South East Local Land Services, Department of Planning and Environment – Water Division Project funding: $723,594

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

AGRICULTURE FARMING EDUCATION WASTE MANAGEMENT RESOURCE MANAGEMENT CONSERVATION MANUFACTURING RESOURCES ENERGY HEALTH & SAFETY INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING MINING CONSTRUCTION QUARRYING AGRICULTURE FARMING EDUCATION WASTE MANAGEMENT RESOURCE MANAGEMENT CONSERVATION MANUFACTURING RESOURCES ENERGY HEALTH & SAFETY INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING MINING CONSTRUCTION QUARRYING AGRICULTURE FARMING EDUCATION WASTE MANAGEMENT RESOURCE MANAGEMENT CONSERVATION MANUFACTURING RESOURCES ENERGY HEALTH & SAFETY INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING MINING CONSTRUCTION QUARRYING AGRICULTURE FARMING EDUCATION WASTE MANAGEMENT RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

SEARCH FOR TOP INDUSTRY TALENT THROUGH OUR JOBS BOARD. CONNECT WITH ALIGNED CANDIDATES. BOOST YOUR CHANCES OF FINDING SKILLED APPLICANTS. SCAN TO CREATE AN ACCOUNT TODAY AND DISCOVER YOUR PERFECT MATCH!

// News

Public still confused over what is recyclable THE Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) has published the Australasian Recycling Label Consumer Insights Report 2023, its annual benchmarking survey exploring consumer recycling attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours in Australia and New Zealand. The report reveals three quarters of Australians (74 per cent) still believe that a trip to the recycling bin is the most impactful thing they can do for the environment. Regular recycling was voted more environmentally impactful than reusable shopping bags (61 per cent), switching the lights off (58 per cent) and using refillable containers (43 per cent). Meanwhile a fifth of Aussies (20 per cent) think cutting their red meat consumption is a top green priority, and a third (34 per cent) consider swapping the bus or train for the car will drive the biggest impact. However, when it comes to recycling, confusion is still a challenge. Half of

Australian households (50 per cent) find it difficult to know what can and can’t be recycled at home and the majority (65 per cent) want more information about how to recycle. Australians are also embracing their local drop off point – an impressive 21 per cent head to their local container deposit scheme (CDS) to drop off plastic bottles, while 30 per cent use the service to earn cash on their aluminium cans. On-pack labelling continues to present the best channel for businesses to help their customers recycle packaging correctly. Packaging labels are the most common place people look for recycling advice (62 per cent of Australians look at least once), while half would look to the signage around their bins (52 per cent) or simply a quick Google search (52 per cent). The Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) continues to play an important role in helping Australians put packaging in

the right bin. Awareness of the ARL has continued to grow steadily year on year (47 per cent in 2018 to 76 per cent in 2023) and the majority (76 per cent) think it is a great idea and want to see it on all packaging (74 per cent). Critically, when tested about which packaging belongs in the yellow bin, Australians were better recyclers when the ARL was present on pack. Since its inception, the ARL Program has positively influenced the packaging design choices of brand owners and promotes circular economy initiatives. As the only evidence-based recycling label in Australia and New Zealand, the ARL plays a role in positively impacting consumer behaviour both at the bin and at the checkout. “Understanding the pain points that everyday people are experiencing at the bin is an essential part of building an effective recycling system,” said Chris

Up to 50 per cent of Australian households are still confused about what can and can’t be recycled. Image: Adobestock/Oksana Klymenko

Foley, APCO CEO. “One year on from the closure of the much-loved REDcycle program, it’s encouraging to see that Australians still trust and value recycling. “For businesses, it’s essential we reward that trust by providing accurate recycling information to make the process as simple as possible. We know the ARL plays a vital role in helping consumers make responsible purchasing and packaging recycling decisions. More than that, it’s a great tool for businesses to understand the materials they are using in their packaging and what the environmental outcomes are. “There has never been a greater time or opportunity for businesses to demonstrate their commitment to packaging sustainability.”

JCB WHEEL LOADERS

PROVEN RELIABLE AND PRODUCTIVE

The JCB range of wheel loaders are built to be strong, reliable and provide comfort for long days in the cab. Designed for ultimate productivity, and offering superb performance the JCB wheel loader range features best-in-class comfort, visibility, safety ergonomics and superior serviceability plus a whole lot more.

1300 522 232 jcbcea.com.au

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

23 OCTOBER 2024 | MELBOURNE

WASTE INNOVATION & RECYCLING AWARDS

ta • • • • e

Recognising excellence across the waste and resource recovery sector. Sponsorship opportunities are now available for 2024.

It w in if m

www.wasteawards.com.au

Fo d b a h a ce

Fu G

V V p in a in

S G a w a

CONTACT CHELSEA DANIEL-YOUNG chelsea.daniel@primecreative.com.au +61 425 699 878

N A p in M fo a E si re h d

Q U

Inside_W

news

WMRR: Suite 4.08| |57 10 St Century Hills NSW t: 02 87465000 5000 || e: www.wmrr.asn.au WMRR: Suite 4.08 JohnsCircuit Road| Baulkham | Glebe NSW 20372135 | t: |02 8746 e:info@wmrr.asn.au info@wmrr.asn.au| w: | w: www.wmrr.asn.au

From desk waste and climate change The the linkCEO’s between Environment for theandsecond As I sitMinisters here in Farwill Northmeet Queensland time thismarvel year on 7 December, following at how well it has been cleanedthe up first 2018 Meeting of Environment Ministers (MEM) in Cyclone Jasper (well done Cairns Regional April, which was in part a response to the import Council and all those involved from the restrictions driven Government by China’s National Queensland - and yes, as Sword Policy and the effects this policy has had requested, I did not cancel my plans!) andacross we the Australian waste and resource recovery read about the floods in Victoria, storms(WARR) in industry. South Key decisions derivedand from thebushfires April MEM East Queensland severe include: in Western Australia (please all stay safe), I

can’t help but wonder when we really will • Reducing waste generation, endorsing a target move to take the impact of climate change of 100% seriously of Australian packaging being recyclable, in Australia. compostable or reusable 2025,ofand developing According to theby Bureau Meteorology’s targets for recycled content in packaging. annual climate summary, nearly all parts of • Increasing Australia’s domestic recycling capacity. Australia experienced warmer than normal • Increasing the demand for recycled products. temperatures in 2023 with the year coming in eighth hottest since records began 110 • Exploring advance waste-to-energy and service, waste-to-biofuels. years ago. opportunities And this comes to after the EU-backed climate change Copernicus, • Updating theto2009 year end, which will include circular declared 2023 be theWaste world’sStrategy hottest onbyrecord. economy I was principles. lucky enough to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef recently and see the impact firsthand of seawater temperature rising on bleaching the reef. There is It is time to work take underway stock andto examine what has been achieved sinceisthese decisions awesome assist with regeneration, but the reality that this ‘cure’ were announced. Now, seven (7) months may not seem like a long time, however will never address the cause. I sincerely hope then, as we come out of the coma in of that time wethat havewe seen further markets close (Malaysia, Vietnam) Christmas, really are going to look around us at theIndonesia, devastation being and if you are an operator under continued financial stress, seven (7) months could experienced already in 2024 and pivot strongly towards policy that will prevent these make or break you. ongoing natural disasters. We at WMRR have long argued that there is a clear link between waste and Following the April MEM, had threeThe (3)reality statesis that stepthe in more withwe varying material management policywe andhave climate change. degrees of financial assistance for industry (councils and operators). This should consume, the more we draw down on the planet to use virgin materials, the greater bethe expected considering almost all states (except Queensland and Tasmania) have emissions that we create and the warmer the planet becomes. It is no coincidence access to significant waste levy income each year. On the eastern seaboard, Victoria that we argue long and hard for smarter policy in Australia that enables extended has approximately in waste levy reservesand in the Fund lifecycle, increased $600 uptakemillion of recyclate, design obligations trueSustainability producer and NSW raises more than $700 million per annum from the waste levy. There is responsibility. In the absence of this systems change, and seeing the system as a certainly noare lack of funds that can be reinvested into our essential industry. whole, we doing little more at times than window dressing. Among my January reading, it is both wonderful and disheartening at the same Funding helps butconsidered as we know, goes happening a much longer time to read of the effortsthe and money breakthroughs in the UKway and with Government support and leadership, as well as appropriate policy levers. the EU to manage challenging waste streams like e-waste and packaging. The UK Government has just announced plans to make it easier for households VICTORIA to recycle electrical equipment and whitegoods by requiring household collection Victoria has arguably been the most and earnest industry of e-waste, making large retailers roll active out collection pointsin forsupporting e-waste, andthe forcing post-China, with two (2) relief packages announced to support the recycling retailers and, importantly, online sellers, responsible for collecting unwanted industry, valued at a totalitems of $37 million. The and Victorian Government has also gone or broken large electrical such as fridges cooktops when delivering above and beyond all this others states bythey announcing it would a leadership replacements. Within framework, are also tackling vapetake waste by requiringrole in suppliers creatingto market demand products. properly financefor therecycled cost of their separate collection and treatment. These are steps we should be mirroring in Australia. This is not revolutionary thinking SOUTH AUSTRALIA – it’s simple common sense and should be the norm, not something to be hailed. Government announced a $12.4 million support package comprising $2 million of Yet why do we find such obvious initiatives so difficult to achieve here in additional expenditure, $5 million additional funding for a loan scheme, Australia? We know from the lessons of container deposit schemes nationally together that with funding from the Green–Industries SArecover budget. The Government thetargeted community wants these programs they want to material. We also has also offered grants for recycling infrastructure.

industry however hasbusiness embarked onathe development learned from this rollthe outQueensland that both theGovernment community and want nationally of a wasteapproach management underpinned a waste disposal levythe totrack increase consistent – not astrategy state-by-state one. Thisby just leads to calls down recycling and recovery and create new jobs. The State will re-introduce for consistency and alignment, which should occur in the first place. So why over a $70/ landfill levy in March 2019. Meeting There are strongprogress attempts to use policy atonne year after the Environment Ministers saidalso we would a national levers (levy discounts and exemptions) to incentivise the use of recycled material scheme, and seven months after a bereft linear scheme was floated with little state/ and make it cost competitive with virgin material. However, little has been done to federal cooperation in development and no thought of systems thinking, are we still establish new markets and Government has not taken the lead in the procurement swimming in silence? of We recycled material. arethe grants resource recovery operations urgently need to There recognise valueavailable of materialforand use intelligent systemin Queensland although no monies been to assist in 2018. wide thinking regulation, including design,have re-use and allocated repair, to move Australia onto This is troubling Queensland out its2030 Container Scheme November, the path weas need to be on, torolled achieve our targets.Refund To be honest this on has1been which will impact the cost and revenue models of the State’sinMRFs – as we obvious sincelikely at least 2020 with the packaging system being the exemplar how not have seen most recently in NSW. to regulate a system if bona fide in achieving targets.

Australia must adopt some UK thinking here with all e-waste included in our WESTERN scheme. ThisAUSTRALIA includes all the invisible e-waste that is proliferated throughout our The Western Government upaacable Waste in example). direct response to home (the ideaAustralian that to be e-waste it mustset have is Taskforce outdated for the China National Sword. As part of this announcement, the State Government We need to stop swimming in grey and mucking around with our own Australian urged all and locallook councils theglobally utilisation of a three (3)-bin system - red for definitions to whattois begin occurring and align. general waste, for recyclables and green organic - over the coming Given that weyellow are constantly told by policy makersforthat we dowaste not make these years to reduce contamination. While this taskforce is a step in the right direction, products here making it more challenging to regulate, does it not make sense then to we are yet to see any tangible results from it or any funding for industry. In October, utilise the global definitions and approaches, in particular the EU where most head the WA Waste Authority released draft Waste 2030, which comprises offices are domiciled? We also need toitsaccelerate theStrategy packagingtoreform…seriously. The a comprehensive and detailed roadmap towards the State’s of Australian Packaging Covenant is 20 years old. THe means 2024 must be shared the year vision we becoming a sustainable, low-waste, circular economy. get on with it. At the final Environment Ministers Meeting of 2023 we had the Federal Government taking responsibility for packaging, so in 2024 we must get the detail and COMMONWEALTH get this implemented. Following MEM in April, Australia now new Federal Environment There is the no reason Australia should not leadhas theaworld given the energy we Minister, Melissa Price, who in October reiterated to media MEM’s commitment to explore have spent collectively on packaging, but at the very least we need to leapfrog our waste to energy as part of the solution to the impacts of China’s National Sword, archrivals the Brits with the introduction of a genuine producer responsibility scheme which is troubling (EfW is not a solution to recycling). The Commonwealth has with the whole supply chain and teeth. We need the teeth not to just be on those also backed the Australian Recycling Label and endorsed the National Packaging that try to manufacture these recycled commodities at the end of the chain, through Targets developed the Packaging Covenant (APCO), export restrictions, butby also onAustralian those that place this material on theOrganisation market. which has to date, failed to incorporate industry feedback in the development We have seen clearly with container deposit EPR schemes that the price signal of these targets. Tohas the credit, there has been placed on the producer ledCommonwealth’s to significant investment in infrastructure and significant coordination in reviewing therecovery National Policy, with the Department of employment nationally, increased andWaste use of these recycled materials in Environment bringing together industry players and States during the review Australia. Compare this with the current approach of paying a fee to be part of a body process. that grows its own physical staff and has done little to increase practical (Covenant) recovery and investment in needed infrastructure – it’s a no brainer. TheI updated goabout before Environment on 7 December. know you Policy need towill be now careful what you wish for,Ministers but I genuinely hope that The Commonwealth can play a key role – one that goes beyond the development as quickly as we have demonstrated our ability to clean up after disasters, we can of the National Waste Policy. WMAA is supportive of the maximising move to intelligent systems thinking policy in 2024. WeFederal have hadGovernment Teams meetings the levers it has, andand importation powers, to maintain on these topics for including a number oftaxation years now, while that talk has carried on at a strong, sustainable waste and resource recovery industry. sometimes a pace that is nothing short of glacial, we have seen that nature moves far quicker. The harsh reality for those that are involved in the clean-up of these disasters MEM 2 more and more frequent. While many of us like to seek the sun –AHEAD they areOF becoming There may be we movement across Australia,ofwith states doing for our holidays, must address the challenge globalsome warming. Time keepsbetter tickingthan others, but the consensus is, progress is still taking way too long. It is evident that and the planet keeps warming. The time for action is now. there are funds available in almost all States to assist with developing secondary manufacturing infrastructure, however the only way that this will really happen is Gayle Sloan, Chief Executive Officer, WMRR if there is government leadership around mandating recycled content in Australia now, not later.

NEW SOUTH WALES At first glance, New South Wales’ eye-watering $47 million recycling support package was heralded as the spark of hope industry needed. However, on closer inspection, the bulk of this package that was funded via the Waste Less, Recycle More initiative and therefore the waste levy, was not new, making it very difficult for stakeholders, including local government, to utilise the funds as they were already committed to other activities. Some of the criteria proposed by the NSW EPA also made it challenging for industry to apply to these grants. On the plus side, efforts are being made by the NSW Government to stimulate demand for recycled content through the intergovernmental agency working groups that have been established, though no tangible increase in demand or facilities have developed… Yet.

Voluntary schemes like the Used Packaging NEPM, under which APCO is auspiced, are not working. We have 1.6million tonnes of packaging waste in Australia, which needs to be used as an input back into packaging. Barriers to using recycled content in civil infrastructure must be identified and removed, and Government must lead in this field and prefer and purchase recycled material. A tax on virgin material should also be imposed as it is overseas. MEM must show strong leadership on this issue. Ministers have, since April, dealt directly with operators and councils that are under stress and we have a chance to create jobs and investment in Australia at a time when manufacturing is declining. Ministers have the opportunity to be leaders of today, not procrastinators – leaders of tomorrow and we are urging them to act and not just talk in December.

QUEENSLAND Unlike its neighbours, Queensland did not provide any financial support to

Gayle Sloan Chief Executive Officer

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

Inside_Waste_1811.indd 2

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

5/11/2018 2:53:23 PM

Cover Story //

Greenwashing can cause a lot of angst for consumers and those making claims about their company’s eco-friendly bona fides. Image: Adobestock/Axel Bueckert

Verification key to recycling/eco claims By Inside Waste

(Continued from the front cover) HE gave the example of food packaging whereby a business has limited material on which they can advertise and stake their claims. However, in the modern age there are QR codes where an array of information can be stored. A company website can also offer a range of information for the consumer. “The use of clear and easy to understand language is also a key area,” he said. “What language is appropriate when you should use particular terms and phrases? That’s something that we have received a lot of feedback from industry, consumers and environmental groups about – they want to know what our expectations are.” Heys said there was a lot of feedback and concern from businesses and other groups about the use of certified trust 24 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

marks, other certified trademarks, and the use of other trust schemes – how they work and what they convey. “That’s certainly an area that we will be thinking about in more detail,” he said. The final principle he talked about was being direct and open about the sustainability transition a company is going through. It is important to recognise the number of businesses starting, or are on the journey, to making sure their company is eco-friendly and embracing a circular-type economy, he said. A lot of them are making changes to what they are doing and how they operate, but it is important to make sure a company doesn’t make a claim that has yet to be substantiated or certified, even if they are partially on the way to reaching their goal. “You must make accurate and truthful claims under the Australian Consumer Law, which has been around since 2010,”

Companies must make accurate and truthful claims under Australian Consumer Law. Image: Shutterstock/hafakot

said Heys. “Also, based on the previous Trade Practices Act, which has been in operation since 1974, there’s been a prohibition against businesses engaging in possible misleading conduct. And there’s a lot of case law in that area. Regardless of the nature of the sector, the principles apply right across the economy.” Among other considerations that the ACCC take into account is the impact on ordinary consumers. What does the ordinary consumer – who has a different level of technical, industry and general knowledge – understand when companies are using particular phrases and terminology? What do they mean?

Scientific claims Heys said there is a lot of scientific evidence that underpins many claims that businesses make. Again, it is important to make sure that those claims are up to scratch. Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Cover Story

QR codes means companies can put a lot more consumer information on packaging. Image credit: Adobestock/Wavebreak

“If someone in a particular category or industry uses broad claims, what we’ve seen is that those broad claims are often reproduced by other businesses in that same category. You have that race to the bottom impact where some of these claims mean nothing.” “How robust is that scientific evidence?” said Heys. “It’s important that when you are making claims and using scientific evidence to back it up that it is accessible to the consumer, and it is understandable to them. “As mentioned, there are also prohibitions, and certainly mechanisms, under Consumer Law where people can mislead consumers by omission. And similarly, you can mislead consumers by the overall impression that you give – the use of fine print is a balanced issue. If it is going to be something that would impact the consumer’s decision, or change their decision, then in our view that fine print or disclaimer really must be put there in a clear and prominent way.” Heys said that the ACCC takes the same approach as it would with any conditions or qualifications and considers what the ordinary consumer understand Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

is meant by those claims. If there is information omitted, or alternatively, if there are conditions on those claims, how will that affect the consumer’s decision? “For example, when you are talking about your product being biodegradable or compostable,” he said. “In that scenario, is the product only biodegradable or compostable if certain technical conditions are met and you use an industrial composting process, rather than what a consumer would ordinarily understand? They might be true from a technical perspective, and they might be true from a standards perspective, but how does that relate to how an ordinary consumer may use that product? How does it relate to an ordinary consumer’s understanding of that product or service?” On the radar of the ACCC are companies claiming eco-friendly status for their process, product or service, but FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

Cover Story //

Do emissions come under the banner of greenwashing? Image: Shutterstock/Black-Kira

when you scratch beneath the surface, there is little detail to back up the claims. It has a knock-on effect that doesn’t help anybody – the business or the consumer. “We would like to see less use of broad, vague claims, and a little bit more detail and specificity to actually help people make decisions,” said Heys. “If someone in a particular category or industry uses broad claims, what we’ve seen is that those broad claims are often reproduced by other businesses in that same category. You have that race to

the bottom impact where some of these claims mean nothing.” Heys also said it is important that when using scientific language it’s used in the right context because scientific language can be quite specific.

Imagery One area that Heys said is under increasing scrutiny is the use of images to back up claims of been green and eco-friendly. This is also the case when the aforementioned trust marks are being used, especially in

Feigned ignorance is no excuse when making false claims. Image: Adobestock/Bits and Splits

26 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

the competitive retail space. “What we see is that people are using trust marks to convey a particular representation to consumers,” he said. “In our observation, there are a range of trust mark schemes that exist. Some of them are extremely robust and have a range of compliance mechanisms that people must meet before they can actually use those keys. Whereas others have been described to us as a home brand trust mark scheme created by the business to support/promote their own

product or service.” Heys said the ACCC has been contacted by many businesses querying what a good trust mark scheme looks like and how it works. He said the organisation will be working on that aspect this year.

Competitive considerations Heys said that as a competition regulator, the ACCC wants competitive behaviour in the marketplace, but not at the cost of companies making false or misleading claims about their environmental credentials, or lack thereof. “In some industries, where a business has made a substantial transformation in changing the way in which they operate, it can lead to others in that same sector making similar changes,” he said. “For example, a company that has made a change is getting the financial benefits and market benefits from adopting and responding to climate change because of the way in which some people are sourcing and making decisions. “We think it’s important that people who do talk about and make those statements, that they are legitimate transition plans, because that will help us – from an overall perspective –meet not just our global obligations, but also our domestic obligations in this space.” Heys said business owners query the ACCC about emissions and offsets and whether that comes under the banner of greenwashing. The commission is also aware that some companies are

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Cover Story

worried about how much they have to verify supply chains and how much they are allowed to rely on the information supplied by third-party vendors as proof of their claims. He said this is why verification is important and necessary. He made it clear that the ACCC is keen for such claims to be out in the market, but with a caveat. “We want them to be legitimate claims so people can make informed decisions,” he said. “We don’t want businesses who have made those changes to be at a competitive disadvantage because their competitors are making false and misleading claims. There’s been a strong interest in ACCC enforcement action in the (emissions) space, and that’s something that we’re working through.”

Label claims One issue that has had the ACCC put on its collective thinking cap is claims made about products coming from overseas. Some might have a Mobius Loop on their label because in their country of origin they might be recyclable. However, Heys said that product might not be recyclable in Australia, simply because there isn’t the infrastructure available to deal with

a particular waste stream. That being said, the ACCC works closely with its international counterparts to make sure standards are similar and shares its expertise so compliance is met. “Obviously, that only goes so far, because Australia has its own unique system, its own government, and develops the laws relevant for the Australian market,” he said. “And in this situation, we do look at whether there might be individual products that use packaging requirements or labelling requirements that might comply with other jurisdictions, but do not comply with the Australian Consumer Law or the Australian environmental regulations. “That involves a little bit of working with the individual business when those complaints are made to either us or an organisation like an Environmental Protection Authority, which might have a role in signing off on particular packaging being used. At the same time, it is thinking about how you can take steps or implement arrangements to ensure that there is compliance, and that consumers and others are not misled by those claims.” And what about having the right tools

We listen, we understand, we deliver. Our professional staff have been working with waste for over 20 years and are ready to help you achieve practical cost-effective solutions. ENVIRONMENTAL Licencing & Permits Auditing & Reporting Advice & Planning Due Diligence

SUSTAINABILITY / ESG Stakeholder Engagement Material Impact Assessments Reporting & Strategies Assurance & Validation

MONITORING Program Design Sample Collection Analysis & Reporting Gas, Soil, Water, Air

CONTAMINATED LAND Site Investigations Remediation & Validation Management Plans Closed Landfill Plans

CQG are a Local Buy member servicing Australia wide.

and/or knowledge about what can be said to be eco-friendly or carbon neutral, or what is recyclable? “We have certainly heard through consultation that there are some tools that people are using,” said Heys. “We are aware of private enterprises that use these tools to assess business in verifying products along the supply chain, which is probably going beyond what we can do at the ACCC. But we’re also conscious that a small business that has two or three employees and its ability to verify something will be very different compared to a large multinational corporation with several thousand employees. “We think there’s got to be a reasonable balance on what are the verification expectations on us as a regulator. We want to try and promote a bit more clarity for people. “It is ultimately about looking at the material you provided and looking at whether it’s a trusted source that’s provided that information. And there will, in some cases, be gaps. But it’s important to try and provide a sense of comfort that we are keen for people to try and verify as much as possible.”

Our best endorsement is the feedback we get from clients. “CQG Consulting have been providing valued services to Rockhampton Regional Waste and Recycling since 2003. These services have covered a very broad range of disciplines, including environmental, engineering, planning, GIS and disaster management. The professional and dedicated Team at CQG are always there when you need them and provide the highest level of service and support.” Michael O’Keeffe, Manager Rockhampton Regional Waste and Recycling, RCC “CQG have a demonstrated capacity as multidisciplinary consultancy firm that spans across many geographies, and yet always has a local presence. They have always been a pleasure to deal with and are a key contributor to the success of Lang O’Rourke Projects.” James Foreman, Project Director Laing O’Rourke

www.cqgroup.com.au Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

Regulations //

Regulators are sometimes seen as the bad guy, but most are trying to make sure the rules are followed so everybody can benefit. Image: Shutterstock/onephoto

Rules of engagement By Inside Waste (Continued on front cover) NEILAN, who heads the division of the Victorian EPA that looks after the body’s regulatory strategy, said that a lot of people get caught up in the enforcement side of regulation but there is a lot more to regulations than trying to find fault and fine people/companies. “Enforcement is just one tool in our regulatory toolbox,” she said. “A modern regulator has a lot more focus around communication and education to help influence behavioural change. Regulation, at its core, is around driving behavioural change towards compliance. And while compliance is the ideal outcome, regulators shouldn’t shy away from enforcement if it’s the only option they have left. “(EPA Victoria has) got this new legislation, which is a really good example of modern legislation because it’s risk based, it’s outcome based, and it holds a general environmental duty. During the implementation of the Act we worked closely with industry, and that collaboration was part of our success in implementing it. We’re continuing that collaboration and engagement. Transparency is really important for us.” Neilan said it is important EPA Victoria not only work through issues 28 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

with companies but support them to be compliant. Once they are confident people are aware of their obligations, then the organisation can start looking at compliance and enforcement. Circelli feels lucky in that he is heading up a new authority Recycling Victoria. This gives him a blank canvas to start from, which means he can look at all the different environmental organisations – both nationally and internationally – that he has worked with over the past 28 years in this space and cherry-pick the best practices. He said that the organisation will put in a lot of regulatory effort to drive the behaviour it wants to see from the public. He talked about there being a spectrum that goes from green to amber to red. His team’s job is to try and get those entities that are flirting with red, or are in amber, over to the green side of the equation. Hassall said that the heavy vehicle regulator often gets good feedback from the industry it services. One of the last surveys it carried out showed that 71 per cent of respondents said his organisation supported innovation and industry. He sees his entity as a relational regulator. “We interact with people more times, I suspect, than any other regulator in the country,” he said. “We have 400-500 operational staff who are out there every day talking to people. We have safety

compliance officers, all of whom are talking to people daily. We have digital platforms, and we do user experience and assessments to make sure our key processes work for people. “Ultimately, if you are a regulator, you regulate people, that is the only thing that is available to regulate at the end of the day. And the fundamental value that I think differentiates us is the amount of time and effort we put into understanding our customers and spending time with them.” Farrar spoke about regulation guru Malcolm Sparrow who has stated that the point of a modern regulator is finding important problems and fixing them. He said that regulators were in the business of harm – whether the harm that relates to the environment, safety or financial – that is their main brief. “We need to put effort first into identifying what those key harms are,” he said. “The second part is around fixing them and what does that looks like. But depending on the situation, depending on the scenario, depending on the duty holders, that’s where it comes down to understanding the nature of the duty holders in terms of their maturity, understanding their expertise and willingness to comply. Because depending on all that information, we use that as a modern regulator to deploy the most

appropriate regulatory tool or regulatory process to influence the behaviour in the right direction.” Modernisation of systems is also an issue, with the digital age providing new ways of doing things. Victoria’s Waste Tracker system is an example of an interactive portal designed to help those in the industry be more compliant by tracking reportable, priority waste and helps those moving waste meet their obligations under current legislation. When people think regulation, most think it is all about businesses and the people who run them. Local government also must comply to certain legislation, which means it is important to get them onboard, according to Circelli. “We see local government as a regulated entity,” he said. “We want to support local governments succeeding, because if local government succeeds, we succeed, and the community succeeds. “We’ve just released our strategic plan on our website and that…includes a regulatory strategy. And it also includes a community engagement strategy and HR, and a charter of engagement. I feel regulators need to be outward facing – they need to reach out. There’s always a tension when regulators do that, but I think we need to be mature enough and sophisticated enough to be able to reach out and work with people. Most people

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Regulations

want to do the right thing.” However, he notes that each case is different. A one-size-fits-all approach is not always possible, although consistency is desirable. One thing Circelli wants to make clear is that his organisation is being proactive when it comes to engagement. “We want to engage in a consistent and strategic way across the state with our programs we’re releasing. We’ll be engaging right across Victoria, reaching out. We have a number of statutory committees and one in particular to engage directly with stakeholders. I have a six-weekly forum with all chief executives and all their nominees within local government.” He said the organisation has 78 councils that it engages with, and each has got its own intentions – some are a bit further ahead, while some are a bit behind, he said. Recycling Victoria has got to accommodate all of them. “We’re still trying to figure out the best way of how we engage with the metropolitan councils,” he said. “There’s a natural aggregation of councils so we’ll try and work with that. I feel that, not only with local government but with all the parties in the sector, if you’re genuine about engagement, everyone’s going to be better off. We’re going to understand quickly about issues that are emerging. We won’t understand that if we close the doors and work with ourselves.” WorkSafe is keen on a collaborative approach when it comes to dealing with regulations. It has a series of reference groups that includes several stakeholders that reflect a particular industry. “In my own area – in major hazards and dangerous goods – we’ve got stakeholder reference groups that cover each of those areas,” said Farrar. “It comprises ourselves, as the regulator, but also some coregulators. We also have representation from the unions and from the industry association. We find those structured forms are good for us being able to report on performance and seek input and feedback on potential new programs. We also obtain insights from those groups to index them around things such as emerging risks – just trying to understand what might be coming and what’s not being well addressed.” One question put to the panel was whether – in some cases – regulators could talk among themselves to streamline some aspects of what is expected of companies and consumers. This would be to address some confusing issues that some industries are having with rules. “We’re not immune to it ourselves,” said Neilan. “Where we’re getting better is when there’s new legislation that impacts several of us, we consult really well on that to try and minimise and

Emerging risks are an important part of any regulatory discussion. Image: Shutterstock/Albin Marciniak

streamline it for the end customer or the people that we’re regulating. I do think it’s a busy space and I think it’s likely to change moving forward. “In my view, looking into the future, I think with the increasing financial pressures under government and regulators, we’re doing more together. It makes sense from an efficiency point of view, but it also makes sense in terms of targeting the greatest harms. It might not be unusual that we would go on inspections with the Victorian Building Authority or WorkSafe.” Finally, the audience wanted to know how a regulator decides on whether to prosecute a company or person and whether resourcing was one of the criteria. Circelli said there were many considerations with each situation taken on its merits. “It depends on what we’re actually looking at,” he said. “Is it that someone’s failed to put in a report by a day or so? Or have they been told to put it in and they haven’t done it? Or has someone had a massive pollution issue and contaminated 10 kilometres of a local creek? And was it reckless? Or was it an accident?” He said all factors are documented and considered. He said it requires an experienced regulatory group to get the decisions right. Before starting at Recycling Victoria Circelli was in charge of the SA EPA where, he said, they had a subcommittee that consisted of the executive team, a solicitor and the organisation’s investigation’s manager. “We would be trying to look at similar

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

Regulations are for the benefit of all parties. Image: Shutterstock/APchanel

situations and try to be consistent with what we’ve done in the past against our criteria. And we work on trying to get consensus around an appropriate approach,” he said. “You do need to have your systems in place, like what are you going to test yourself against? And then what’s your practical mechanism on the ground to try and get consistency?” Farrar said he also saw enforcement as a mechanism to let an industry know where an entity such as WorkSafe’s line in the sand is with regards to doing the right thing. “We’ve all got our respective criteria for what we would carry forward for prosecution,” he said. “Picking up on one of the earlier themes around influencing behaviour, that’s one of the criteria. There are times where WorkSafe will certainly take on a prosecution of strategic importance because it can send

a message into the broader industry. It’s not just dealing with that specific duty holder who would be the subject of the prosecution, but it’s intended to send a message to a much broader industry around ‘don’t do this or else here’s the consequences’.” Neilan said her organisation prioritises instances where there is great risk to human health or the environment. However, she said that education is also an important ingredient, and the EPA works with various organisations to make sure they are following correct procedures. With social license becoming important to a company’s success, it’s hoped that enforcing regulations will not be that common of an occurrence as it becomes plain that doing the right thing will be entrenched in a company’s DNA. FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

Artificial Intelligence //

The learning process is an important aspect of AI and sorting. Image: Shutterstock/ROBOT RAP Technology

AI – the next step in the resource recovery revolution ARTIFICIAL Intelligence (AI) has come a long way since Arthur C Clarke’s fictional HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey decided to override its programming and kill astronauts on the Discovery One spaceship in an act of self-preservation. Fictional anecdotes aside, AI is an oftenmisunderstood piece of technology, but one whose use is about to increase exponentially due to a plethora of new applications coming online. ChatGPT, GiTHub Copilot and Spinach are just the tip of the iceberg. But how does/ will it relate to the waste and resource recovery sector? That was the question asked of a panel at a seminar during the Waste Expo Australia held in Melbourne near the end of 2023. Titled AI: Revolutionising the Waste Industry – Paving the Way for Smart and Sustainable Waste Management, the panel was moderated by MRA Consulting’s director of growth David Cocks. On board the panel were associate professor Andy Song, Manager 30 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

of the Centre for Industrial AI Research and Innovation, RMIT University; Vikas Ahuja, Sustainability Director, Tetra Pak; and Re.Group Chief Development Officer Garth Lamb. Song was asked by Cocks how he saw AI in terms of helping the waste industry. Song said one of the easiest and common applications was in the optimisation space. This may not sound as sexy as one would expect when talking about cutting edge AI, but it meets a practical demand, and can help with what is a complex issue. “This is a simple example,” he said. “You have a fleet of rubbish trucks, and you want to cover the whole suburb. You use AI to enable you to do the scheduling and do the routing. You are then using the least number of trucks and spending the least amount of time and using the least number of breaks, to collect as much rubbish as possible. That’s a very typical optimisation issue.” He said AI can also be used in an

image-based analysis of the types of waste being put into the different bins and give a recommendation what should be done with the rubbish. It can also be used when an architect is designing a MRF, he or she can incorporate council policies by integrating a design logic language AI model that can take those policies into account. “To summarise, you can increase productivity enormously,” said Song. “Take something like ChatGPT. You may need an experienced person working on an issue for two to three hours. With ChatGPT is takes one or two minutes. That is a huge productivity difference.” Lamb took a step back and looked at the bigger picture. While a lot of the new tools related to AI – such as robotic arms – send out a cool vibe and seem cutting edge compared to manual sorting, it is the ‘brains’ behind these systems that make them interesting. “Instead of sending pieces of material off with an air jet, you’re picking it up

with a robotic arm,” he said. “It’s not completely revolutionary, it’s just a different type of way of moving that material. However, the brains behind them are getting much smarter. “We installed an Alchemy opti-sort system in a MRF five years ago. That was an image-based detection system, so it works pretty much like a human’s eye does. If it’s seen an item before it can be taught to recognise it and where it should go. The main difference between it and a human is that you’ve only got to train it once and it doesn’t forget. When you change the robot, you just upload the same information. They get smarter and never go backwards, which is just fantastic.” He said that the learning process is one of the key aspects of AI and sorting. He gave an example of a Re.Group facility whereby an optical sorter would go through a tonne of waste and put it in the correct bins. At the end of the cycle there would also be a few items left over

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Artificial Intelligence

because it wouldn’t know where the items should go. Lamb said it was just a matter of programming the equipment to recognise the new waste stream. Then there were the sorters that they put into its Adelaide facility. “They are the next generation of that AI – machine learning getting really smart really quick,” he said. “We had to train these little fellas to pull out eligible CDS [Container Deposit Scheme] containers. How did we teach it to do that quickly? One Saturday we went and took its little brain – not its arms – to one of our CDS depots and it just sat there looking at every eligible container over a period of two weeks. And that gave it this super rapid learning course. And then we put its brain back in Adelaide and it went on to recognise those containers.” Tetra Pak’s Ahuja spruiked the costeffectiveness of using AI robots to do the repetitive work of sorting materials. Where he sees AI have a positive effect is with milk cartons, something that is bread and butter for his company. “They have an opportunity to deal with materials like beverage cartons that had been thought about as low volume and therefore problematic,” he said. “People talk about milk cartons being problematic because of the material – the quality of the fibre and beverage cartons – which are made mostly out of wood fibre or paper ... the last time I looked, we exported somewhere between 30 and 40 per cent of the fibre that’s

recovered in Australia because the fibre market [here is] just not big enough.” Ahuja said that Tetra Pak has set up recycling plants dedicated to beverage cartons – one in Hamilton, New Zealand, and one in Warragamba, Sydney. The company has also received funding for a plant in Queensland and one for the greater Melbourne region. Soon there’ll be four plants dedicated to recycling cartons, so the robotics and AI are a key part of the solution for his company, he said. Then there is the question of the impact AI will have on the workforce and any ethical or moral dilemmas that may occur due to the introduction of the technology. For example, asked Cocks, will people lose their jobs? Lamb said he didn’t think it would have a huge impact. “You wouldn’t say that every robot replaces a human in terms of reducing that manual labour task,” he said. The robots might replace one person, and then you’ve got one other person who’s now in charge of looking after the robots.” Lamb argues that it is a better outcome all around for everybody. He said that instead of having a job where the person has to “mind-numbingly stand there and pull out something every few minutes, their job is now to go and maintain a robot”, which he said is a higher quality job. “It’s improving those jobs; the more we can get peoples hands out of the waste and be doing higher skilled

jobs the better,” he said. “I look at the Adelaide MRF. We’ve got a heap of technology in there. It’s all based around making high-quality products. We’ve got the same shift structure there as we do at some of our less sophisticated MRFs and we’ve got the same number of people, they’re just doing different jobs. Instead of having their hands in the waste they’re maintaining equipment.” Song believes the impact of AI on the industry will be less impactful than some other industries. “A study just published by Open AI less than one year ago tried to correlate the impact of AI versus job security,” he said. “The conclusion was that the more you are educated, the more vulnerable you are. For many in the labour world this was good news, because it’s extremely difficult for AI to handle such things as plumbing, rubbish and boxes. AI is very good at handling numbers, text, voice and images relatively easily.” When it comes to ethics, he believes that ‘trusting’ AI in the waste space is not too much of an issue. He said researchers like himself are more concerned how it applies directly to humans – such as the medical industry – compared to the resource recovery industry. “I feel that if people can trust AI to do medical applications, I think that the same principles can be quite easily transferred to waste handling,” he said. Some of the downsides to using AI currently revolve around security and privacy.

“For example, someone can easily upload their confidential document to do a spell check, or to try to help to improve the [information on the document, and there could be] a breach of confidentiality,” said Song. “They might upload other sensitive data. That data in terms of security is not just at the external side – that’s only a part of the problem. Another problem is that the transaction itself might not be secure so a hacker could hijack the package from your computer to the server. They can hijack the information you’re uploading … to [the likes of] Open AI, and then take the data and analyse it. Open AI does provide an encrypted channel, but you have to pay for it. That’s a huge risk.” Lamb reiterated that as well as taking care of some of the most mind-numbing work at a sorting facility, AI would allow MRFs to run 24/7, with some downtime for maintenance. “I’ve been lucky enough to spend some time with some on-ground absolute robot nerds in Quebec,” he said. “They get excited about if we don’t have humans, if we’ve got a fully automated city, then why wouldn’t we run (a facility) 24 hours a day? Why would we constrain ourselves to try to run a single shift or double shift, if we can run it 24-hours a day? We’re at the tip of the iceberg here in terms of how we’re using AI.” Overall, the panellists see a lot of positives in the technology, it’s just a question of how it is harnessed in the resource recovery space.

AI will take some jobs, but also create them as well. Image: Shutterstock/Tierney

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

Construction and Demolition Waste //

Pricing just one issue when it comes to C&D and C&I replacing virgin feedstock By Inside Waste WHILE plastic gets all the headlines in the waste space, when it comes to volumes, construction and demolition (C&D) and commercial and industrial (C&I) waste, are the biggest streams. According to the National Waste Report 2022, C&D and C&I account for 61.8 Mega tonnes (Mt) of waste, while households and local governments account for the other 14 Mt from the total of 75 Mt created. C&D and C&I waste was the topic of a panel discussion at Waste Expo Australia held in Melbourne late 2023. Moderated by consultant Tony Aloisio, the panel was made up of Steph Holland, strategy delivery manager, ResourceCo; Daniel Reaper, managing director and founder for Job Site Recyclers; Roger Britto, senior civil and environmental engineer, WSP; and Frank De Santis, acting director for ecologiQ. Reaper pointed out that the C&D/C&I industry recycled about 50 per cent of the volume of waste, and about 80 per cent of the weight. He said the main issue was trying to figure out what to do with the other 50 per cent of volume, which is usually concentrated around the lightweight streams. His company took a holistic approach to the problem to try and create a solution. “We thought, ‘how do we make money out of the things that we can make money out of?’ and basically offset those profits towards recycling the things that we can’t make money out of, such as the plastics and cardboard and those sorts of products,” he said. “We’re in a position where 11 out of our past 13 years we’ve recycled 97 per cent of all waste generated from construction by weight, and 91 per cent of volume generated. Most other companies in a similar space to us will recycle 80 per cent but that’s based entirely on weight.” He said that extra waste that it does recycle compared to other companies is based on volume not weight, and it is a difficult stream to process in terms of making money. “It’s the non-profitable part,” he said. “Some of the things that we recycle cost in the vicinity of $1,000 per cubic metre compared to dumping it [in a for] $200 a 32 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

Recycled products need to be price competitive when being compared to virgin material. Image credit: Shutterstock/anetlanda

tonne. It’s more of a conscious approach. We look at providing a product to a builder and setting our pricing around what the best solution is. Somehow, we are competitive in the market by doing that, but it’s pretty hard and you need to be really passionate and committed to the end goal, which has proven difficult in recent times with labour shortages and those sorts of things.” While Reaper’s company has that holistic attitude, a lot don’t, and it comes down to price, price and price. One issue is trying to produce recycled products at a cost that is acceptable. “As we get the pricing right for the customer, they love the warm, fuzzy feeling,” he said. “If the pricing is not right, they can do without the warm, fuzzy feeling.” He also alluded to, in the case of Job Site Recyclers, how important economies of scale are to making money out of recycling ventures. The company started out small and fast said Reaper, and now has a large-scale crushing plant. This

means they are starting to make money, but it wasn’t always the case. “The first six/seven years we didn’t make any money,” he said. “It was basically us pouring money in and then getting to the point where we knew we were doing the right thing. Fortunately, we made a few quid in a previous life, so we were able to [absorb] that over the first period. We’ve built up to the point where it’s viable because we look after 20 per cent of the construction industry in Victoria, but you need to be at scale to make it work.” EcologiQ is the Victorian Government’s initiative to reuse, recycle and repurpose waste materials on the various road and rail infrastructure projects being led by the government. One of the main planks of the entity is to be a champion of the state government’s ‘recycled first policy’ according to De Santis. Introduced in March 2022, it is a procurement policy that requires all major transport projects in Victoria to include intentional

use of recycled products when scoping a new build. “The way that it works is that the contracts need to commit to using recycled materials in their project delivery,” he said. “[Since] it’s been going we’ve seen almost a doubling in the uptake of recycled materials. From our perspective, that’s the deliberateness, or the intentionality, of driving people to think that way to consider recycled materials.” De Santis is quick to point out that there were already some companies using recycled materials when putting in bids for state transport projects, but now that ecologiQ is enforcing the procurement policy, the state has seen the uptake double. “That [policy has] driven people in those project teams to open their minds to using more of the material,” he said. The use of recycled materials can bring their own set of issues in terms of meeting regulatory compliance – are they fit for purpose? What is the make-

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Construction and Demolition Waste

up of the new material? How much does that recycled material cost compared to virgin feedstock? This is where the likes of Britto and consultancy firms WSP come into play. “A lot of our clients have asked us to help guide them through approvals or compliance checks and help them with approvals or develop the licence and, in general, do risk assessments,” said Britto. “Through that process, we’ve been able to understand how waste materials fall into an overall project, and how do they use that to understand the risks associated with waste materials. We call them ‘activities on their premise’. What do they need to do to get compliance with either the EPA Act, or the general environmental duties? How do they operate their site, both from prefit feasibility to operational standards and then with ongoing compliance?” Holland said that it was not only important to make sure recycled products are compliant, but that there is enough supply. With the construction industry currently in a slight downturn, having enough feedstock might become a problem. It was also important to make sure that the new product being created/ utilised won’t become a hazardous issue further down the line, although she had confidence in the new policies that have been implemented. “Making sure that what we’re creating is something that can be recycled in the future is super important,” she said. “We don’t want to be creating the asbestos of the future, or something like that. “We’ve got some great policies out there. The new EPA Act is good

at increasing peoples’ or operators’ responsibility to comply with regulations and help work towards those policies. Support from all levels of government, and industry working together, are key factors with how we’re going to transition to net zero and achieve a circular economy.” In saying that, Holland also alluded to how nice it would be if all the different EPAs from the various states could be on the same page when it comes to regulation. If you are a company that only has a footprint in one state or territory, then the regulations are straight forward. However, if you have branches in many different jurisdictions, then compliance can be a headache if you have to be on top of the intricacies that the various enforcement agencies regulate. Yet, Holland is circumspect about the offerings from each regulatory institution. “There’s something to take from each EPA’s approach in each state,” she said. “There are some great regulations out there, that if combined, could be effective. For example, the order exemptions in New South Wales work well for a range of end-of-life waste. “Communication with the regulator is key. Industry should not be intimidated or afraid of engaging with regulators. [Regulators have] got a lot of expertise outside of laying down the letter of the law. I’ll regularly ring people from regulatory bodies to pick their brains on any matter of things because I know that they [have information], and I want to be sure that our company is running things past them that might be in grey areas. We want to actively engage and work

Recycled products need to prove they meet the performance criteria to be reused on government projects. Image: Shutterstock/jat306

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

It is important to make sure recycled materials are compliant to the various states’ standards. Image: Shutterstock/Kelly marken

with the regulator to find good solutions.” Britto sees part of his job is to help navigate his clients through the legislation and regulations that surround compliance. Yet, there is one challenge that is ongoing and unlikely to change anytime soon. “The biggest challenge is trying to keep up with the ever-changing regulations,” he said. “For example, something that was once feasible, might not be feasible now. If for example, gate fees change, or any kind of levies change in the industry, they might take [how they are processed] offline and put them online. Our clients need to be aware of those changes.

“That could be from [something like] air pollution, or recycling of materials etc, whereby one activity outside might be feasible, and [the client has] been doing that for a long time, but that might not be viable anymore. From a financial perspective, it might not add up anymore. Trying to understand the multiple moving parts and how to navigate through that is the challenge.” Which brought about a question to De Santis and ecologiQ’s – i.e. the government’s – role in helping companies get approval to use certain recycled materials in a government project. “One of the important things is raising awareness of what is possible and getting people to operate to that level,” De Santis said. “There’s still opportunity to do more things [under current legislation]. When it comes to innovation, there are processes that we need to go through to try and develop new specifications. There’s an empirical, or a trial process, that we’ve done on a number of products to try and demonstrate that it can be used. That the recycled materials do operate, and do meet the level of performance required by the specifications and the asset owners who are taking them on. “The challenge is that there are a number of stakeholders in the chain that we need to work with. That is something that ecologiQ has inserted itself into and tried to drive. But it has been slow to change some of the acceptance of recycled materials. Part of the problem is the assumption that recycled materials are inferior; that they’re secondary products. Ultimately, what we need to do is demonstrate, or specify, performance. It’s performance that we’re really looking for from the asset. The recycled products need to demonstrate that as well.” FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

Product Stewardship //

Product stewardship – voluntary or legislation? Both maybe? By Inside Waste LAST year the federal Minister for the Environment, Tanya Plibersek, added tyres, mattresses and plastics within the healthcare industry to her product stewardship priority list. While most thought this was good news, others were not so sure about where the country should be heading when it comes to producer responsibility. There are arguments on both sides of the debate as to what should be done. Most fall on the side of the government legislating producer responsibility mainly because it’s a cut and dried case – producers need to take responsibility for the waste they help create. Creators

E-waste has a whole set of issues when it comes to recycling and reusing. Image: Shutterstock/Melnikov Dmitriy

34 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

of products have not often been on the front foot when it comes to voluntarily giving up shareholder profits to help fund things such as a CDS, battery recycling initiatives or making sure tyres don’t end up in landfills. In the case of a CDS, every time a raise in the refund rate is mentioned, the wagons circle and those dishing out the funds come up with reasons why it shouldn’t happen such as the ‘current scheme has yet to realise its potential, so let’s leave it alone ‘til a later date’. Having said that, more recently, the PR wonks who work for a lot of these industries realise the public is starting to take the issue of social license seriously. These aren’t uber greenies on the

fringe of society – it is a savvy younger generation who can see the negative impacts of pollution and rubbish on a daily basis. In a piece published in Inside Waste last year, the CEO of the Australian Telecommunications Association, Louise Hyland, pointed to the MobileMuster scheme as an example of a voluntary model where there is co-operation between mobile phone manufacturers, retailers and the public – and it is workable. But what is the right call? Should product stewardship be compulsory in all industries that create large waste streams? Should industries be trusted to do the right thing? It’s a question that

was raised at a panel at the recent Waste Expo held in Melbourne at the end of 2023. MCing the panel was Nick Harford, managing director of Harford Consulting. The panel itself consisted of Blocktexx co-founder Adrian Jones; Tyrecycle CEO Jim Fairweather; Scipher CEO Chris Sayers; WMRR CEO Gayle Sloan; and Jade Barnaby, from the Battery Stewardship Council. Harford pointed out from the get-go that Australia has more of a voluntary approach to product stewardship – at the moment. He acknowledged that while there has been a lot of co-operation between the public, manufacturers, retailers and even government bodies, there are still issues that need addressing. Tyres are an issue as not all retailers are on board. Fairweather’s company currently collects approximately 20 million tyres a year. He said the passenger tyre market is going well, but the OTRs (off-road tyres) from the mining industry needs more work. As for whether there should be product stewardship legislation, he’s not too sure. Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Product Stewardship

If e-waste is reused and recycled, is it considered a new product or is it still designated waste? Image: Adobestock/gopixa

“The first thing I want to say about stewardship is that we need to be careful how we apply it,” he said. “Whether that’s a volunteer scheme or an EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) one, unless we have a market failure, I don’t think we want to be meddling in recycling markets that are working well.” In saying that, he does see an inherent issue with some of the schemes that are in place – who is in control? “One issue I have is governance. You see over and over again, where stewardship schemes are governed by brand owners,” he said “They’re run by the waste generators, not by recyclers – they only have one part of the supply chain, and they don’t have recyclers. You end up with a very narrow view of what needs to be done. Remember, stewardship should be about stewarding a waste stream, and about searching for high recycling outcomes.” He also thought that schemes should be about finding the best use for the recycled material once it has gone through the recycling process, which should lead to generating the right types

of markets for the end product, too. “So often, product stewardship schemes focus on the supply side, rather than the demand side,” he said. “They’re all about funding recycling or something similar, but unless we have a place to put the products that we make, then you may as well not even worry about it and put it all into landfill.”

and have an almost immediate impact. The Battery Stewardship Council’s B-cycle program started in January 2022 with about 800 drop-off points run by local councils. That has now grown to more than 5500 collection areas throughout Australia. And while that has also seen an exponential increase in the collection rates, there are still plenty

“So often, product stewardship schemes focus on the supply side, rather than the demand side. They’re all about funding recycling or something similar, but unless we have a place to put the products that we make, then you may as well not even worry about it and put it all into landfill.” Fairweather said it’s all about markets. He believes people concentrate too much on how much the rebate is, and what’s in it for them, when there should be a wider purview that includes whether there are the aforementioned markets for the end product that is being recycled, and whether is it sustainable. Barnaby gave an example of how quickly a scheme can get up and running

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

of issues within the scheme that need to be dealt with but have yet to find a permanent solution. This includes the volatility of the products, especially the lithium-ion batteries that cause fires. But there is also the education aspect, such as letting the public know that covering the terminals at each end of a battery with tape can mitigate many issues related to the aforementioned volatility.

Barnaby also stated that the current scheme doesn’t accommodate all types of batteries. Then there is the issue of who is part of the scheme. She said that most of the big players are on board, but they need to get everyone for it to work properly and fairly. “Unfortunately, we do have free riders, but we do have incredible support from the market,” she said. “If you think of double or triple A batteries, or those used in power tools – anything that you can easily remove – they are mostly on board. We still have the big online marketplaces that aren’t participating …we need to rethink about how we operate and what type of regulation is appropriate to get everyone on board.” Barnaby said another issue is that some batteries can be hard to recycle due to their chemical make-up, which in turn makes them expensive to recycle. When it comes to textiles, Jones’ company uses a process which basically separates clothing back to its building blocks of polyester and raw cellulose. Blocktexx is said to be one of only four chemical textile recycling companies in FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

Product Stewardship //

the world and is looking to scale up from recycling 4000 tonnes of clothing a year to 10,000 tonnes. Like Fairweather, Jones is concerned about the direction of EPR-led schemes because he thinks some of the manufacturers are only worried about collecting the end-of-life products, so they look good in the eyes of the public. “A lot of recycling/EPR schemes are primarily focused on the collection, and very focused on making the brands look good,” he said. “I think to be true, they have to engage all stakeholders through the recycling chain. They need to focus on the demand side. And that’s where the government has to play a role, because governments are becoming large procurers of materials, and they also have the power to legislate. I think that the opportunities for robust legislation in this space is becoming increasingly obvious.” He believes that there needs to be a shift from supply side to more understanding about the demand side and if legislation is going to come into play, then it shouldn’t be rushed to be enacted, as good policy will be key moving forward. Sayers’ company Scipher currently

processes 5000 tonnes of e-waste annually. That includes computers, TVs and toasters through to items such as singing Christmas cards – anything with an electronic or battery component can be brought to its processing facility in Dandenong, Victoria. Sayers pointed out that, as a waste stream, e-waste is growing annually, with about 25 kilograms of the stream being produced for every Australian. He started his journey in the resource recovery sector in Europe, advising one of the “biggest compliance schemes on the continent”. It gave him a good grounding in how Europe treated e-waste and how much better they do it over there. Australia has similar systems whereby a scheme administrator runs the regulatory aspect of the organisation. The main body that controls e-waste in Australia is the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme (NTCRS), but Sayers believes it is outdated and doesn’t meet the needs of the more diverse types of e-waste that have grown in the 12 years since the scheme began. “I don’t think it has evolved at all, although a number of stakeholders involved in the scheme have varied opinions of how successful it has

been,” he said. “In my view it is quite dysfunctional. And thankfully, there is a lot of noise around the scheme being replaced with new legislation so I’m looking forward to that. One of the key inefficiencies that I see is the disconnect between the various parties – the manufacturers of electronic goods and us as a recycler.” Sloan wasn’t so much interested in the individual schemes but wanted to cover off on the legislation and framework around stewardship itself. She believes that the idea of having generator responsibility is key for any scheme to work to its potential. This doesn’t just include generators playing their part in funding a stewardship outcome, but also thinking about, and being required, to design products so they can be repaired/reused to extend their life. “We need to have strong systems for creating those pathways or making them economically viable,” she said. “As an industry, we often end up trying to solve basically bad design. Also, current collection systems are limited for a lot of these problematic materials and in many ways we need new schemes with appropriate pathways that are financially

viable and that includes end markets.” Some believe a holistic approach that crosses over to making sure there are certain design standards is the way to go. Should there be an encompassing set of sustainable design rules around all product instead of doing them individually? This is particularly important when it comes to the rules surrounding what types of products can be placed on the market and what they can contain, for example PFAS. Can a recycled product then be exported – i.e., when a recycled product is made into a new product, is it seen by other countries as a new product, or just reconstituted waste? And if it is the latter, what are the consequences? Can it even be exported under current rules? “We can manage imports, we can manage standards, we can do eco modulation and we can do it nationally,” said Sloan. “And once we’ve got that framework, we can see if we need more mandated schemes. At least generators have got that accountability, and that’s the main missing piece at the moment.” Sloan also wondered out loud why a lot of companies – and people – pass the buck further down the line and make the

Tyres from mining sites are still an issue when it comes to recycling. Image: Shutterstock/igormakarov

36 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Product Stewardship

end of a product’s life somebody else’s problem. “I bang my head against the wall sometimes and think to myself, ‘why are those people who make these products allowed to insulate themselves from the cost of the impact of what they make on the environment?” she said. “I strongly believe that if you had to manage the cost of the impact a product has (those who make the product) will think clearly about the design and the materials they select when developing the product.” Jones also thinks a lot of products – especially in the textile space – are undersold in terms of what they are worth. He cites the example of clothes that are thought to be unwearable by Western standards, but residents of those countries don’t mind sending them to Africa via various charities. He believes if they’re good enough to be worn in countries in Africa, then they have yet to reach their use-by date in their country of origin. What most of the panellists touched on was that not all waste streams are created equal, and therefore the stewardship schemes might have to have different parameters. For example, C&D

waste, glass and cardboard have a clearer recycling pathway due to investment and demand than e-waste and textiles. Issues with the latter two streams includes the cost of trying to separate out the different components, but also comes back to the already mentioned end markets. E-waste in particular can be expensive to separate out, there is limited if any onshore demand for its recyclate

and no investment, which is why collaboration into finding and funding end markets is seen as important. Sayers summed up some of the key points of the seminar in terms of what needs to be done to make sure recycled materials are used to the best of their ability as they go through a product stewardship process. “A circular economy involves a lot of

stakeholders – recyclers, raw materials, design, manufacturing, and maybe legislation wrapping around that as well,” he said. “The more connection there is between those parties in the cycle, the better. I’ll revert back to the inefficient NTCRS legislation with a disconnect between manufacturers and recyclers. Design is critical in an effective circular economy.”

Trying to sort out the various components is just one issue with recycling clothing. Image: Shutterstock/Vitaliy Kyrychuk

Design is important when it comes to products, especially e-waste. Image: Adobestock/xiaoliangge

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

Tyre Recycling //

Stewards of success – latest recycler investment

Tyrecycle’s new plant will process up to 42,000 tonnes of tyres annually. Image: Tyrecycle

By Inside Waste MELBOURNE-BASED Tyrecycle will be commissioning its new tyre recycling plant in East Rockingham, Perth, in March 2024. It had a successful cold commission at the end of 2023 and the company’s CEO Jim Fairweather couldn’t be happier with the $15 million plant. Taking over from its existing plant in O’Connor, the new facility will be able to process 42,000 tonnes of tyres and create 7,000 tonnes of crumbed rubber annually, which can be used in making new roads in Western Australia. The rest will be exported to countries such as Japan as a tyre-derived fuel (TDF). Fairweather is looking forward to the plant becoming up and running and the opportunities it will provide the business moving forward. “Importantly, this plant will be extremely flexible,” he said. “It means that in a market like WA, we can get crumb rubber to our clients more cost effectively because we make it there. But 38 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

as well, Perth is a more expensive port to export from so it’s important that we have value added products that are made there for export. When we’ve used up the domestic demand, which we will do…then it’s important that we make a one-anda-half inch TDF to help us go and secure structured long-term markets like Japan and Korea.” Tyrecycle has signed five-year deals with large Japanese industrial companies Daicel and Nippon Paper, which will take its TDF. “It’s important that we can get access to these markets by building a plant where we can make products that can service those markets,” he said. “Nobody else makes this product in Australia.” Fairweather said the Perth plant will be the largest, most technologically advanced, and flexible tyre recycling plant in Australia. He said it is almost a carbon copy of Tyrecycle’s Sydney Erskine Park plant – it has the same type of machinery but is bigger. And when it comes to innovation,

investment and securing feedstock, Tyrecycle wait for nobody by getting on with business. In the months after the Perth plant is commissioned the company will be opening Australia’s first off-the-road tyre (OTR) facility at Port Hedland. Fairweather said that there’s almost 50,000 tonnes of OTR scrap in Port Hedland/Pilbara already. “This plant in Perth will have the right equipment to be able to take the output from the Port Hedland plant, which will turn OTRs into dense 60 kilo chunks,” he said. “Although the two plants are independent from each other, they do have great interdependence between them.” The form of transport being used to ferry the tyre chunks from Port Hedland to Perth will be trucks. Most trucks will already be taking product up to the Pilbara and usually come back empty, so Fairweather said it is a good use of resources to have the tyres trucked to the Perth plant. And while there is a legacy issue with thousands of OTRs

buried around various mine sites in the region, Fairweather said it would be unfeasible for several reasons to dig them up and use them as feedstock. As well as being cost prohibitive, the dirt and rocks that would be attached to the tyres once they had been uncovered would be detrimental to the plant and machinery as they were being processed. However, there are actions he would like to see started by the state government. “The WA Government has committed a lot of money to RMF funding and that’s been great,” he said. “Main Roads [the state government body responsible for the upkeep of roads] has generated a lot of demand – and remember that demand is the key. There’s lots of talk about extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes, but the problem with that is that they focus entirely on the supply side, scooping up the tyres and landing them with recyclers. These systems then become all about building more recycling infrastructure, whereas it should be all about creating demand for recycled

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Tyre Recycling

The plant will produce rubber feedstock for roading. Image: Tyrecycle

products. As demonstrated by Tyrecycle, the market is well placed to invest in infrastructure and secure feedstock to manufacture an in-demand product, but there needs to be a demand for the recycled product in first place. Without a market demand for recycled products, we’re operating amongst an artificial reality – wish-cycling with no genuine offtake streams for recycled material.” Fairweather said another issue with EPR schemes is that they are often designed and run by manufacturers, not recyclers. He believes they have a lack of recycler representation in their governance structure, which is focused on driving the cost of recycling down rather than on recycling outcomes. “It might sound like semantics, but it’s absolutely a massive difference,” he said. “And the WA government got that bit right – government procurement has stepped up, and Main Roads WA is buying a heap of crumb rubber. And they made that market happen almost overnight. From that perspective it makes for a robust market in WA and because of that we’ve invested there. We can see the demand, so we’ll invest. If you get the policy settings right, you’ll generate investment.” During COVID, Tyrecycle was having problems getting enough staff to process tyres at some of its plants due to a robust resources sector offering higher wages. The new plant will require extra staff to complement those that will be coming over from the O’Connor facility. Have they found the staff to fill those roles? “We had 11 new roles to fill, and we’ve filled all of those,” said Fairweather. “All

of our maintenance staff have been involved in building the plant. That’s really important for us in terms of security of operation and how well we run it. “With the Pilbara/Port Hedland plant we’ve had a lot of interest, but we’re holding that off because we’re not going to be up and running for a few months yet so we can’t employ as many people as we’d like at this time.” As for the current state of the tyre recycling industry, Fairweather is fairly

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

Tyrecycle’s Ashley Battilana, Regional Manager Western Australia. Image: Tyrecycle

bullish in that he feels that export markets are starting to free up. “Paper companies like Nippon Paper want one and a half inch TDF, which has got no steel in it because it goes into their power boiler to generate electricity,” he said. “However, if we’re selling it to the cement companies in Japan, they want two-inch TDF with steel in it because they want the steel to go into their kiln, which means that they don’t have to put as much iron oxide into their process. It

acts as a dual product – a fuel and raw material substitute.” Fairweather can’t wait for the new plant to come online. It is an exciting time for Tyrecycle, and he believes the service will help alleviate negative environmental impacts in WA. “Overall, the team has done a fantastic job,” he said. “They’ve done an outstanding job. There’s over a $1 million dollars’ worth of fire suppression control systems. I’m just really proud of this plant.”

Tyrecycle has plenty of feedstock for hits new facility. Image: Tyrecycle

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

Waste to Energy //

A global review of the Waste to Energy sector By Amal Jugdeo THE need for sustainable waste disposal solutions is becoming more critical as the quantity of waste generated increases yearly. This is evident in all countries, including countries that have the most efficient waste separation and recycling programs. Switzerland, for example, has one of the most stringent waste management regulations and policies in Europe and is often recognised as the ‘world champion of recycling’. These regulations cover various aspects of waste management, including recycling targets, waste disposal methods and extended producer responsibility. This has resulted in a well-established system of waste separation at source, where residents must sort their waste into different categories, such as paper, glass, metal, plastic, and organic waste. This facilitates efficient recycling processes and reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills. Switzerland also invests in advanced waste management technologies. This includes state-of-the-art recycling facilities and Waste to Energy (WtE) facilities. WtE generates energy supplying process steam, electricity, and district heating. In addition, they double up as metal recycling centres. These technologies contribute to efficient waste management and resource recovery. However, despite such wellestablished systems, residual waste has trended upwards. Switzerland has disposed of all residual waste by WtE for nearly two decades. What is also clear is that the ecological impact increases with increased recycling rates, and at some optimum point, it does not make sense to improve recycling rates without having a negative ecological impact. This is evident in the graph below:

Dubai has set a WtE of 80 per cent by 2030. Image: HZI

This means that any responsible waste management solution will result in residual waste that needs to go to landfills or better WtE facilities. Globally, in the past decade, around 900,000 tons per day of new WtE processing capacity came online in 1100 new facilities. WtE is recognised as part of the waste management solution in many jurisdictions worldwide.

Let us take a tour of the latest WtE developments globally. Western, Central, and Northern Europe are mature WtE markets, and the focus in the future in these markets will be the replacement and modernisation of old plants. The UK is an exception because of its late entry into the industry. This is why there has been a flurry of new builds in the UK recently –

In the Middle East, development is expected mainly in the United Arab Emirates, where Dubai has set a WtE target of 80 per cent by 2030. HZI has already commenced operation of the largest WtE facility in the world in Dubai, which will eventually process 1.89 million tonnes of residual waste once all five 125 MWth lines are commissioned in 2024. Two more

What is also clear is that the ecological impact increases with increased recycling rates, and at some optimum point, it does not make sense to improve recycling rates without having a negative ecological impact. HZI alone brought online 8 out of 14 new facilities in the UK over the past three years. Countries in Eastern Europe and Turkey will need to develop WtE plants to align with EU landfill regulations, which prohibit the disposal of untreated waste. Russia also embraces WtE, but progress has stopped due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. 40 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

facilities are planned for Abu-Dhabi, where HZI will be building the largest capacity-per-line facility in the world. In Africa, 51 WtE projects were recently announced, mainly in Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya and Egypt. There are also projects in the early stages of development in Tanzania, Morocco and South Africa. Generally,

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Waste to Energy

Dubai’s Waste to Energy facility in action. Image: HZI

in Africa, there is a lack of affordability and regulatory incentives while having an underdeveloped electricity infrastructure. Hence, new low-cost, high-energy efficiency concepts are needed in the coming years. China is the largest market and is at the peak of its growth. It has an installed capacity of 250 million tons per year. Although there is a slight slowdown due to increased recycling rates, more than 400 new projects are still being announced, of which 114 are under construction. Japan has the highest number of WtE plants – 1063 in total. The plants are old and small – 28 years old on average and processing 62,000 tons per year on average. This is a result of the early development of the industry due to a lack of landfill space and focus on treating all waste inside council areas. Hence, Japan will consolidate its WtE sites with larger, higher-efficiency facilities ready for carbon capture and leading to carbon-negative solutions like in Europe. North America is dominated by landfills, and most plants were built in

Source data: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Image: HZI

the 1980s to produce electricity because of high energy prices at the time. Since 1996, only two plants have been built, but growth prospects remain. Facilities in operation are concentrated in densely populated areas on the East Coast. Retrofits are underway, and the first set of new plants will be built in Florida. Further developments will only

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

happen once WtE is recognised as a better outcome than landfill and not a threat to recycling, composting, and anaerobic digestion. This brings us to Australia, where the WtE market is developing. Two WtE plants in Western Australia are scheduled to go online in 2024 and will process a combined total of 700,000 tons of residual waste annually. On

the East Coast, there are numerous WtE plants in various stages of development. Even the combined capacity of these projects is well below the needs for WtE capacity. Hence, Australia has a long way to go before WtE catches up with waste ending up in landfills. Today’s landfilling is locking in greenhouse gas emissions for 2050 – when Australia should be net zero. More urgency is required to recycle and compost and anaerobic digest where possible, and only residual waste should go to WtE. Nothing should end up untreated in landfills. The country’s 2050 goals for net zero have already become illusionary due to the inherent long-term greenhouse gas potential of landfills, which with today’s waste, will pollute beyond the deadline. We should applaud and follow the jurisdictions already enforcing separate food and green waste collection. This separation must start now and not by 2030.

Amal Jugdeo, Business Development Manager at HZI Australia FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

Battery Recycling //

Fires caused by batteries are a constant worry for material recycling facility owners. Image: Ecocycle

Batteries will be causing problems for some time to come By Inside Waste

ECOCYCLE provides national recycling solutions for industrial, commercial, and post-consumer products including batteries, mercury-bearing lighting waste and dental amalgams, and all e-waste, including mobile phones, computers, TVs, vapes, e-cigarettes and X-rays. Ecocycle and sister company EcoBatt operate a national post-consumer household battery collection network with more than 7000 collection kiosks deployed at supermarkets, hardware stores and associated retailers. In 2023, EcoBatt welcomed Coles, JB HiFi and The Good Guys retail stores who also have installed battery collection kiosks. The kiosks are equipped with advanced sensor technology to report on fill levels, internal temperature, and other operational state-of-health data. All battery kiosks are company owned and are recognised as best-in-industry to ensure safe and secure collections of 42 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

spent household batteries and mobile phones. With automated routing software and service scheduling, a range of purpose-built DG battery transport vehicles provide a cost-effective collection and transportation option for post-consumer battery waste recycling services in Australia. In addition to mixed household battery collections, Ecocycle operates recycling services for all battery chemistries from micro-mobility, hybrid and electric vehicles, and solar energy storage devices. These large batteries require specific solutions for their safe transport, handling, charge neutralisation and resource recovery. EcoBatt also offer ADG-approved bulk mixed battery storage bins with 600/800-litre capacity, EV battery safety boxes, and EV firesafe containers designed for the safe transport of accident damaged vehicles. EcoBatt is also the Australian agent for CellBlock (USA) fire containment

systems offering a non-toxic lithium fire, heat, and smoke suppressant, specialist lithium-ion transportation drums, and industrial-grade emergency safety response kits that suit most industries. They are also suitable for most commercial work settings that may handle potentially damaged or physically distressed lithium-ion cells from micromobility and energy storage assemblies, and also for retail and household solutions. This year Ecocycle commissioned the design of energy discharge control equipment to enable the safe return of residual energy from end-of-life EV and solar battery energy storage devices to the electricity grid for reuse. The residual energy stored at end-of-life for EV batteries can be equivalent to electricity requirement for a day of an average size family home. It is intended that energy returned to the grid will qualify for inclusion for Scope Three ESG reporting

as an effective environmental solution. In 2023, the greatest damage to waste management and recycling industry assets were incorrectly disposed lithium-ion batteries and single-use vapes, as well as e-cigarettes, which were accidently crushed in the waste collection trucks at kerb-side collections, landfills, MRFs and transfer stations. Millions of single-use vapes and e-cigarettes are disposed every month and lithium batteries cause headlines as trucks, kerb-side bin services, waste compactors and shredders experience daily fires. The Federal Government’s ban on personal vape importation and commercial possession and sales expected by the end 2024 is of no surprise, but the current waste problem with vapes remains. The question of who shall fund end-of-life, single-use vape collection and their recycling services remains unresolved, according to Ecocycle’s Zoltan Sekula. “A lack of consumer education and

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Battery Recycling

point of sale information is one of the reasons for low recycling rates for household battery recovery,” he said. “This hinders the industry from achieving economies of scale while providing a national collection network.” If suitable amendments to the BSC Household Battery Product Stewardship collection funding model cannot be achieved urgently, the B-cycle scheme may suffer significant reputational damage with the unavoidable shutdown of collection networks, Sekula believes. Behind the scene, negotiations have been ongoing and EcoBatt may have limited options but to take the lead and ask for involvement of relevant federal government departments to avoid a reduction of collection services nationally. It would be regretful if any adverse developments would be to the disadvantage of consumers wanting to support battery recycling services. He said that we all know what happened with RedCycle, and no one wants to see a repeat of that. Rather, we want to learn from the lessons of that experience. “Nobody could have predicted the rapidly escalating collection costs in the B-cycle scheme design or understood just how underfunded it is for the elite standards it is demanding,” said Sekula. “Very few understood the scheme from the start. It only ever in mind to fund 60 per cent of the recycling of batteries while agreeing that correct recycling number should be around $9 a kilo. Scaling back the collection services in all but metro areas could provide temporary relief, but then the scheme also would not be fair and equitable to the whole population of Australia. The Federal

The large number of products require batteries in order to operate. Image: Ecocycle

Government supports voluntary, industryled product stewardship schemes to provide solutions for legislated priority waste products. At the same time there are options to regulate and impose a co-regulated or mandatory scheme to ensure market failure cannot occur.” Collectors must achieve economies of scale for the survival of the scheme or decide on bearing mounting losses, which is not an option for most. While the B-cycle scheme design reads well

and its 2020 ACCC determination was positive, the majority of consumers are still unaware of their battery recycling opportunity. It is estimated that at least 80 per cent of household batteries are lost to landfills even after two years of scheme operation, according to Sekula. EcoBatt provides a collection network with battery kiosks in easy reach to the majority of Australia’s population. European recycling rates as high as 65 to 70 per cent are reported, but financial

Sorting out the various battery streams at an Ecocycle recycling facility. Image: Ecocycle

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

returns in Europe are higher overall for recycling batteries. They also don’t have to contend with Australia’s tyranny of distance and sparse population densities. Sekula said it would be an unfortunate outcome if EcoBatt’s implementation of a national consumer battery recycling network would be found to be a futile exercise. Sekula also points out that the recycling industry cannot implement government policy seeking to achieve the recycling of 80 per cent of all wastes generated in Australia by 2030 when producers of wastes attempt to limit proper shared financial responsibility. When errors in new product stewardship scheme designs are recognised, ignoring the risk of possible market failure lacks justification. “It could be as simple as provisions of inflationary adjustments to be recognised on an annual basis,” he said. “Further, the willingness of consumers to participate in scheme funding for the environmental and social benefits provided has been established. Product stewardship collection services must be available to all Australians nationally at least on a cost recovery basis within a commercial setting.” Some argue that overall, the option of voluntary product stewardship scheme is unlikely to offer fair and reasonable funding models, or seek high recycling rates in the quickest time possible to assure economies of scale for collectors and recyclers for resources otherwise lost to landfills. Therefore, collectors and the recycling Industry are left with difficult decisions to limit losses experienced and lost opportunities to future-proof their sector. Overall, the outlook for 2024 is expected to be more challenging for many recyclers and collectors participating in national products stewardship schemes. Ecocycle is looking forward to the Federal Government’s proposed new framework and regulation for e-waste, solar PV and small household appliances. Sekula also highlights that single-use vapes, embedded batteries in toys, energy storage devices and electrical vehicle batteries also need to be addressed. It seems the recycling industry is expected to carry the burden of cost minimisation when every percentage point to increase recycling rates can only be achieved with investments that are not supported by waste producers who may have only short-term concerns, said Sekula. “It is a shared responsibility and Ecocycle has come to the challenge but finds itself asking if all its efforts for innovation and investment as part of Australia’s leading circular economy are appropriate for household battery collections,” he said. FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

Organics //

The states and territories vary in terms of who will reach recycling targets. Image: Adobestock/Luigi Bertello Photo

Organics recycling doing okay but still has challenges ahead in 2024 By John McKew National executive officer for AORA. THE Australian Organics Recycling Association (AORA) is in the process of releasing the second edition of its Australian Organics Recycling Industry Capacity Assessment: 2022-23. This report is produced every second year, alternating with The Economic Contribution of the Australian Organics Recycling Industry report. Both reports are commissioned through the Australian Economic Advocacy Solutions (AEAS) for AORA. Each year, the organics recycling industry is processing 77 million tonnes (or 52.3 per cent) of waste to produce valuable product for further use across the Australian economy. Diverting organic resources for recycling, reduces emissions and recovers valuable nutrients from being landfilled that improves sustainability and provides significant benefits to our communities. Organics recycling closes the loop on food and other organic wastes and ultimately returns them to production through the soil or other value-added inputs to our 44 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

economy. It is an exemplar of the “circular economy” and with organics comprising almost half of our waste stream, a successful circular economy cannot exist without a successful Australian organics recycling industry. In performing these tasks for the environment, the Australian organics recycling industry is also providing an economic benefit to everyday Australians. Last year, AORA released The Economic Contribution of the Australian, Organics Recycling Industries, which revealed the macroeconomic contribution the industry is making – providing more than 5,000 jobs, $386 million in wages and salaries, $1.9 billion in supply chain opportunities and $781 million in industry direct value add to the Australian economy. This current report examined the organic recycling industry’s existing and potential capacity and capability to achieve the required increase in processing and production necessary to achieve 70 per cent, 80 per cent, 90 per cent and 95 per cent recycling rates for organic materials.

Based on modelling and key findings of the AORA Organic Material Recycling Capability Survey 2023, commissioned as part of this report, only South Australia and the ACT are capable of meeting the required capacity for each of the 70 per cent, 80 per cent, 90 per cent and 95 per cent recycling rates. NSW is capable of meeting required capacity for a 90 per cent recycling rate but is not positioned to meet a 95 per cent recycling rate. Victoria can meet an 80 per cent recycling rate but not 90 per cent and 95 per cent recycling rates. All other states and territories have shortfalls for meeting required capacity these recycling rates. On the basis of the above, there will be a requirement to either create new capacity among existing industry participants, or promote new industry participants once existing capacity is exhausted. This will particularly be the case for organic material recycling in most rural and regional areas, where there is little or no way to deal with organic waste but to landfill it due to low capacity and infrastructure. The requirement to implement FOGO (Food

Organics Garden organics) services within these rural and regional centres will also increase organic feedstock supply and further increase the need for additional ‘local’ organic recycling processing. While the industry has confidence to grow existing markets and find new markets for its products, this is not without challenges, especially in some states/territories once higher rates of organics recycling can be achieved. Therefore, increasing market demand will be a key indicator of success for the industry as it transitions to processing and production necessary to achieve 70 per cent, 80 per cent, 90 per cent and 95 per cent recycling rates for organics material. Without viable and sustainable end-markets for the products produced by the Australian organics recycling industry (arguably a key requirement for the achievement of the circular economy principle), the industry will be constrained to grow capacity. The full version of the AORA Australian Organics Recycling Industry Capacity Assessment: 2022-23 is available on the AORA website.

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Equipment News

The Powerhouse: Fuchs MHL320 material handler IN the world of industrial recycling, the Fuchs MHL320 Material Handler stands as a powerhouse, blending resilience and innovation. This robust machine, weighing between 19.1 and 22.9 tonnes, with the power of a 95 kW engine and a reach of up to 10.4 meters, sets the standard for efficiency in handling industrial waste recycling. For years, the MHL320 has been the benchmark in industrial recycling, and its reputation is well-earned. It has dual-ear cylinder bearings integrated into the entire boom, as well as a high-performance cooling system with spatially separate radiators, ensuring coolers remain clear of dust and light waste and at optimal operating temperatures.

It also has a double-row spherical slew ring for smooth motion and extended service life. This machine exemplifies Fuchs’ commitment to excellence. These features contribute to optimal performance even during prolonged and challenging tasks. The unit consistently delivering a reliable performance. Its versatility offers a spectrum of possibilities from precision sorting to heavy-duty loading tasks. With various boom versions, undercarriages, and special equipment options, the MHL320 can be customised to align with unique requirements, providing a tailored solution for individual needs. Along with its mechanical features

the MHL320 also considers operators with its operator-centric design. The cab is a reinforced steel structure with soundproofed, heatinsulated panoramic windows for best all-round visibility. Inside, heating and air conditioning with separate heat exchangers and fresh and recirculated air filters, make for a comfortable environment. The operator‘s seat is an aircushioned comfort seat with swinging armrests/joysticks, safety belt, lumbar support and headrest. It is designed to enable fatiguefree work due to universal adjustment options for the seat position and the arrangement of the seat cushion in relation to the armrests and joysticks.

In an era where sustainable waste management is paramount, the Fuchs MHL320 material handler emerges as a beacon of visibility, reliability, and innovation. It represents a commitment to a productive and efficient future. In conclusion, the Fuchs MHL320 is said to not only meet but exceed the demands of industrial recycling. Its robust design and adaptability make it a cornerstone in sustainable waste management, paving the way for a greener and more efficient future. Onetrak, is the national distributor for Fuchs machines. It is backed by a national parts and service footprint.

The Fuchs MHL320 Material Handler is capable of heavy-duty loading tasks. Image: Onetrak

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

Thought Leadership //

Waste trends – what is going on? By: Mike Ritchie ON CURRENT trends we have no chance of achieving the National Waste Action Plan Targets of 80 per cent diversion from landfill (Figure 1), 50 per cent recovery of organics and a 10 per cent reduction in per capita waste generation, all by 2030. How can I be so confident in those predictions? Because the data tells us so. I have written various articles on the trajectory of waste generation in Australia and the speed of reform not keeping up. Recent articles in the The Age and Sydney Morning Herald showed that at a national level we were well behind, while articles in Inside Waste have reviewed the performance of NSW and QLD. None of these jurisdictions will achieve the above targets. To their credit, one government agency reached out to better understand the modelling and how reliable it was in predicting the future. Unfortunately, for all governments, the modelling is reliable even at predicting what the future up to 2030 holds for waste.

How is that? MRA has looked at every indicator available for predicting waste flows in each jurisdiction, as have many other waste consultants so there’s nothing Earth shattering in that. Here is just a

The sooner the government releases a policy paper on COFO, the sooner adjustments can be made. Image: Adobestock/Waranya

taste of some of the indicators of waste generation rates: 1. Population growth. 2. Per capita consumption rates. 3. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) nationally and per state. 4. GSP (Gross State Product) ditto. 5. Engineering product and projects. 6. Project pipelines and announcements. 7. Reuse, circular economy, and reprocessing infrastructure build. 8. Historic trends. What is clear from this analysis is that the best indicator of the future is the past.

To make predictions for each waste stream (MSW, C&I and C&D) the single best indicator is what it has been doing in the past 10 years. If we pitch that forward for 10 years, it gives a clear and reasonably reliable account of the future. This can then be adjusted if there are particular policy regimes coming into play (that are significant and structural). These may divert the natural trend line. The best example of this is the compulsory collection of Commercial Food (COFO) in NSW by 2025. We can predict with great certainty where general C&I trends will be and then adjust

for the introduction of COFO in 2025. The sooner the NSW Government releases the policy paper, the sooner we can make the necessary adjustments to the trend. The other key point to make is that big increases in development, construction booms etc, tend to have a relatively small effect on trend growth. For example, the Victorian Big Build program is driving a temporary spike in C&D generation but to be significant it needs to be both bigger and longer lived than all other historical spikes to shift the trend line. Most spikes don’t fit this bill. In other words, historic trend lines

Figure 1

46 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Thought Leadership

Next time a government sets out a plan relating to the waste industry check out what parts of its are actually actionable. Image: Shutterstock: DedMityay/

tend to already imbed past spikes and slumps. So, to shift the trend it needs to be both bigger and more prolonged to have an effect. Almost none of the policy prescriptions currently offered up by Government meet the test for significant, structural and at-scale. So, there is little need to adjust the base predictions. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for all waste since 2007 has been around 2 per cent but closer to 2.6 per cent for the past five years. And, although recycling is growing at a faster rate (3.7 per cent in the past five years), the sheer volume of generated waste means that current improvements in recycling cannot bring about a reduction in waste to landfill (Figure 1). A paradigm shift is needed. The only imminent policies that could shift the current trendline of waste to landfill are: 1. Mandated domestic FOGO in NSW by 2030 (too late to affect the 2030 target). 2. Mandated COFO in NSW by 2025 but we haven’t seen the policy paper to know the scale of the intervention. So, the jury is out.

3. EfW construction in WA (two plants) and proposals in Vic (probably too late to affect the 2030 target). 4. The QLD reductions in the landfill levy rebate to local councils may shift some towards FOGO (probably too late to affect the 2030 target given that the effective levy only increases by $10/yr and only for Local Government). 5. 100 per cent hypothecation of the levy in QLD to infrastructure. This, of all policies, might start the build of new kit in QLD. That is about it. Everything else that is proposed is either small scale or is not effective enough to shift the dial. Worth doing – yes of course, but not enough to shift the waste economy enough to achieve the targets. For example: 1. The move to include wine and spirit glass in QLD CDS will recover more glass into the CDS. But most of that glass is already in the Yellow Recycling bin. So, it will have little effect on the rates of waste to landfill. 2. CPI increases in the levy (most states) has no effect on shifting the

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

cost balance between landfill and recycling. To be effective, levies need to rise in real terms. 3. Circular economy initiatives tend to be local, single material stream focused and are not structural. I support the national CE steering group set up by Tanya Plibersek, but it needs to promote structural adjustment if it is going to shift the dial. 4. Other than the National Food Waste Plan, there are really no structural initiatives focused on the target of reducing per capita waste generation by 10 per cent. Just how do State/ Federal Governments expect per capita waste generation to decrease? Taken with the rapid rise in immigration, total waste generation continues to rise inexorably. Here is a test for all readers. Next time a State/Federal Government releases a waste/recycling/circular economy plan, read it for the specific actionable initiatives. Ignore the statements of intent. To disagree with statements of intent is to disagree with motherhood and apple pie. Look for the things that an investor could rely upon

to make investments. Imagine it is your money they/you are investing. What is in the plan that you can rely upon, to invest? Would you? If the answer is that you cannot find actionable initiatives or statements that you could rely upon to invest your own money, then that gives you a pretty good measure of the effectiveness of the plan. So where does that leave us. It leaves us with a handful of conclusions: 1. Current policy interventions are insufficient in terms of significance, structural or at-scale. 2. At a national scale, we are almost guaranteed to fail to achieve the targets. 3. At a state level, most states will fail to hit those three targets (80 per cent; 50 per cent and 10 per cent). 4. Only a couple of states will achieve some of them for specific waste streams (generally C&D recycling will hit its target of 80 per cent recovery by 2030). The rest will fail. Sad and avoidable. We need political bravery and a whole-of-sector plan to lift our performance. FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

Circular Economy //

Differentiation important when discussing lifecycle of plastic pipes

PIPA strongly supports the reuse of old plastic pipes as well as making pipes out of other, suitable plastics. Image: PIPA

IT’S HARD to comprehend the vast network of plastic pipelines installed and in operation in Australia and worldwide. Most of them are buried and have remained in service for more than 100 years. With the increased focus on reducing our environmental footprint and transitioning from a lineal to a circular economy, plastic pipes have advantages over alternative materials and are increasingly becoming preferred material of choice to replace and upgrade pipes throughout the world. Aligning with the key principles of a circular economy, plastic pipes are designed minimising waste and pollution, are designed to be kept in use for a long time, and can be repaired and recycled. The Plastics Industry Pipe Association of Australia (PIPA) was founded in 1999 and is the peak industry body representing manufacturers and suppliers of plastics pipe and fittings, plastic resin suppliers, fabricators, pipeline installations, rubber seal ring 48 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

manufacturers along with training and certification bodies. As a non-profit association, PIPA works to promote the appropriate and contemporary use of plastic pipes and fittings throughout Australia. This is achieved through its four pillars of advocate, educate, technical and sustainability. “One of the important features of plastic pipes is their design life,” said PIPA’s executive general manager, Cindy Bray. “They are intended and designed to last a very long time. In typical environmental conditions, plastics materials are well known to last for a very long time, in excess of 100 years remaining functional, without requiring excess maintenance or repair when used and installed correctly in normal operation over its design lifetime.” One of the key focus areas for PIPA is to educate on the differences between plastic pipes and fittings to other plastics, like single use.

“Not all plastics are the same and too often plastics pipe systems are mistakenly put in the same category as single-use plastics,” said Bray. “Pipes are long-life products, not single use, made from materials engineered to be robust, reliable, recyclable with a service life in excess of 100 years. This includes how they are different to other plastic products and why the manufacture of virgin material is critical for people and the planet. To help further educate on the positive use of plastics, PIPA has recently launched a digital campaign That’s using plastic for good. It differentiates plastic pipes from single-use plastic, highlighting the role they play. It’s an awareness campaign, targeted to those outside of the industry – differentiating plastic pipes from single-use plastic and highlighting the role they play in our everyday lives. With good service life, most plastic pipes in use are still in their first life cycle. This makes comparisons between

annual plastics consumption and the total annual plastics recovery misleading for plastic pipes and fittings. PIPA and its members are acutely aware of the problem society faces with plastic pollution and for more than two decades the industry has aimed to recycle the maximum amount of usable plastic pipe and other suitable materials into new plastic pipes. “We are committed to maximising the use of post-consumer and pre-consumer recycled content in products while ensuring that products remain fit for purpose,” said Bray. “Pipes manufactured with recycled content must conform to the relevant Australia Product Standards, just as pipes manufactured from virgin materials do. This is particularly important in infrastructure applications where reliable performance and long service life are primary considerations. Plastic pipes must be fit for purpose, regardless of their composition.”

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Circular Economy

Providing guidance on the use of recycled material

PIPA’s plastic recycling program

To provide education on the use of recycled materials PIPA published a discussion paper titled The Use of Recycled Materials in Plastic Pipes. This discussion paper outlines where recycled materials can be incorporated in plastic pipes, the sustainability advantages, addresses misleading comparisons of virgin and recycled material, and explains how they are long life products. Further to this, PIPA has developed Industry Technical Guidelines POP208 Specification and Testing Guidelines for Recycled Materials Suitable for Non-Pressure Plastic Pipe Applications. This document defines specification and testing requirements for recycled material and products, which incorporate recycled material. It outlines the material’s characteristics and performance criteria required when using recycled materials. These documents are available on the PIPA website. “This guidance is important to ensure materials recovered are reprocessed correctly,” said Bray. “It’s a valuable resource that we want to use. It’s also important for the end product to have a long service life”.

Due to the low volume of plastic pipes in the waste streams, the pipe industry is always looking at ways to work collaboratively with waste management companies, major distributors of products and specific suppliers/clients to collect volumes of plastic pipes viable for designated recycling. With the various applications plastic pipes are used, there is not a single approach to collection, with some more challenging then others. PIPA has established a Plastic Pipes Recycling Program working with a variety of partners across Australia providing information and locations for end users to deliver their no longer needed pipes and fittings.

Improving sustainability now and into the future

Education and pilot programs

Although there is low volume to recover due to the long life and integrity of plastic pipes systems, PIPA and its members are taking practical, meaningful steps to minimise the impact of plastic pollution. It is working together with broader industry to divert suitable plastic material from landfill into long-life, recycled pipe products that meet the relevant Australian and International Standards. There is already now capacity to increase the use of recycled material across a range of non-pressure pipe products when suitable waste stream volumes become available – PIPA already has the solution. A great example of this is within PVC non-pressure pipes – through multi-layer extrusion technology (or sandwich construction), it allows recycled material to be used in the core layer of the pipe (the middle) between the inner and outer layers of virgin material. This means the core layer can be any colour, density, or formulation of rigid PVC material. The performance characteristics of these pipes is exactly the same as pipes made form 100 per cent virgin material. That’s the important role performance standards play. The plastic pipe industry is proud of its environmental sustainability initiatives from best-practice material sourcing, manufacturing – with processes designed to reuse any scrap materials to make other pipes, end-of-life product stewardship and other programs.

PIPA has engaged with other industry stakeholders, such as the plumbing sector, to establish education and pilot

Agreements with major plastic pipe users PIPA members form direct agreements with their customers and other collection and waste management organisations for the recovery of offcuts and product at the end of its in-use phase. “The plastic pipes industry is always looking to broaden collaboration across industries,” said Bray.

programs to increase awareness on the sustainability of plastic pipes and develop the behaviours of appropriate disposal of off-cuts. “Programs such as the Construction Plastics Recycling Scheme in Queensland, and the Plumbing Industry Plastic Recycling Scheme in Western Australia, not only educates but also provides the industry with valuable insights, behaviours and greater understanding of the volume of available plastic pipe offcuts and fittings from building, construction sites and education training facilities,” said Bray. “This data will enable us to paint a true picture of material available, enable us to expand these types of programs more broadly, and support better consumer investment and policy decisions.” Success of these programs can only be achieved through collaboration of all key stakeholders within the industry from industry associations, manufacturers, merchants through to end users. Everyone has a responsibility and a role to play in diverting plastic pipes and fittings from landfill to contribute to a responsible and sustainable future. Through these programs it provides PIPA the opportunity to visit TAFE’s and training colleges to speak with apprentices at the beginning of their careers about sustainability, recyclability of plastic pipes and encouraging them to continue the conversation about

appropriate disposal when they are out of the classroom and back on site. PIPA has also teamed up with Cool.Org, a company who brings real-world learning into classrooms providing free lesson plans that are mapped to relevant year levels and the Australian curriculum centred around environmental, social, economic and sustainability topics. “I’m really proud of this partnership,” said Bray. “We’ve developed 10 lessons designed for Grade 5-6 students in the subject of design and technology – focusing on circularity and the good use of plastic. These lessons bring in design thinking, how pipes are used in our everyday lives, suitability of pipe materials, material efficiency and recycling. The project provides another opportunity for us to educate children and the broader community on the positive use of plastics.” Through the whole lifecycle – manufacturing, use and disposal – the plastic pipe industry has and will retain its long-standing commitment to improving sustainable practices and outcomes in a way that benefits all Australians. Australia’s vast landscapes require large-scale, special-purpose systems to move water, wastewater, gas and to protect underground networks of power and communication cables. Plastic pipeline systems are robust and long-lasting, providing reliability now and into the future.

The performance of recycled plastic pipes is tested over and over again. Image: PIPA

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

MARKETPLACE

BUY. SELL. HIRE.

AUSTRALIA’S NEW ONLINE PORTAL DEDICATED TO BUYING, SELLING AND HIRING WASTE AND RESOURCE RECOVERY EQUIPMENT.

For advertising opportunities, contact ben.coleman@primecreative.com.au or call 0466 545 664

Scan the QR code to find out more. Whether it’s a skip loader, shredder, wash plant or excavator, this is your onestop-shop for buying, selling and hiring a variety of machinery and equipment from both dealers and private sellers. Advertise on Inside Waste Marketplace to reach the right buyer.

. . .

E , D T.

t u 4

, g t .

e o .

// Young Professional

Career borne out of passion for the environment By Inside Waste UNLIKE a lot of young professionals, MRA Consulting environmental consultant Chris Thomas didn’t fall into the waste industry by accident. Growing up in Massachusetts in the United States of America as the son of an American mother and Australian father, Thomas had a conservationist’s eye from a young age. His parents, especially his mother, were both keen on making sure their environment was clean and green. As a youngster, when out walking his dog, Thomas was troubled by the amount of rubbish lying around some of the beautiful places he used to visit. “I also got to travel quite a bit when I was younger and I would constantly see trash everywhere,” he said. “It really distracted me when I was out trying to enjoy these beautiful vistas. I’d see a candy bar wrapper, so I got into the habit of picking it up and trying to leave the area cleaner than when I arrived.” A lightbulb moment happened when Thomas went on a trip to Bali, Indonesia when he was 16. While there, he met two sisters who were a couple of years younger than him who had gone on a hunger strike in order to make the government ban plastic bags. He saw the effect the strike had on the local community and how it embraced the girls’ idealism, which got him to thinking, ‘why can’t we do this in the US?’ “That inspired me during my senior year of high school to create a plastic bag ban and push it through local government, work with interest groups, and talk to the people who work in the waste industry in my hometown,” he said. “And this spurred my passion. We ended up passing this plastic bag ban. It was an awesome experience. I worked with the Girl Scouts of America collecting signatures at events, as well as interest groups and the town council, as well as canvassing businesses around town. I ended up working on that law for about a year and a half from the beginning of my senior year at high school to when I came down to Australia to start university.” Even though Thomas was a passionate environmentalist when he arrived on Australian shores, he was also pragmatic. To a lot of people seeking a university education (and especially their parents, who foot some of the bill) the environmental/waste industries are not hotbeds of activity when it comes

MRA environmental consultant Chris Thomas. Image: Chris Thomas

“Plastic is the most misunderstood material around. It’s lightweight, durable, cheap to produce, but it’s not recycled well. I also believe it’s used in too many single-use products where another material would be better. There are a lot of misconceptions around plastics…and people don’t know how to dispose of it properly.” to job opportunities – well not from the outside looking in. This is why Thomas decided to do a finance-related degree. “For somebody that simply was a bleeding-heart environmentalist to go through to do a banking degree may seem weird to some people,” he said, “especially now that I’m an environmental consultant. My parents were always very pragmatic, and businesspeople/consultants. And they were like, ‘if you study business, you can go and do whatever you want’.” While at university, Thomas was still active in the environmental space, but found the type of institutions within the university system that supported such causes were either too political or didn’t offer up alternative solutions to what

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

they were fighting against. For example? “There was this club at school that was trying to get the university to divest from fossil fuels,” he said. “And I was like, ‘Okay, interesting. Have you brought the university any alternatives to fossil fuels that have similar returns?’ They looked at me like I had three heads. They’d never thought about it.” Far from being put off by the negative experience, Thomas decided to start a society of his own that focused on creating small businesses that looked at the different waste streams within the university. He admits that he will never develop the next super biodegradable material, but he does know something about logistics and putting together good business practices when it comes

to waste. He said there were a lot of great ideas that came out of the society, so when it came to graduating from university, Thomas knew he wanted to be in the waste industry. He has a particular fascination with plastics – a substance he believes is not given a fair shake. “Plastic is the most misunderstood material around,” he said. “It’s lightweight, durable, cheap to produce, but it’s not recycled well. I also believe it’s used in too many single-use products where another material would be better. There are a lot of misconceptions around plastics…and people don’t know how to dispose of it properly.” When it came to getting a job, his brother advised him to follow his passion and get a consulting job within the industry he is passionate about. Consultancy in its various forms runs in the family. Not only are Thomas’s parents’ consultants, but so is his brother. However, he felt there was an obstacle or two in his way. “I was lost when I graduated because I didn’t really know how to get into the sustainability consulting area without being an engineer or scientist,” he said. “I was like, ‘I did the wrong degree, I’m screwed’.” However, his parents suggested he go and work for a waste company just to learn some of the ins and outs of what makes the industry tick. He ended up at BINGO Industries. “I worked there for six months,” said Thomas. “I started there as an IT guy. I was literally doing cold calls for clients and doing basic products testing for them.” Within two or three months of being at BINGO, the Chief Information Officer asked him to sort out an issue he had, which meant Thomas ended up doing some audits for a range of transfer stations. He saw it as a basic consulting project. “I did this for about three months and figured out the problem,” he said. “I wrote a report for him, which he presented to the board of directors.” Although it was a nice feather in Thomas’s cap, he now felt he was in a state of limbo as to what he would be doing next. At about that time, he was invited to attend an incubator that BINGO was funding. It was there he spoke with an MRA employee who introduced him to the company’s managing director Mike Ritchie. “I told Mike that my passion has always been about waste even though I’m FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

Young Professional //

a finance guy,” said Thomas. “I told him how I understand money, business, and logistics. He told me I’d fit in great there and that’s how I got the job. I’ve been at MRA for about a year and four months.” A typical day at MRA for Thomas centres around data and new technologies, such as Power BI and AI. He also does report/proposal writing, business logistic support, and auditing. “I enjoy the different challenges,” he said. “I’d be bored if it weren’t for different challenges I get on a regular basis. I’m going to learn as much as I can. MRA is such a conducive space for learning, especially for my type of learning where I can talk to people and can pull different information out of them by osmosis.” He thinks that as a country Australia does well when it comes to C&D and C&I waste but believes residual streams

can be handled better, while AI will start having an impact over the next 12-24 months. “It’s skyrocketing right now. The waste industry is so ready for disruption,” he said. “It almost makes your stomach turn because you’re getting whiplash from everything moving so quickly.” Thomas believes the waste industry is largely influenced by the commodity markets and what a material’s value is versus how costly it is to sort/ recycle. The government can tip the scale to make certain material/ items more economically attractive to recycle though. “There’s going to be a slow trickle of money from the government that can prop up these new AI systems that need to train themselves about the different waste streams from tens of thousands of photos of waste,” he said. “And the thing

is that we’re not learning because we’re not getting the information. For example, we are gathering some images of the different waste streams, but we need to be gathering hundreds of thousands of pictures of trash.” He believes AI will make it simpler for these items to be identified and put into the correct waste streams, which in turn will make auditing more precise, as well as having cleaner streams. This in turn, will encourage government procurement agencies to have confidence in using recycled materials in government projects. AI will also provide other data so infrastructure can be built to accommodate trends. “Governments can get information from other perspectives in terms of understanding consumers, and understanding the consumer behaviours from this,” he said.

This information would be highly valued by big companies who are trying to understand what new areas of the market they can break into. Imagine a Cleanaway or Veolia selling information on consumer behaviour of different suburbs to a Coca Cola or Colgate. Thomas’s bigger picture is training consumers to change. Not an easy task, but with enough tenacity, it can be done, he believes. “The only way that we’re going to be able to stop this needless waste is to stop needlessly consuming and try and do more with what we have,” he said. “The onus is on every individual to consume less material and ‘carbon’ intensive products. To achieve this there has to be more of an effort made to educate consumers and stop companies from greenwashing their products without actually cleaning up their act.”

Thomas believes AI is going to have a huge impact on the industry over the next 12-18 months. Image: Shutterstock/AlexLMX

52 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

UNLOCK A WORLD OF INSIGHT AND OPPORTUNITY BY SUBSCRIBING TO INSIDE WASTE PREMIUM Corporate subscription

Inside Waste News & Networking twitter.com/InsideWaste

$445

5 members

$595

10 members

Individual subscription

LIMITED TIME OFFER

$295

SUBSCRIBE NOW at subscriptions@primecreative.com.au or visit www.insidewaste.com.au/subscribe

Easy One

Weight: 500 kg or 1,220 kg Drive Type: Electric or Diesel Motor: Perkins Diesel Suitable material: Most Waste Types No. of units in range: 2 x Model Price: Contact CSS Equipment for more information More: Airhogs Vac Systems are used for removing light materials from heavy materials on conveyor belts. Fit most conveyor systems.

Unit Dimensions: from 3,000 mm up to 6,000 mm Weight: Up to 8,000 kg Drive Type: Electric Motor: Electric (Nord) Rotor diameter/lengths/speed: 1,400 mm Wide x (up to 6,000 mm) Speed (slow/high): Variable Speed Screening Suitable material: Wood, Mulch/Compost, Green Waste & Tyres etc No. of units in range: 4 x Models Throughput: Up to 50 tph of mulch materials. Finished product size: Down to -15 mm Options/Extras: Static Models. Price: Please Contact CSS Equipment for Pricing More: Resistant, reliable and versatile stationary screen, the ideal solution for compost, tires, shredded C&D and wood. Easy One is available with 2 or 3 screening fractions and screening surfaces up to 6 meters in length.

Name: CSS Recycling Equipment Phone Number: 1800344978 Webpage: www.cssequipment.com.au Email: info@cssequipment.com.au

ECOSTAR DYNAMIC SCREENS

HSB-81 Air Hog

Name: CSS Recycling Equipment Phone Number: 1800344978 Webpage: www.cssequipment.com.au Email: info@cssequipment.com.au

EH1500 TWS Windshifter

Suspended Electromagnets

Weight: Up to 17 tonnes Drive Type: Electric or Diesel Motor: Perkins Diesel Suitable material: Most Waste Materials No. of units in range: 3 x Models (Electric, Semi-Mobile and Mobile) Price: Contact CSS Equipment for more information More: Windshifters for operating on screened materials, to separate light materials from heavy materials.

The Suspended Electromagnet provides tramp metal collection from conveyed materials. The electromagnet is typically mounted or suspended over a conveyor belt to remove large pieces of tramp metal that represent a hazard to downstream crushers, mills, pulverises and grinders. Suspended electromagnets also remove sharp metal that can damage or tear expensive conveyor belts, especially at transfer points. Product purity is enhanced with the separation power of the suspended electromagnet. Name: Jonathan Schulberg, Business Development Manager, Heavy Industry Australia and New Zealand, Eriez Australia Phone Number: +61 438 013 798 Webpage: https:// www.eriez.com/NA/ EN/Products/MetalsRecycling/NonferrousRecovery/Eddy-CurrentSeparators.htm Email: jschulberg@eriez.com

ERIEZ

Name: CSS Recycling Equipment Phone Number: 1800344978 Webpage: www.cssequipment.com.au Email: info@cssequipment.com.au

VB750DK Primary Shredder

The Red Giant VB950DK Primary Shredder

Weight: Up to 23 tonnes Drive Type: Diesel 375Hp Motor: CAT C9 Rotor diameter/lengths/speed: 750mm x 2,000mm Slow Speed (High Torque) Speed (slow/high): Slow Speed Variable between 18rpm to 36rpm Suitable material: Most Waste Types No. of units in range: 3 x Models (Electric, Semi-Mobile & Fully Mobile) Throughput: Up to 50tph depending on Waste Materials Finished product size: Down to 100mm Options/Extras: Contact CSS Equipment for all Options Available Price: Contact CSS Equipment for more information

Weight: Up to 47 Tonnes Drive Type: Diesel 760Hp Motor: CAT C18 Rotor diameter/lengths/speed: 950mm x 2,750mm Slow Speed (High Torque) Speed (slow/high): Variable between 18rpm to 36rpm Suitable material: Most Waste Materials No. of units in range: 2 x Models (Electric or Diesel) Throughput: Up to 200tph (depending on material) Finished product size: Down to 100mm Options/Extras: Contact CSS Equipment for all Options Available Price: Contact CSS Equipment for more information More: *Overbelt Magnet *5000mm Discharge Conveyor *Gold Standard for hard to process waste *High Throughput *Minimal dust * Now quieter *User Friendly Handling

Name: CSS Recycling Equipment Phone Number: 1800344978 Webpage: www.cssequipment.com.au Email: info@cssequipment.com.au

54 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

HAMMEL RECYCLINGTECHNIK

ECOHOG RECYCLING EQUIPMENT SOLUTIONS

Product Profiles //

Name: CSS Recycling Equipment Phone Number: 1800344978 Webpage: www.cssequipment.com.au Email: info@cssequipment.com.au

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

Komatsu PC300LL (Log Loader)

Unit Dimensions: Multiple Models Weight: Up to 22 tonnes Drive Type: Electric or Diesel Motor: Kohler Diesel Rotor diameter/lengths/speed: Screen Lengths from 5,000mm to 7,000mm Speed (slow/high): Variable Speed Screening Suitable material: Most Waste Materials No. of units in range: 2 or 3 Fraction Screening Throughput: Up to 200tph (dependant on materials to be screened) Finished product size: down to -10mm Options/Extras: Magnet Pulleys on Discharge Conveyors and Air Vac Systems Price: Contact CSS Equipment for more details. More: Fast and Flexible, customised for your waste stream. Units in stock ready for immediate dispatch.

Engine : Komatsu SAA6D114E-3 (8.27litre) Horsepower : 194kW (260hp) @ 1950 rpm Max Travel Speed : 5.5 km/hr Swing Speed : 9.5 rpm Weight: 39,500kg More: The unique Komatsu PC300LL Log Loader has been developed by collaboration between Komatsu Forest P/L and Komatsu Osaka Factory. Special features include high/wide undercarriage, guarding package, loading booms and rear entry ROPS, FOPS & OPS cabin making it suitable for infield or mill site sorting, loading or unloading operations.

Name: CSS Recycling Equipment Phone Number: 1800344978 Webpage: www.cssequipment.com.au Email: info@cssequipment.com.au

KOMATSU FOREST PTY LTD

Hextra

Name: Dean O’Connor Phone Number: 0408 857 792 Webpage: info.au@komatsuforest.com Email: dean.oconnor@komatsuforest. com

PS122 Picking Station

Magnetic Pulleys

Unit Dimensions: Operation Length – 16.1 m Operating Width – 3.4 m Operating Height – 5.6 m Weight: 19,000 kg Options/Extras: • Dual Power/Mains Changeover, Fan Blower Module, Overband Magnet Module, Clean Fix Fan, Site Axle • Trap Door Bins • Cabin Air Conditioning • Feeder With Impact Protection Price: TBA More: The Modular PS Picking Station offers unrivalled set-up simplicity (no cranes are required), operator comfort, safety, and environmental protection. It combines air separation, magnetic separation and manual sorting - all in one compact unit.

Eriez provides a uniform permanent magnetic pulley that will transform your belt conveyor into a powerful self-cleaning magnetic separator. The axial interpole magnetic circuit provides a uniform magnetic field to remove tramp iron from material on almost any belt conveyor. Eriez Magnetic Pulleys provide ideal automatic removal of unwanted iron from materials conveyed on belts to prevent machinery damage and product contamination for sand, gravel, limestone, recyclables, wood products, food, chemical, mining, rock products, ceramic, paper, plastic, rubber, coal handling and foundry operations. Features & Benefits: • Powerful and reliable, Prevents machinery damage & product contamination • Automatic separation of heavy tramp iron from conveyor transported materials

Name: Lincom Group Phone Number: 1800 182 888 Webpage: www.lincom.com.au Email: sales@lincom.com.au

ERIEZ

LINCOM GROUP

ECOSTAR DYNAMIC SCREENS

// Product Profiles

Name:Jonathan Schulberg, Business Development Manager, Heavy Industry Australia and New Zealand, Eriez Australia Phone Number: +61 438 013 798 Webpage: https://www.eriez.com/ NA/EN/Products/Metals-Recycling/ Nonferrous-Recovery/Eddy-CurrentSeparators.htm Email: jschulberg@eriez.com

RevX-E® Eddy Current Separators Name: Jonathan Schulberg, Business Development Manager, Heavy Industry Australia and New Zealand, Eriez Australia Phone Number: +61 438 013 798 Webpage: https://www.eriez.com/NA/EN/Products/Metals-Recycling/NonferrousRecovery/Eddy-Current-Separators.htm Email: jschulberg@eriez.com

ERIEZ

Unit Dimensions: Sizes Offered: 1.0 M (40”) wide 1.2 M (48”) wide 1.5 M (60”) wide Eriez’ RevX-E® Eddy Current Separators feature an eccentrically mounted magnetic rotor within a non-conductive shell for the separation of nonferrous metals. The rare earth rotor produces a powerful focused field at the end of the belt. Advantages include: • Cantilevered frame design for quick conveyor belt changes (10 minutes) •R ack & pinion splitter adjustment for simple and precise splitter placement for optimum separation • Large access panels all around the machine allows easy maintenance access •C ompact design requires less space •D irect drive rotor and direct drive conveyor Rotors offered: • L T2 Rotor Assembly: 8 Pole Rare Earth Eccentric Rotor for coarse (+1”) size fractions. • ST22 Rotor Assembly: 22 Pole Rare Earth Eccentric Rotor for +1/4” to -1” size

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 INSIDEWASTE

Product Profiles //

Permanent Deep Field and Electromagnetic Scrap Drums Using our sophisticated design software and unique magnetic circuits, Eriez provides permanent and electromagnetic scrap drums with deeper magnetic fields to reclaim ferrous materials in automotive shredder residue (ASR), materials recovery facilities (MRF), municipal solid waste (MSW), scrap metal yards, wood waste, slag, incinerator bottom ash, foundry sand and minerals processing applications.

Name: Jonathan Schulberg, Business Development Manager, Heavy Industry Australia and New Zealand, Eriez Australia Phone Number: +61 438 013 798 Webpage: https://www.eriez.com/NA/EN/Products/Metals-Recycling/NonferrousRecovery/Eddy-Current-Separators.htm Email: jschulberg@eriez.com

Permanent Deep Field Magnetic Drums This design uses permanent magnets and bucking poles to project a deep magnetic field capable of removing ferrous from distances of up to 15 inches (380 mm). The permanent scrap drums are ideal for applications with limited or unstable electrical power.

ERIEZ

Electromagnetic Scrap Drums The All Electro Agitator type utilizes a deep field rectangular core pickup magnet to reach out and grasp the ferrous, and a second rectangular-core agitator magnet to flip or agitate the ferrous, cleaning it of contaminants such as loose mud, paper, fluff and trash. Eriez also builds a non-agitating transfer design that uses a deep field radial pickup magnet and pole shoes to convey or transfer the ferrous around the drum shell to the discharge area.

EQS 1200 SMQ Mobile Picking Station

Weight: 23,600 kg Engine: John Deere diesel engine, 6 cylinders 194 kW at 1800 rpm Capacity (in weight): Up to 200t/h depending on material Price: Contact Tricon for more information on pricing More: “No compromises” is the motto of the RM 90GO!. Powerful, versatile and profitable, it transforms all mineral materials into high-quality cubic aggregate. With efficient diesel consumption it processes up to 200 tonnes of material per hour.

Weight: Up to 17 tonnes Drive Type: Electric or Diesel Motor: Perkins Diesel Suitable material: Most Waste Materials No. of units in range: 2 x Models (4 x Person & 6 x Person) Throughput: Dependant on Infeed Materials Options/Extras: Over-Belt Magnet and Air-Knife System Price: Contact CSS Equipment for more information More: The EQS is a semimobile Picking Station that can be operated in a static mode or moved from site to site.

RUBBLE MASTER

Name: Tricon Environmental Phone Number: 1300 859 885 Webpage: www.triconenvironmental.com.au Email: sales@triconequipment.com.au

ECOHOG RECYCLING EQUIPMENT SOLUTIONS

RM 90GO!

Name: CSS Recycling Equipment Phone Number: 1800344978 Webpage: www.cssequipment.com.au Email: info@cssequipment.com.au

TARGO 3000

M413 Track Trommel

Unit Dimensions: Working - L/W/H - 13800/2990/3400 Weight: 30,000Kg Drive Type: Electric & Diesel/Hydraulic Direct Drive Rotor diameter/lengths/speed: Speed (slow/high): Slow Speed Suitable material: Wood Waste, Stumps, Greenwaste, Biomass, MSW, etc. No. of units in range: 1 (2 Configurations) Throughput: Configuration & Material Dependant Price: Please call for pricing details

Weight: 24,000 kg Engine: CAT 2.2 50 kW Capacity (in weight): Up to 300 t/h depending on material Price: Contact Tricon for more information on pricing More: The MDS M413 heavy-duty track trommel, is your go-to solution for effortlessly screening everything from lightweight materials to recycling demolition waste. This versatile machine is equally at home in a quarry, where it excels at tidying up material as large as 600 mm (24”). Boasting three convenient fold-out stockpiling conveyors, this trommel is not only efficient but also designed with compactness in mind, making transportation a breeze around the quarry

56 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

MDS TEREX

LINCOM GROUP

Name: Lincom Group Phone Number: 1800 182 888 Webpage: www.lincom.com.au Email: sales@lincom.com.au

Name: Tricon Equipment Phone Number: 1300 859 885 Webpage: www.triconequipment.com.au Email: sales@triconequipment.com.au

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

womeninindustry.com.au

DO YOU KNOW A DRIVER OF CHANGE?

Thurs 20 June, 2024

WOMEN IN INDUSTRY NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN. Now is your chance to nominate an industry leader who you believe is advocating for positive change and deserves to be recognised.

The Women in Industry Awards recognise outstanding women leaders from across Australia’s industrials sector.

PROUDLY PRESENTED BY MHD Supply Chain Solutions

PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

Australia

Wasted space //

AI - might not be a bad thing

58 INSIDEWASTE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024

is all about machine learning, and the learning will only be as good as those doing the teaching – i.e., us. One of the most anticipated aspects of AI will be the ability to (hopefully) not only speed up the sorting process for most waste streams, but also (finally) manage to find a way to sort the different streams properly, even down to being able to recognise the many different types of plastics that are

chucked in the bins. People down here find the different plastic waste streams very confusing still, but if this type of technology can do what is claimed, then even less items will end up in landfill. I look forward to the day when only a minute amount of residual waste is all that will end up in landfill, while the vast majority gets a second

life in a variety of new products. Here’s hoping it will be a learning experience for all and the realistic benefits of AI can be recognised instead of being the purview of science fiction. Good day, Sir. JB

Image: Shutterstock/Julien Tromeur

Evening Sir, As I sit here writing this letter, I find myself pondering what the future will hold for the waste industry over the next 12 months. Sure, we will no doubt have the same old problems rearing their collective pain in the posterior heads – unachievable recycling rates, lack of infrastructure, landfill levies being different throughout the varying states – a plethora of issues that seem to either get pushed to one side, or not truly resolved. However, looming on the horizon is something that could be a game changer. How so? I’m not too sure, but already there are rumblings (both good and bad) among those in the resource recovery industry (the term ‘waste’ seems to being phased out as the industry starts to produce less and less for obvious reasons). And that game changer is Artificial Intelligence. I know, I know, such things conjure up a dystopian Terminator-esque existence whereby us mere mortals are pushed to the side as the machines take over. It’s not quite that serious, but this type of hullabaloo has happened many times in the history of mankind. I’m not going to wax lyrical about those sorts of possibilities occurring – apparently the cinema was going to kill theatre, television was going to kill cinema, and the internet and streaming was going to kill everything. What people think will happen, and what will actually happen are two different things in my experience. So, what will the effect be on the waste industry? Well, I think what are termed ‘menial’ jobs will go by the wayside. I’m sure the likes of yourself and your industrialist peers will see this as a positive, and it might be – especially in the health and safety stakes. But my friends in the industry are excited more about the practical aspects of the technology. Let us not forget that it will be far from perfect. A lot of the AI software

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

HZI_Anze

London, Oslo and Dublin Rely on Our Energy-from-Waste Technology. London, United Kingdom

Oslo, Norway

Dublin, Ireland

So Does Perth. Rockingham, Australia

Our solutions are based on efficient and environmentally sound in-house technology, and cover the entire life cycle of an Energy-from-Waste facility. Our proven technologies have been part of more than 700 plants worldwide. As a global leader in energy from waste we are proud to be able to say: We deliver. Check our references.

Waste is our Energy www.hz-inova.com

HZI_Anzeige_Image_Australien_Anlage_240x330_EN.indd 1

14.07.20 09:51

DELIVERING A GREENER FUTURE Komptech CEA is a leading supplier of machinery and systems for the treatment of solid waste through mechanical and mechanical biological treatments, as well as the treatment of biomass as a renewable energy source. Komptech CEA is proud to provide innovative solutions for handling waste and biomass. Komptech CEA’s extensive range of products cover all key processing steps in modern waste handling. At Komptech CEA the focus is always on innovative technology and solutions ensuring maximum benefit to the customer. With local representation throughout Australia and National Parts Distribution Centre Komptechg CEA has the expertise and aftersales support to confidently support your business needs. Like to know more? why not speak to one of our team today?

SHREDDERS

TROMMEL SCREENS

TERMINATOR

Where Function Meets Technology A slow-running, single-shaft shredder suited to all types of waste.

WINDROW TURNERS

MULTI STAR

Screening with a Star Makes waste wood and biomass processing highly efficient.

CRAMBO

NEMUS

Less Fuel, More Power

Robust and Reliable

Ideal for shredding all types of wood and green cuttings.

Combining the practic proven virtues of its predecessors with new solutions for even greater performance.

TOPTURN X

The Ideal Combination of Performance and Design With a sturdy frame, powerful hydraulics and large drum, the Topturn X is ready to handle any work situation.

1300 788 757 komptechcea.com.au

STAR SCREENS

HURRIKAN S

Enhancing the quality of the recyclable output. Providing effective removal of plastic film from screen overflow.