TYRES can be a nasty business. For the past five years Tyre Stewardship Australia has been doing its best to make sure this ecological nightmare of a waste stream is kept out of waterways, warehouses, rural dumping grounds and stockpiles in and around the country. And it’s a hard gig. Especially if not all the importers are on board. Such is the dilemma TSA CEO Lina Goodman has been facing over the past four years in the job. Those that are on board are doing the right thing, but without everybody onboard, cracks soon start to appear. Why should those who are not doing the right thing, get a free ride? Goodman and her staff were hoping that when the state and federal ministers meet on October 21 this year that tyres would be added to the minister’s stewardship priority list. Speaking to Goodman before the meeting she was sceptically hopeful. Well, she needs to be sceptical no more, because after the meeting it was announced that tyres would be added to the priority list.
This is good news for several reasons, not least for those who are commonly called ‘freeloaders’ – getting a free ride on the back of those who are doing the right thing in terms of recycling tyres.
One of our cover stories this edition is with Goodman and looks at some of the other issues that are facing her neck of the woods.
Also, the week of October 24-28th was great in that Waste Expo 2022 was held in Melbourne and the accompanying Waste Innovation and Recycling Awards took place on the night of the 26th. It was comforting to see not only the number of nominees (a record for the awards), but the quality of the entrants. Deciding on who made the cut was a nightmare for the waste team, and it didn’t get any easier for the judges once the finalists had been announced.
In this issue we look at some of the seminars held during the expo. Overall, it was a fantastic event that was well attended, with most people coming away not only having learned something, but with an appreciation of how innovative the industry has become.
On behalf of the Inside Waste team, I wish all our readers, advertisers and associations a happy holiday season. Here’s looking forward to an interesting 2023.
Happy reading.
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.
Why does the waste industry interest you?
Honestly, the real question is why doesn’t the waste industry interest more people? It is an extremely exciting space to work in; a great community of people, high-impact sustainability, constant innovation and continual improvement, diverse manufacturing, fascinating science and technology, big rigs and heavy machinery.
I firmly believe that if you want to make a real impact you need to be at the coal face, where the action is happening, not on a Facebook notice board somewhere or glued to a painting. The coal face is where you are going to learn about the reality of the issues that we are facing and also get to interact with some amazingly talented people who are chipping away at solving and managing our society’s waste and recycling resources.
What are the key issues around waste resource recovery as you see them?
Drivers and labourers are really hard to come by let alone retain. In Victoria, we are also competing with the lucrative offers from the “Big Build Project”. All the funding and recycling initiatives will fall over if we don’t have the staff to run them.
Emerging contaminants, especially PFAS is rocking the sector, especially those working with soils and composting. If producers and manufacturers don’t want to be a part of the solution then they are part of the problem.
Ever since China Sword was initiated, we have been chasing our tails to get the correct infrastructure in place to process the various streams of recycling. This was exacerbated by the pandemic, material shortages, export bans and in Victoria at least, major regulatory change.
What needs to be done to address waste resource recovery?
Education is still the key. The regulatory framework and infrastructure is starting to come together now. We need to reeducate and reaffirm how to recycle and stamp out greenwashing.
Manufacturers and producers need to be accountable for the products they produce and need to be aware of their role within the circular economy and general environmental duties.
More attention and pressure need to be put on the unnamed rogue operators who lurk in the shadows of the industry to stamp them out. They are costing the industry and taxpayers millions of dollars and have an undefinable impact on the environment. Let’s get a properly funded Waste Crimes directorate rolled out. I think there is some money in the waste levies.
EPA Victoria (EPA) has charged the company operating the Sunshine Landfill at Kealba and its three directors with breaches of the General Environmental Duty (GED) under the Environment Protection Act 2017.
At the same time, EPA has issued the landfill operator, Barro Group, a Notice to Show Cause why its licence to operate should not be revoked.
On 30 September 2022, EPA extended the current suspension on receiving waste at the landfill.
That suspension and regulatory notices on the business remain in place while these new enforcement actions take their course.
The regulatory notices issued by EPA require the company to continue remediation work on the site to extinguish the hotspots and put appropriate controls in place to stop them from happening again.
The criminal charges issued allege non-compliance with the GED have a maximum penalty of
$1.8 million for the company and $360,000 for each director.
The GED requires that every Victorian in undertaking activities must reduce the risk of harm to human health and the environment from pollution or waste.
“The decision to pursue charges for this landfill relate to smoke and odour caused by hotspots at the landfill impacting on nearby residents and the environment,” EPA CEO Lee Miezis said.
“EPA is using the stronger powers it was given in the Environment Protection Act that came into effect last year to hold landfill operators and all business to account when they break the law and impact the community and the environment.”
Odour from the landfill has been having an unacceptable impact on the lives of people living nearby for more than three years
“We will continue to take a strong approach to upholding Victoria’s environment protection laws,” Miezis said.
Can you outline what the association is doing at the policy level on waste and resource recovery?
Our playbook is pretty full at the moment with numerous advocacy projects on the go with multiple regulators but just to name a few:
• The emergence of PFAS in pretty much everything and NEMP 3.0.
• Waste to energy projects across the state.
• Financial assurances and the shear cost to the industry wasted in bank guarantees.
• Treated timber recycling – there are better options than landfill available.
• Soil contamination and treatment options.
• Contamination from packaging and manufacturing.
• Lifting driver training standards.
• Professional driver immigration.
• Material export bans.
Soft plastic recycling program
REDcycle is being suspended for the immediate future due to an oversupply of the problematic waste stream.
Supermarket outlets Coles and Woolworths are the main collection points of the 100s of millions of pieces of plastic that are supposed to go to third-party processors who then on-sell the plastics to manufacturers of road products, concrete aggregate and furnishings.
In a statement to the media REDcycle explained that it “regrets to announce that it will temporarily pause its soft plastics collection program from 9 November
2022. REDcycle and its partners are committed to having the program back up and running as soon as possible”.
The reason given was that the consumer recycling of soft plastic has grown exponentially in recent years, with a 350 per cent increase in plastic returned since 2019. Due to unforeseen challenges, REDcycle’s recycling partners have temporarily stopped accepting and processing soft plastics. This combination has put untenable pressure on the REDcycle business model, the statement said.
A spokesperson for the company said, “The REDcycle team took the
unwanted but necessary decision to hold the material in storage in the short term. Holding soft plastics in stock is not a perfect solution, but REDcycle took the decision to hold material in the short term, at great personal expense to the organisation, because they are fundamentally and profoundly committed to keeping the material out of landfill”.
One of the company’s main partners, Close the Loop, has provided a letter of intent to continue to accept soft plastics, commencing in 2023 when its processing lines are operational again. Close the Loop’s new processing lines will be
able to process up to 5,000 tonnes of REDcycle material per annum, which equates to nearly a year of REDcycle’s total collections.
“Since I started REDcycle 10 years ago I have been trying to do the right thing for the community and for the planet,” said Liz Kasell, CEO and founder. “Through this program my goal has been to enable and empower people in the community like me to make a positive impact on the environment. Since we started, we have prevented 5.4 billion pieces of soft plastic entering landfill and our natural environments. Our team is devastated that the program will be paused and we are going
to do everything that we can, in partnership with retail, industry and government, to have it back up and running again soon.”
In the short term, this will mean that soft plastics will have to be put into the rubbish bin and sent to landfill as MRFs are not set up to recycle the waste stream.
Jeff Angel from the Boomerang Alliance is not surprised by the current situation.
“REDcycle is an old style voluntary collection and recycling system used as a flagship by the packaging industry and government to pretend they were solving the problem,” he said. “It was always built on shaky ground as it lacked a firm economic demand, which
can only be achieved by mandatory recycled content rules – which to date have been opposed by government and the plastics sector. An enforceable product stewardship scheme will mean all producers play their part in supporting expanded collection and turning it into new products; or using alternative materials. REDcycle’s collapse during National Recycling Week is an (unintended) but important message we must do better on soft plastics.”
WMRR CEO Gayle Sloan is sad to see the temporary demise of the program but believes that there are bigger issues at play.
“The truth is that soft plastics are not [REDcycle’s] problem to
solve. It is all of ours,” she said. “The only way that the challenge of soft plastics will be solved is to avoid them, or for those that make them, to take them back. The manufacturers that utilise soft plastics in food packaging are the ones that need to buy it back.
“We operate in a complex system that does not stop at the bin. We need the whole value chain to create demand and participate in solving. The positive of this is that we saw the Environment Ministers Meeting on 21 October 2022 resolve to work with the private sector to design out waste and pollution, keep materials in use and foster markets to achieve a circular economy by 2030. We look forward to working with them closely and quickly to make this a reality.”
According to MRA Consulting CEO Mike Ritchie, the government has missed the boat and needs more involvement with regards to dealing with soft plastics.
“The biggest problem is the economics of waste processing in Australia,” he said. “It still favours landfill over recycling for products. There’s about 150,000 tonnes of soft
plastic in households in Australia. REDcycle is processing 7000 tonnes. My own view is we need to deal with the other 143,000. And that’s on top of the 2.5 million tonnes of other plastics, which ends up in landfill.
“The issue with soft plastics is that they cost a lot to collect and process. We need to change landfill pricing and we need to have better markets so that the products that are produced by recycled soft plastic are worth more.
“Ultimately, we need government to step in and help transform the issues – for example we need optical sorters on Australia. There are plenty of solutions, we know what needs to be done. Leaving it up to little companies to try and innovate, like REDcycle, is no substitute for government policymaking.
“We cannot do this without a coordinated program because we’re trying to engage with 27 million people, plus government policy, plus EPA regulators. We can’t do that without leadership and coordination, and we don’t have it at the moment. It’s not a difficult job.”
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A Clayton company has been fined more than $5,000 after staff at a Doreen petrol station poured waste milk down a stormwater drain that led to local waterways.
EPA Victoria officers found that staff at the United Petroleum station on Bridge Inn Road had poured an estimated 144 litres of milk and iced coffee down the drain, after the contents of the containers had gone out of date.
The staff said they didn’t realise it was pollution. The investigation began on 18 June 2022, when a witness sent a video to EPA, showing staff at the station emptying a collection of 2-litre and 3-litre milk containers into the drain, along with 13 containers of iced coffee.
The EPA officers found the
stormwater drain next to the main entrance to the shop front was filled with white foamy liquid. EPA issued the petrol station’s operator, Duo Group Pty Ltd, of Ferntree Gully Road, Clayton, with a fine of $5,452.
EPA’s Northern Metropolitan Regional Manager, Chloe Bernett, says milk might not seem like a serious industrial pollutant, but it can still damage the environment.
“The sewerage system can deal with waste milk, but stormwater drains cannot. They lead to local waterways where the decaying nutrients can cause a toxic algae bloom, kill aquatic life and cause odour,” Bernett said. “It’s important to let stormwater drains do their job and take rainwater to where it can do some good, including creeks, rivers, wetlands and the bay, without
being contaminated by decaying waste that should have gone to a sewerage plant for treatment,” she said.
Under the Environment
Protection Act 2017 and the Infringements Act 2006, the operator has the right to have the infringement notice reviewed or be considered by a court.
Queensland’s Containers for Change program could soon be expanded to include glass wine and spirit bottles to ramp up recycling.
Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon said that before the Palaszczuk Government introduced Containers for Change, only 18 per cent of beverage containers were recovered and recycled. Currently, the program accepts most aluminium, glass, plastic, steel and liquid paperboard beverage containers between 150ml and 3L.
“Today, that number has grown threefold to 65 per cent,” Scanlon said.
“It’s a huge achievement, but there’s still more to do. Making more containers eligible for refunds makes it easier for people to recycle, particularly in more regional and remote communities
where they mightn’t have a recycling bin. From the perspective of Queensland’s fast-growing recycling industry, it also means beverage containers can be sorted and manufactured into new products quicker.
“Of course we want to make sure that any decision to expand the scheme to include wine and spirit bottles is one that is backed by the community, so we’ll be going out next month to Queenslanders to get their feedback.”
Boomerang Alliance’s Toby Hutcheon said the Queensland container refund scheme (CRS) has increased the collection and recycling of beer bottles so it makes sense to also include wine and spirit bottles in the scheme.
“Including wine and spirit bottles in the CRS has the support of
many other stakeholders including the beverage industry, retail association and the recycling industry,” Hutcheon said.
“In the many community forums the Boomerang Alliance conducted on the CRS, the main question everyone asked was; why beer bottles were included and not wine and spirit bottles.
“We are confident that this public consultation will confirm overwhelming public support for including wine and spirit bottles on the CRS.”
The announcement from the Queensland government was welcomed by Reloop Pacific Director Robert Kelman.
“Not including wine and spirit glass bottles in the CDS is a legacy issue from when the South Australian wine industry lobbied to stay out of that scheme 40 years
ago,” said Kelman. ‘‘It’s appropriate Queensland would support proposals from NSW and SA to include this material in their CDS and get this material out of landfills and the litter stream. Removing as much of this glass as possible from the kerbside recycling bin will also be beneficial to the effective recovery and recycling of other recyclables.
Geoff Parker, CEO of the Australian Beverages Council said as proud product stewards of container refund schemes the non-alcoholic drinks industry fully supports the government’s planned review.
“We know Queenslanders care for the environment and want to save even more drinks containers from ending up in landfill by being recycled through the Containers for Change scheme,” Parker said.
Pact Group has won a sustainable project award for bringing Australia’s PET plastic recycling facility to life in 370 days.
Pact was awarded the Australian Institute of Project Management’s Sustainable Project Management Achievement Award for NSW for the $50 million Circular Plastics Australia (CPA) PET plastic recycling facility in Albury.
The CPA facility is a joint venture between Pact, Cleanaway Waste Management, Asahi Beverages and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP).
A team from Pact project managed the build, which was delivered safely, on time and under budget on a greenfield site during a period of major global challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic,
supply chain pressures, and the blockage of the Suez Canal. Despite these challenges, it took one year and five days to establish the site, construct the facility, install the equipment and services, commission the machinery, and train a new team.
The facility, which commenced operations in February 2022, has the capacity to recycle the equivalent of around 1 billion 600ml PET plastic beverage bottles each year into high-quality, food-grade resin. Cleanaway collects, sorts and delivers PET plastic waste from kerbside collection bins and container deposit schemes to the Pact-operated facility for recycling. The recycled resin is then used by Asahi and Coca-Cola to manufacture new beverage bottles,
and by Pact to make new beverage bottles and food packaging.
Pact Group CEO, Sanjay Dayal, said it was a great honour for the Pact team to be recognised for its commitment to driving the circular economy in Australia.
“Brand owners and consumers alike are demanding packaging that is made from recycled material and is recyclable. We have collaborated with industry partners to create Australia’s largest state-of-the-art PET recycling facility to respond to those needs,” Dayal said. “The world-class CPA PET recycling facility in Albury ensures we are taking responsibility for our plastic waste, reducing the need to import virgin plastic resin, and minimising harm to the environment for future generations.”
Eriez equipment enables the recycling industry to maximise the recovery of mixed metals from comingled waste, in turn increasing product purity to achieve the highest value.
for her globally recognised waste transformation technologies.
Sahajwalla is a materials scientist, engineer, and innovator who has revolutionised recycling science via the development of next-generation ‘green materials’ derived from waste.
The University of New South Wales’ (UNSW) Veena Sahajwalla has received one of Australia’s most prestigious research awards for her globally recognised waste transformation technologies.
Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla has been awarded the Clunies Ross Innovation Award
Sahajwalla established a method called Green Steel Polymer Injection Technology (PIT), by which end-oflife rubber tyres rich in carbon and hydrogen essential for steel making are used to partially substitute coke and coal in electric arc furnaces (EAF). Her latest breakthrough is the development of various MICROfactorie Technologies for transforming problematic waste materials, such as glass, textiles and plastics into value-added products such as high-grade filaments for 3D printing and Green Ceramics
for the built environment. Through her research and community and industry engagement, she is shifting the mindset of the nation to see unwanted materials not as waste, but as a valuable resource. As the Founder and Director of UNSW’s Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology she leads research programs that foster innovation and promote collaboration with industry, research partners, non-government organisations and governments, on the development of environmental solutions for the world’s biggest waste challenges.
“What drives me and the team at the UNSW SMaRT Centre is developing solutions for real-world sustainability challenges that help deliver better social, environmental, and economic outcomes,” Sahajwalla
said. “Climate change narratives often overlook the need for more sustainable manufacturing and waste management practices. Using ‘renewable’ waste resources to help build the hardware and infrastructure required for global electrification and decarbonisation also helps take the pressure of having to mine finite natural resources. Manufacturing that aligns with innovative waste management, recycling and materials circularity, is central to delivering a more sustainable future.”
The Clunies Ross Awards are organised by the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) and promote the development of science and technology, honouring innovators in the fields of applied science, technology, and engineering.
release of the Federal Environment Minister’s 2022-2023 product stewardship priority list.
Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek, has listed three additional products (tyres, mattresses and plastics in healthcare) that will now become the focus of efforts by industry, government agencies and institutions such as the Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence to implement product stewardship solutions.
“The Minister’s List process places product stewardship as the most efficient and cost-effective way to reduce a product’s impact on the environment and human health,” Centre of Excellence director Rose Read said. “Tyres and mattresses have voluntary stewardship schemes in place that need more support from industry, or, face government regulation. While there are some excellent single brand initiatives in healthcare plastics, much work is needed to create an industry-wide solution.”
Solar panels, electrical products, child car seats, oil containers, clothing textiles and problematic/ single-use plastics remain on the Minister’s List from previous years.
The Australian Government flagged its intention at the recent Environment Ministers Meeting to develop a regulatory product
have been on the list since 2016-17.
“This year’s list is the first to reflect the views of both the business community and the public following the government publicly seeking nominations for the list late last year, as well as input from federal, state, territory and local government agencies and the Centre of Excellence,” Read said.
In line with the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020 (RaWR Act 2020) the Australian Government consulted with the Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence in preparing the list.
Read said the centre will be proactively working with the product industries listed in helping them develop and implement solutions to minimise the environmental and human impacts of their products across the entire life cycle. From designing out waste and pollution to keeping these products and materials in use as we transition to a decarbonised circular economy.
“Being on the Minister’s List brings heightened scrutiny, focus and resources from the government and support from institutions such as the Centre of Excellence,” she said. “The way off the Minister’s List is either by establishing industry-led initiatives that reduce the whole of life environmental and human health impacts of their products, or being regulated by government.”
Environment Ministers will meet for the second time this year on 7 December, following the first 2018 Meeting of Environment Ministers (MEM) in April, which was in part a response to the import restrictions driven by China’s National Sword Policy and the effects this policy has had across the Australian waste and resource recovery (WARR) industry. Key decisions derived from the April MEM include:
•Reducing waste generation, endorsing a target of 100% of Australian packaging being recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2025, and developing targets for recycled content in packaging.
• Increasing Australia’s domestic recycling capacity.
• Increasing the demand for recycled products.
• Exploring opportunities to advance waste-to-energy and waste-to-biofuels.
This year has brought about a change in government and will quite possibly bring about a positive shift in approach to our sector. It is hoped that this shift is the result of growing knowledge and understanding of the complexity and importance of the waste sector following many difficult years, so that we can move on from simply thinking convenience is paramount. We need to stop approaching WARR as the final recipient of the buck, where our sector is viewed as the fixer and funder of end-of-life materials and move towards shared responsibility and integrated planning. This must be coupled with appropriate levels of funding and policy if we are determined to achieve our shared goal of a thriving people, planet, prosperity.
•Updating the 2009 Waste Strategy by year end, which will include circular economy principles.
It is time to take stock and examine what has been achieved since these decisions were announced. Now, seven (7) months may not seem like a long time, however in that time we have seen further markets close (Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam) and if you are an operator under continued financial stress, seven (7) months could make or break you.
In October, we had the first Environment Minister’s Meeting (EMM) in 18 months. On the agenda were a number of important items that would drive the success of our industry, including national harmonisation, creating and strengthening product stewardship schemes, the possible expansion of container deposit schemes, addressing PFAS as an input in some items, and packaging (yet again) –although it is unclear what reform is planned there, or how many times we need to discuss a scheme that is clearly not working as-is.
We also saw for the first time a concerted effort at developing genuine circular policy actions at the national level, with an agreement to ‘work with the private sector to design out waste and pollution, keep materials in use, and foster markets to achieve a circular economy by 2030’.
Following the April MEM, we have had three (3) states step in with varying degrees of financial assistance for industry (councils and operators). This should be expected considering almost all states (except Queensland and Tasmania) have access to significant waste levy income each year. On the eastern seaboard, Victoria has approximately $600 million in waste levy reserves in the Sustainability Fund and NSW raises more than $700 million per annum from the waste levy. There is certainly no lack of funds that can be reinvested into our essential industry.
This is a big hairy audacious goal (BHAG). However, it is exactly what Australia needs. To move up the chain, we need to share the responsibility of both designing out waste and creating markets and to do this, all stakeholders in the supply chain and our governments must come to the table.
Funding helps but as we know, the money goes a much longer way with Government support and leadership, as well as appropriate policy levers.
The data nerds out there know that we are long past being able to rely on business as usual to achieve the 2030 targets that have been set, let alone the recently adopted carbon targets.
The reality is that despite the valiant efforts by councils and industry, we continue to dispose of 27 million tonnes annually. Not only is this a colossal volume, but there is also no sign of relief; on the contrary, we may see a slight increase this year.
Victoria has arguably been the most active and earnest in supporting the industry post-China, with two (2) relief packages announced to support the recycling industry, valued at a total of $37 million. The Victorian Government has also gone above and beyond all others states by announcing it would take a leadership role in creating market demand for recycled products.
Meanwhile, the average national recycling rate remains stubbornly at 60 per cent, meaning we have a very long way to go in the next 90 months to hit both 80 per cent (as per the national target) and 10 per cent reduction of waste generated target.
So, what needs to change? As a start, we really need to put the foot down and accelerate our recycling economy, which would greatly assist in our move towards the circular economy touted at the EMM.
In simple terms, we need a system that manages input, output, and
Government announced a $12.4 million support package comprising $2 million of additional expenditure, $5 million additional funding for a loan scheme, together with targeted funding from the Green Industries SA budget. The Government has also offered grants for recycling infrastructure.
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.
Unlike its neighbours, Queensland did not provide any financial support to
offtake – a system that has clear pathways to bring materials back into the productive economy.
What this calls for is both the infrastructure and the markets to buy back the material we make. As it stands, we are about 14 million tonnes of infrastructure short if we want to hit the 80 per cent recovery target, which equates to $14 billion of infrastructure investment and 14 million tonnes of demand for recycled products. Big numbers? Yes. But we are never going to hit our 2030 targets without both infrastructure and market demand.
industry however the Queensland Government has embarked on the development of a waste management strategy underpinned by a waste disposal levy to increase recycling and recovery and create new jobs. The State will re-introduce a $70/ tonne landfill levy in March 2019. There are also strong attempts to use policy levers (levy discounts and exemptions) to incentivise the use of recycled material and make it cost competitive with virgin material. However, little has been done to establish new markets and Government has not taken the lead in the procurement of recycled material. There are grants available for resource recovery operations in Queensland although no monies have been allocated to assist in 2018. This is troubling as Queensland rolled out its Container Refund Scheme on 1 November, which will likely impact the cost and revenue models of the State’s MRFs – as we have seen most recently in NSW.
China’s National Sword was a massive shock to the system – and not just kerbside – yet, to this day, we are still adamant about taking the ‘easy’ way out by passing the cost to another player in the chain then burying our heads in the sand by simply placing materials in a bin and believing someone else will solve it! This is wish cycling.
After all these years surely the penny has dropped that adding more products to kerbside for example, will not result in increased demand for recycled materials. If anything, it may have real impacts on contamination levels that would inevitably affect the commercials of operating WARR facilities. While we can wax lyrical about source separation yielding the best quality return of material, doing so for all our material streams is not always realistic. Take for example C&D, where there is a need for a commingled system and a transfer station network for sorting.
The Western Australian Government set up a Waste Taskforce in direct response to the China National Sword. As part of this announcement, the State Government urged all local councils to begin the utilisation of a three (3)-bin system - red for general waste, yellow for recyclables and green for organic waste - over the coming years to reduce contamination. While this taskforce is a step in the right direction, we are yet to see any tangible results from it or any funding for industry. In October, the WA Waste Authority released its draft Waste Strategy to 2030, which comprises a comprehensive and detailed roadmap towards the State’s shared vision of becoming a sustainable, low-waste, circular economy.
The fact is, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for all materials we produce and consume. Rather, we need to take stock of the different material streams in circulation to develop an evidence-based fates and flows approach to managing infrastructure as well as a market plan.
We must prioritise delivery based on greatest need and impact, as well as nexus to markets. We also need to realise that every client for collection is also a customer for our products.
Both the federal and state governments truly need to step up on this one as we are running out of time. We do not want to continue being the laggards in material management and be fourth in the world again in 2023 in marking Earth Overshoot Day.
I often point to the EU and UK as regions we could learn from but right here at home, Victoria has shown what a concerted effort in this space looks like with the formation of Ecologiq, which is an initiative that all states could follow while fast tracking other endeavours.
Following the MEM in April, Australia now has a new Federal Environment Minister, Melissa Price, who in October reiterated to media MEM’s commitment to explore waste to energy as part of the solution to the impacts of China’s National Sword, which is troubling (EfW is not a solution to recycling). The Commonwealth has also backed the Australian Recycling Label and endorsed the National Packaging Targets developed by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), which has to date, failed to incorporate industry feedback in the development of these targets. To the Commonwealth’s credit, there has been significant coordination in reviewing the National Waste Policy, with the Department of Environment bringing together industry players and States during the review process.
We also need the NWAP to reinstate real numbers and dollars to back the recycled content target; this is one way to drive demand and commitment from all levels for government and industry to buy their resources back. And it’s time for the government to leverage the tools they have to increase market demand – at least for a time to grow the appetite for recycled content – by, for example, putting in a virgin material tax, rolling out enforceable sustainable design standards, or developing more extended producer responsibility schemes.
The updated Policy will now go before Environment Ministers on 7 December. The Commonwealth can play a key role – one that goes beyond the development of the National Waste Policy. WMAA is supportive of the Federal Government maximising the levers it has, including taxation and importation powers, to maintain a strong, sustainable waste and resource recovery industry.
Collectively, we have the will to move but we need to change lanes –turning away from BAU – and we need to do this fast if we have any hope of hitting our 2030 targets.
Gayle Sloan, Chief Executive Officer, WMRR
There may be movement across Australia, with some states doing better than others, but the consensus is, progress is still taking way too long. It is evident that 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 if there is government leadership around mandating recycled content in Australia now, not later.
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
counter monopoly laws. Behr was particularly happy to get back into the Adelaide market, which REMONDIS had exited three years prior because it didn’t have the right business model in place. He said that REMONDIS has had some good growth in the Perth business, and he sees the transfer station acquisition in Sydney as a critical asset due to the peculiarities of the market. Does Behr feel that the market is starting to get saturated in terms of the number of players in the collection, recycling and processing of waste? Not necessarily.
“I think there will be market consolidation, meaning some of the smaller companies will be bought out by larger players – it is natural,” he said. “It’s more difficult for Cleanaway and Veolia to do so, because of their strong positions in certain markets.
“However, when you look at the industry overall, Australia has some very ambitious targets when it comes to landfill diversion, and we have to make sure we achieve these targets. That will require infrastructure in certain areas.”
are beginning to harmonise their landfill levies, which he sees as a good thing. When it comes to infrastructure, the scorecard isn’t quite as good.
“We have to agree what kind of infrastructure we want in the future,” he said. “For example, there is energy from waste. We now have two facilities coming online in Western Australia. In other states, we do see some opportunities but it is a lengthy and cumbersome process to get to that stage where you can build one of these facilities.
“A government’s role is to provide certainty around the investment. They need to help provide markets for recyclables. They also need to assist in creating the kind of environment whereby market analysts think that the industry is ready for investment and make sure that we are catching up with the rest of the world when it comes to recycling.”
Over the next 12 to 18 months, there are many things that need addressing in the industry, but one aspect in particular that Behr sees as a growth area.
of the fourth bin by 2030 is great, but it is also a good opportunity to achieve our landfill diversion targets.”
Behr believes that in some instances Australia is still at the beginning of the journey. He points out that in Germany, landfilling was banned in 2006, which meant the recycling industry had to deal with a lot of different waste streams, because a lot of material couldn’t be put in a hole anymore. Some of the recycling solutions were good, others not so much, but it was trial and error that allowed companies such as REMONDIS to grow on the back of those solutions.
“Here in Australia, the industry will grow over the next few years,” he said. “It is becoming more sophisticated. For example, we are moving from mechanical recycling to chemical recycling. These are not simple processes anymore. Up to 15-20 years ago, it was probably not an industry a lot of people wanted to be in. I think that changed.
“I’m positive about the industry because if we put our minds to it, we can change it. I’m positive that the
TOMRA Cleanaway was born in 2017 from the joint venture partnership between TOMRA, a Norwegian-based company that specialises in sorting technology, and Cleanaway, one of Australia’s biggest waste and resource recovery companies.
Its mandate is to ‘deliver the NSW container deposit scheme as the government-appointed Network Operator for Return and Earn’, the state’s container deposit scheme. And delivered it has, with the eight billionth container returned in September 2022. With each container worth $0.10, it doesn’t take a math’s whiz to note hundreds of millions of dollars have been given to charity or gone into the back pocket of the public who return the containers.
Like the rest of the waste industry, the organisation has had a myriad of challenges the past two years. At the height of the pandemic, returning containers wasn’t considered an essential service, but also natural disasters have
reflection, I look at the way volumes rebounded immediately upon the full scheme opening in October 2021. 225 million containers were returned – that showed the resilience of the network.
“Then there have been natural disasters such as the Black Sunday bushfires back in 2019/20, and the flooding we’re seeing this year, which have also challenged the network, but from which
container returns have rebounded.”
Dorney says that 2022 was also about further demonstrating what an extended producer responsibility scheme can deliver, including the new PET processing facility, which came on-line in Albury. The facility demonstrates the value of the plastic containers being returned via the CDS and remanufactured into another product.
“These are truly circular outcomes, which people are starting to better understand,” he said. “Likewise, with the positive stories around glass remanufacture in Australia. The high quality and the high volume of glass that these contianer deposit schemes are delivering to the large glass manufacturers in the various states of Australia is really pleasing.”
Dorney said one of the keys to success is the relationship the Scheme Coordinator has with Exchange for Change, which represents the manufacturers who are responsible for funding the scheme.
Dorney says you can’t underestimate how well the system works due to collaboration.
“The success of the scheme is based upon that tripartite working relationship between the scheme co-ordinator, the network operator, and the New South
Wales government,” he said. “It comes back to those structural elements in the design of allowing the various parties to play to their core competencies. As the network operator, we’re incentivised to increase volume and we’re incentivised to put out more collection points to improve access to citizens, because the higher the level of the access the more people are likely to use the scheme.”
And what about the cost of the refund? In many overseas jurisdictions it can be as high as $0.30, with some feeling even that amount is too low. Dorney thinks there needs to be a conversation around an increase, because he knows that if it was to increase, the return rates would go up.
“The time is right for a sensible and informed discussion around the merits and the potential benefits of increasing the deposit value,” he said. “It would need to be based upon a national approach. You certainly don’t want it happening on a piecemeal basis.”
Dorney is also looking forward to bringing in some new technology in 2023 that hasn’t been seen in Australia.
“We’re bringing in a range of new automated collection point technology throughout 2023,” he said. “It’s more of a European store-based, smaller, collection
point format, which I’m excited to see. We haven’t seen this type of TOMRA equipment in Australia before.
“We’re also investing in further compaction technology across the network where it makes sense. This means more being moved for less kilometres and less emissions.”
And in the immediate future?
We haven’t got everything perfect. Every CDS would say there’s things that could be done differently and we continue to work on it,” he said. “We need to be smart, and innovate and get the right investment to solve some of the issues because the knock-on effect is always this impact on the environment. A lot of these products generate so much value for us around the way that we live – be it in the medical field or food preservation. It’s not as simple as saying, ‘Well, there’s no place for this stuff’. Of course there is. But we have to manage it through its life cycle. And that needs everybody to come together. Sensible policy frameworks, government support and the appropriate settings need to be put in place. Remember, the New South Wales CDS has been no cost to government in terms of the investment that has been made.”
the waste industry is a bit like death and taxes – it kept going. It is a very resilient industry with a lot of growth happening during that period as well.”
ResourceCo’s Henry Anning has had a busy year. While the various parts of ResourceCo’s business have done okay, some things do need to be improved upon, but his overall faith in the industry is high as he sees it starting to mature.
However, he’s less optimistic about reaching government-mandated targets due to many issues, including getting through bureaucratic red tape.
“In the next 12 to 18 months it would be good if the governments acknowledged that the nation and states are not on track to hit those targets,” he said. “Therefore, what needs to happen is a reassessment of regulatory approval processes or policies that might be holding projects back.”
Anning also believes that for the circular economy to work, there needs to be more done on the procurement side of the equation. He said people aren’t buying recycled materials, whether it’s recycled aggregates, or rubber crumb for roads, and there needs to be a market for these products. But infrastructure is also for this to happen.
“There needs to be something like 14 million tonnes of annual recycling infrastructure built between now and 2030, which is about two million tonnes a year,” he said. “But there also needs to be 14 million tonnes of recycled material demand.”
About the only thing Anning is pessimistic about is harmonisation of certain aspects of the waste industry, which can be detrimental to encouraging investment into the sector. He believes anybody investing in the Australian market needs to think of the states and territories as separate countries due to the varying legislation in each. He doesn’t see any type of harmonisation any time soon.
“Why would the previous 150 years change in terms of the states working together?” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to get harmonisation in a lot of things because each state’s processes have to function effectively in order for the outcomes to be achieved in that state. However, on the east coast, with the landfill levies, they are in that ballpark figure where they are coming closer together.”
His final thoughts on the near future revolve around landfills and what will happen when that space finally runs out – in NSW the state government’s own estimates have non-putrescible landfills full by 2028. This is going to increasingly become an issue because of the growing number of natural disasters and the amount of waste that is being created by those ‘one in a century’ events.
“I don’t know what they think is going to happen in 2029, but that’s not very far away,” said Anning. “Due to the increase in natural disasters there’s a need for resilience in some of the waste sector and supply chains. If they don’t play out, there’ll be some really challenging times in the next five years.”
It hasn’t just been a big 12 months for the winner of the Waste Innovation and Recycling Awards’ Leader of the Year. It’s been a massive five years. That is when Hatzimanolis started Victorian-based Repurpose It with just four people. Fast forward five years and he has almost 200 staff in various operations within the company. With a background in roading, Hatzimanolis has taken on the challenge of reusing and repurposing waste –whether it be creating infrastructure for organics or finding a home for repurposed construction and demolition waste. Always positive, Hatzimanolis is excited about what the next 12 to 18 months has to offer in the industry.
“There’s a lot of momentum with the circular economy and the transition to it,” he said. “There’s a strong pipeline of infrastructure projects that are generating repurposing and resource recovery opportunities. I think we’ve got some strong policy objectives around landfill diversion, in particular organics, which are going to present some significant opportunities.”
However, he also sees a lot of challenges in the next few years if Australia is going to meet those policy objectives of about 80 per cent diversion by 2030. He feels there’ll be issues with the sorting, collecting and source separation of the volumes of waste being created. Then there is the need for local government to come to the fore.
“Procurement from a local government point of view has been
hindered by the wind-up of Metro Waste,” he said. “With the new authority, in the form of Recycling Victoria, it’s still a bit of an unknown about what councils are going to do to deal with some of these organic volumes that need to be diverted from landfills.”
How does he feel his relationship with the local regulatory authorities has been since the inception of Repurpose It, taking into context the amount of capital investment the company has undertaken? There are good and bad moments, he says.
“We try and work collaboratively with the likes of the EPA,” he said. “They’re a key stakeholder of us. I think they’ve been a bit under-resourced for the amount of change that’s been happening within the industry with the new environmental act. Their intent is good, and I think it’s a positive thing for our industry. However, there is a lag in trying to build infrastructure in this market and there’s a lot of challenges that we’re facing in our supply chain around rising costs. The longer these projects get delayed, the more expensive they are.”
The lack of decisiveness has a knockon effect. He said trying to book in contractors and relying on international shipping, which is still recovering from the backlog caused by COVID-19, means it is hard to give the aforementioned contractors a program to work to, because regulatory approval is taking years, not months, to come to fruition.
“We’ve really struggled with that in getting our organics facility up and running,” said Hatzimanolis. “We were working almost a year and a half on it, which makes it hard for industry to commit to investment because people do large-scale investments for the long term. That is definitely one of the challenges.”
And the near future? With Repurpose It, there is plenty going on over the next 18 months.
“We’re right at the start of a really steep growth curve, which means we’re looking to invest significant capital in the next few years to continue to grow,” said Hatzimanolis. “We’re increasing our capacity in our washing business with an organics facility that now has its regulatory approval. We’ll have capacity at full scale to divert 200,000 tonnes of organics. We’re looking at other sectors in regions around Victoria, but also, more broadly, across the eastern seaboard.”
Like many companies in the recycling and waste sector, BINGO experienced a challenging year in FY22 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and extreme weather conditions that resulted in a dislocation of access to waste and recycling
infrastructure. The impacts of these two events affected supply chains all the way through to residential collection and commercial customers such as cafes and restaurants.
“Despite the challenges, we were proud to keep our sites operational through this period and saw volume expansion as the operating environment began to normalise,” said BINGO Industries’ CEO Chris Jeffrey.
On the downside, the extreme wet weather highlighted the vulnerability of the state’s putrescible waste network. The heavy rain restricted access to the already limited putrescible waste disposal options available, leading to a material decline in service levels across the industry.
“Rapidly reducing putrescible and inert landfill space is one of the major burning platforms for the NSW government and action needs to be taken now to avoid this becoming an issue in the not-too-distant future,” said Jeffrey. “The challenges over the past year should serve as a timely reminder to all stakeholders that we need to work together right now to avoid a looming crisis in the coming years.
“Pleasingly, we’re seeing positive signs emerging across the industry as government policy at all levels continues to pivot towards BINGO’s recycling-led business model.”
One example was the Queensland government’s announcement in November 2021 of a new $2.1 billion waste package aimed at fast-tracking the state’s transition to a zero-waste society.
Jeffrey believes the initiatives unveiled as part of the package will go a long way to achieving the government’s stated aim. Encouraged by the government’s approach, BINGO expanded into Queensland through the acquisition of United Waste Services on 1 July 2022.
“We believe the government’s commitment to steadily increasing the waste disposal levy in Southeast Queensland will ultimately improve resource recovery rates, increase the diversion of waste from landfill and
promote a genuine recycling industry in Queensland,” said Jeffrey.
“We’ve welcomed the increased focus on the transition to a circular economy by the Federal, New South Wales, Queensland and Victorian governments.”
Financial support for recycling initiatives, including the Recycling Modernisation Fund and its 1:1:1 Federal: State: Industry funding model, is a critical element of the transition. Australia’s successful transition to a circular economy requires the support of all stakeholders, with governments at all levels having a critical role to play, according to Jeffrey.
Looking forward, Jeffrey believes that governments need to be bold and introduce the mandated use of a certain percentage of recycled products in any government-funded projects.
“Market forces alone have proven to be insufficient and government support is essential to the development of long-term, sustainable end markets for recycled materials,” he said. “More can and should be done to cut through red tape at all levels of government and move more expediently towards mandating the end use of recycled
content to better support the creation of a closed loop economy. At times, over the past one to two years, it has seemed that a level of inertia has crept into this process. To steal a simple analogy, ‘the rubber needs to hit the road’, literally.”
Finally, Jeffrey said there remains a need for a consistent, national approach to waste disposal levies. Higher levies further incentivise recycling over disposal to landfill and prevent the transfer of waste across state borders. And state governments must ensure these levies are used as they were intended – to fund recycling infrastructure and initiatives that support recycling.
It’s been all go in Lina Goodman’s world over the past 12 months. The good news is that the Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has added tyre stewardship to the Minister’s Priority List. The bad news is, there is a lot more to be done (for an in-depth look, see our second lead story on the cover of this issue). Yet, Goodman has had several highlights over the past 12 months.
One is the off-the-road tyre sector –
and Goodman is talking about the whole tyre circular economy value chain. This includes tyre importers contributing via a levy, as well as mining companies coming to the party.
“Before, we weren’t having a conversation about off-road tyres and their disposal, but now we are,” she
said. “Then there are Indigenous groups and community groups wanting to get involved, too. They want to be part of this conversation about what to do with these types of tyres.
“If you’ve looked at it from a target perspective, you’d say we’ve failed because we’re miles away – it’s less than
a 15 per cent recovery rate in [this] space. [But} Indigenous groups going, ‘How can we help? Do we have a role? Can we have a place at the table?’ For me, that’s successful. And I can’t wait to see what that looks like over the next couple of years.”
Another highlight is the independent review of the TSA, which was important because it was the sector giving the feedback, which is crucial for transparency. The main outcome, which Goodman has alluded to several times this year, is that the voluntary aspect of the TSA scheme has done all it can.
“Now it needs a regulation overlay in order to be successful,” she said. “And that was the sentiment of all people interviewed in the review including government recyclers, local government, industry – they’ve all said, ‘no more, enough’s enough’.”
Interestingly, when it comes to what the next 12-18 months hold, Goodman’s thoughts are not tyre-specific, but more a holistic overview due to a number of issues affecting the world globally.
“I’m concerned about this geopolitical unrest where there’s uncertainty, such as the military conflict in the Ukraine. We’ve also got a lack of consumer confidence, the way we spend our money is changing, mortgages are going up, we’ve got floods and fires – all of that,” she said. “I’m concerned we’ll deprioritise waste. I think we should learn from the past that if we deprioritise waste, and if we don’t understand the role resource recovery has in the economic position of the country, we could lose sight of the positive impact that it could have. It’s important that the government doesn’t lose sight of this.”
This year has not been great, according to WRIQ’s CEO Dr Georgina Davis. Floods across Queensland and the severity of rainfall and subsequent floods that hit Southeast Queensland took their toll on operators, workers and infrastructure. These issues have negatively impacted the association’s longer-term goals, from reducing landfill void space, eroding acceptance criteria, damaging its social licence and increasing insurance premiums.
“The organisation has also seen the emergence of operational and investment impacts from what may, or may not be, inflated concerns over emerging contaminants, most notably PFAS. It is also now apparent that Queensland is not on track to meet its MSW and C&I recycling targets,” said Davis.
However, throughout the challenges
of 2022, Davis said WRIQ’s members have been future-focused by building new infrastructure despite the supply chain challenges, commissioning innovative technologies, and seeking to develop talented and uniquely skilled workforces.
“In 2023, we need to actively reposition ourselves and control the narrative about what we do and our contribution to the ‘big ticket’ items, including our role in making the 2032 Brisbane Olympics and Paralympics zero waste and climate positive, and articulate our part in the energy transition and decarbonisation of the economy,” she said.
“While much of the sector already practices environmental, social and governance and corporate social responsibility, how do we hardwire these principles into everything we do, not least because it is good for business but importantly, how do we communicate our social good to stakeholders? Our larger corporates are global leaders in this space but how does this trickle down through the sector, particularly when smaller businesses are struggling to maintain the status-quo?”
Davis said that, undeniably, the waste industry is one of the only sectors that can directly and beneficially contribute to all 17 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as it can conserve valuable resources, protect the environment from contaminants, while playing an important role in mitigating climate change.
“And while there is talk that our sector’s contribution to the circular economy is well-understood by decisionmakers, I am yet to be convinced,” she said.
WRIQs priorities will be stimulating
a more sophisticated discussion with policy makers around setting resource productivity and consumption targets, and recognising the state’s sustainable, and firming, energy capacity. The association will also be seeking a government commitment to eliminate waste crime. Its members have reported an increase in unlawful operators, noting that the scale of unlawfulness is highly variable. While Queensland’s Department of Environment has increased its efforts and effectiveness at addressing pollution crime, Davis fears that at best, the state is simply keeping pace.
WRIQ’s workforce survey of Quarter 3 2022, showed that the sector is still experiencing worker and skills shortages with the average vacancy time to fill a position is now more than 80 days. Industry observations about worker availability and retention was also demonstrated in recent Census data that showed the negative differences in the pay scales between the waste sector and its competitors, notably mining.
“Our sector needs to work on its attraction and retention of personnel and position itself as a preferred sector with a values-based approach,” said Davis. “WRIQ will be embarking on a future skills review and plan in the new year.”
Finally, Davis said she sees two major threats in 2023; land-use planning and insurance. The reduction in the number of insurers working in the sector, coupled with an increase in losses and claims, has resulted in increasing premiums and increasing policy deductibles. WRIQ is undertaking a review of existing supply and demand side drivers and is investigating potential insurance products that could be customised to the sector.
TONY KHOURY Executive Director,
NSW’s Waste Contractors and Recycling Association (WCRA) Executive Director
Tony Khoury believes COVID-19 has been the main driver in terms of what the industry has – or hasn’t – achieved over the past 24 months.
“Over the past two years, across every Australian jurisdiction, public health orders were issued – and in many cases re-issued and varied – to protect the community, to ensure the safety of workers and to reduce the spread of the infection from COVID-19,” he said. “These health orders listed restrictions to activities and places that were closed. However the waste and recycling industry, which provides an important service for the community and businesses, continued to operate.”
According to Khoury, throughout this time the waste and recycling contractors were at the frontline of providing an essential service to householders and those businesses that continued to
operate and trade. Without the efforts of the industry and their many workers, the country would be faced with health, hygiene, and sanitation issues.
According to Khoury, the waste management and resource recovery sector continues to face a range of issues and challenges. One issue, also mentioned by WRIQs’ Davis, is the inability to access skilled and experienced labour, which he believes has been due to the aforementioned pandemic health issues, public health order restrictions, lower migrant intake, and the assessment of work/life priorities by many people.
“Then there’s been the further increased regulations leading to complexity and higher compliance cost, as well as increased insurance premiums mainly for the loss impacts of fires,” he said. “Then there is the federal ban on the export of unprocessed recyclables and changing specifications and demands.”
Other issues he has seen include many materials are not being designed for recycling; a decrease in revenue for commodities with increased shipping costs and supply chain issues; a resource recovery order and exemption system that allows the NSW EPA to make material changes without undergoing a proper regulatory impact study; the absence of a well-thought-out, implementable waste management infrastructure plan for the state; the absence of a practical and wellthought-out disaster waste management plan; and the inability of the NSW EPA to deal with waste and recycling businesses operating without an environmental protection licence.
“We still have issues with C&D recycling and the on-going issues with asbestos – detection, zero tolerance and absence of a due diligence defence, as well as a continued restructure of the NSW EPA with three different CEOs across the 12-month period,” he said.
He also pointed out that there is a reasonably new NSW Minister for the Environment in the form of James Griffin, who is still coming to terms with the complexities of the waste management sector.
“To invest with confidence over the next 12 months, industry needs a level commercial playing field, all regulations to be enforced by all government departments, along with regulations and laws that provide certainty and the opportunity for payback and a commercial rate of return,” Khoury said.
MIKE RITCHIEManaging Director, MRA Consulting Group
Mike Ritchie believes more time is needed if Australia is to meet waste targets set by the government. In 2019 all Australian governments committed to collective action on recycling, waste management and the creation of a more circular
economy, a move away from cheap landfill, which is responsible for three per cent of Australia’s GHG emissions. To do that the following targets were set:
• ban the export of waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres;
• reduce waste generation by 10 per cent per person by 2030;
• 80 per cent resource recovery by 2030;
• increase the use of recycled content by governments and industry;
• phase out problematic and unnecessary plastics by 2025;
• halve the amount of organics to landfill by 2030; and
• increase waste data availability.
“If we are being realists, the current initiatives, although commendable, are not enough to achieve these targets within the 10-year framework,” he said.
“Forty per cent of the country’s waste continues to flow downhill and into the cheapest option, which is landfill.
“To reverse this trend, we need to shift our focus from the kerbside to the C&I and C&D streams that make up two thirds of waste to landfill and of course, organics. As we have already picked most of the ‘easy-to-recycle’ material, clear signals are needed to support waste reduction and the circular economy.”
Australia generates 67 million tonnes of waste annually and recycles 37 million tonnes or 60 per cent. To achieve the national targets, Ritchie said the country needs to lift the recycling rate by a further 18 million tonnes by 2030. That is a doubling of the average annual growth rate from a 1 million tonne growth to 2 million tonnes. That is a massive uplift and
He said that although targeting straws, takeaway coffee cups and plastic bags is worthwhile and, along with EPR schemes, the CDS and e-waste initiatives, are good for engaging the community, these streams only represent 10 per cent of the generated waste. To achieve 80 per cent reduction by 2030, governments must aim big, including a 50 per cent reduction in organics to landfill and a 10 per cent reduction in waste generation through: • end-of-life planning for products to reduce waste generation. At the moment, with cheap disposal readily available, there is little economic incentive to do so;
• maximum sorting of material at source;
• infrastructure to recover materials from mixed waste where it cannot be separated cost effectively at source and hypothecate levy funds;
• disincentivising landfilling Australiawide (until the introduction of a levy in Queensland, 1.4 million tonnes of Sydney waste was being shipped to Brisbane landfills adding transport emissions to the loss of resources and landfill emissions) including via bans to stop recyclable materials being landfilled, as well as landfill levies, tax incentives or equivalent;
• create certainty (including via infrastructure plans and faster approvals for critical infrastructure projects) in order for super funds, private equity, banks and investors to support the circular economy and to fund infrastructure;
• organics collection mandates; and develop end markets for diverted
creation of over 11,500 new jobs (many regional) over eight years.
“Improved recycling and resource recovery can also abate up to 10 per cent of our 480 million tonnes of emissions from the rest of the economy, mainly through recovering the embodied energy of materials and further reducing landfill emissions,” said Ritchie.
“Each state should put the simple maths down on paper and develop a clear “80/50/10 plan” to achieve 80 per cent resource recovery, 50 per cent reduction in organics to landfill and a 10 per cent reduction in waste generation by 2030.”
The plan should outline the waste streams and tonnages to target, the infrastructure needed and where, when and how it will be built. This kind of commitment will spur investment,
(Continued from front cover)
FUTURE opportunities to do more cannot be pursued if the scheme structure remains voluntary.
Goodman’s first priority was the meeting of all state, territory and federal environmental ministers held on October 21, 2022. Like all those involved in the waste industry, TSA worked hard to put used tyres on the agenda. And the work paid off, with end-of life tyres being included on the Minister’s Product Stewardship Priority List.
“I commend the environment ministers for this decision,” she said. “It means the door has now been opened for Australia to shift the numbers in the right direction –to bring our circular economy in line with the ‘cradle-to-cradle’ approach taken by other tyre schemes around the world.
“It will also help us better support local manufacturing and create jobs that do not exist today and prevent future harm to our environment and human health from inappropriate disposal of the end-of-life tyres here and overseas.”
And while this is good news, it doesn’t make Goodman any less frustrated about the blatant irresponsibility of some in the industry.
“Enough is enough already,” she said. “If we don’t have all tyre importers contributing then we don’t have the ability to make real change. I know that if I was a tyre importer, I wouldn’t want to keep contributing if all importers are not doing so. It’s simply not a fair playing field.”
Another issue that the Minister’s Priority Listing will help TSA address is the proliferation of illegitimate, sometimes illegal, collection activities.
Goodman believes that, currently, the
tyre industry is one of the easiest to get involved with if you’re a “dodgy operator”.
“All you have to do is go to your local tyre shop to get started – we’ve got 1,700 that are accredited with the scheme, but there are at least 15,000 retail outlets in Australia,” she said. “If I’m a dodgy operator, and when the cost of tyre collection is as high as it is today, I can go around to a few retail outlets, undercut legitimate operators, and then dump the tyres on some poor unsuspecting person that I’m leasing a factory, yard or land from, and leave them there.”
Goodman points out that this risk is particularly significant for regional, rural
and remote areas across Australia. It costs a lot of money to go out to Mt Isa or Broken Hill to collect tyres. Goodman said that few companies are going to invest in those areas.
“But if the scheme is redesigned and regulated, and the Priority Listing takes us one step closer to that, then we’ll be in a position to support sustainable tyre resource recovery. This includes supporting the collection of tyres wherever they are, and making sure Australia gets the most value and environmental benefit from them. The aforementioned cradle-tocradle approach.”
When it comes to finding uses for tyres, Australia needs to extend the value chain beyond their primary use. To do that, markets need to be found.
“The reality is we are exporting 80 per cent of the tyres we collect,” Goodman said. “We need to increase our local markets for that material so that Australians can benefit from local manufacturing and job opportunities. TSA and its market development fund has done what it can, but governments and industry can, and must do, more.
“Global best practice shows us that if the scheme can be designed to incentivise a legitimate value chain including tyrederived material, it will change how companies view the waste stream.”
Goodman cited WA where the environment minister has recently announced the state is going to incentivise
the use of crumbed rubber in roads.
“That is what effective schemes are doing globally,” she said. “They’re passing incentives down the value chain so there is a tangible cost-benefit to using crumb rubber in roads, or to manufacture new products.
“In Australia, we’re not manufacturing enough products made from tyre-derived material but by goodness, we’re importing a lot of products manufactured from tyre-derived material from China and Vietnam particularly. While there’s a ban on the export of whole-baled tyres, there’s no ban on the importation of finished rubber products or crumb rubber for infrastructure applications.”
TSA has taken as many steps as it can under the current scheme design to incentivise use of local tyre-derived material in Australia for Australians. This includes initiatives such as its ‘100 per cent Australian Verification program’, for TSA-accredited recyclers, which aims to support procurement of local crumb rubber over cheaper imports by helping customers differentiate Australian-made from imported crumb.
Another way of making sure used tyres have a second life is setting minimum quotas for the use of rubber in local government civil works.
Currently, Goodman believes that some councils are not doing enough due diligence for civil works such as roads, pavements, playgrounds or sports
fields. As a result, sometimes they use imported crumb.
“This can’t continue,” said Goodman. “We’ve got enough of our own crumb rubber, and we need to support the local resource recovery sector. Yes, councils are saving money by using imported crumb versus locally produced crumb. But that is only because it comes from countries where schemes are regulated and able to subsidise the cost of generating and exporting crumb.
“We collect only $0.25 cents per tyre imported in Australia, versus up to $5.50 per tyre in countries where schemes are regulated. If the crumb lands in Australia, and it’s $200 cheaper than our native crumb, then the cost wins the tender every time. Perhaps it’s time to start shifting our weighting against price and towards resource recovery initiatives.
“Time to think differently, because this short-term cost focus is at the peril of longer-term environment risk, and that carries with it greater costs for future generations.”
Goodman is happy with the progress being made in most states that are starting to specify the use of tyrederived materials, however, 85 per cent of Australian roads are managed by local councils.
“Changing the procurement model may appear hard, but I am urging all councils to consider the process for change,” she said. “We can help them not only evolve their procurement practices but also gain all the benefits of using locally sourced crumb rubber.
“You can already see this happening with some pioneering councils including South Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils who have more recently demonstrated an appetite towards a more sustainable procurement practice for civil infrastructure. We just need more to join us and pursue more sustainable value for their community.”
Almost four years down the track, how does Goodman feel about the job and where the industry is heading and the future?
“Realistically and practically, the consumption of tyre-derived material in Australia hasn’t changed significantly,” she said. “What we were using when I started is what we’re using today. And that’s not good enough.
“Yes, it’s exciting to see new projects come up. We’re seeing and supporting some great work in the development of new uses for tyre-derived material, such as permeable pavement. We’re even in the adhesive market. But it’s still at the embryonic stage.
“What TSA has done well is be an advocate for the various channels within the tyre sectors, putting different perspectives on the table at government and industry level, on a range of issues from importing and exporting, to
recycling, retailing and retreading.”
Another run on the scoreboard, according to Goodman, is the ability of TSA to connect the people and organisations that play a role in Australia’s circular tyre economy.
The role of TSA is changing from being an enforcer of the scheme’s objectives to assisting and encouraging the sector to find new uses for end-of-life tyres.
This behaviour is really starting to gain traction in off-the-road tyre sectors, such as mining.
“That’s probably one of the things we’re most proud of; mining companies are now talking to tyre recyclers and importers,” she said. “Those tyres are a huge challenge for Australia. You think about all those giant tyres buried in mining pits or stored on land because we don’t have the capability yet to process them. The potential of what we could achieve with those tyres is exciting.”
What about the future? Where does Australia stand compared to other, similar countries in the tyre space? What can it do better outside of legislation and what do we do well?
“We love the challenge of communicating a difficult message effectively, being innovative in our thinking and our market development approach,” said Goodman. “We’re lucky to be scheme focused on circular economy principles. You can see this in the projects we support. Many other countries are lacking that, so we do feel in this space we are ahead of the curve. What we’re doing poorly is that we export 80 per cent of the material that we collect. We’re not using our own material. We don’t see that in other parts of the world who have been more proactive in finding an outlet within the country.”
For example, parts of Canada consume most of the material it collects. TSA has had to focus its attention on trying to create new markets, building a local circular economy and maintaining its focus on compliance. It can’t enact change that will allow Australia to mirror the outcomes of those countries, according to Goodman. Why?
“Because they have regulated schemes,” she said. “If I could change anything, I’d give away public awareness campaigns to have all the tyres consumed right here in Australia. I’d give that up in a second.
“I’ve been to British Columbia, and had a chat to my New Zealand counterparts. They all say the same thing – unless your government steps in nothing changes,” she said. “And that’s important for us. If we’re going to address free riders, all tyre importers should be held responsible for the tyres that they sell, and profit from and the recycling sector needs to be better supported to manage the complexities that come with conducting resource recovery efforts in Australia.”
Dr Cathy Wilkinson (former CEO of the Victorian EPA) has released her anticipated independent review of the NSW Resource Recovery Framework.
Commissioned by the EPA, the objective of the review was to examine the existing NSW waste and resource recovery framework and to provide recommendations to the EPA on:
• how well the framework protects the environment and human health from the inappropriate use of waste;
• how well the framework achieves beneficial resource recovery and facilitates circular economy outcomes, including pathways for innovation;
• the EPA’s ability to take appropriate
regulatory action to protect the environment and human health under the framework; and
• the framework’s transparency, clarity and enforceability.
The review noted that the original resource recovery framework had been set up in 2008 to facilitate the reuse of certain recovered waste for land application or fuels. It also noted that there was friction between the environment and safety objectives of the framework and the need for flexibility to support innovation and a smooth transition to a circular economy. The review made 22 recommendations across four key areas, which the EPA is currently considering:
1. improved administration and decisionmaking;
2. the definition of waste and enhancing the regulatory framework;
3. enabling high-quality materials to facilitate circularity; and
4. improving approaches to known and emerging contaminants.
This article delves into the detail of some of those recommendations and potential implications for the circular economy.
A key criticism the EPA has faced is the handling of the revocation of the mixed waste organic material (MWOO) exemption in 2018. The 24-hour notice period for the MWOO ban, together with the lack of transparency and reasons for the decision, highlighted the need for the resource recovery regime to be put on a similar footing to environmental and planning approval regimes. Wilkinson made nine recommendations based on her consultation with stakeholders including that the EPA should: • Publish clear and comprehensive
guidance materials for the application and assessment of orders and exemptions.
• Better documentation and explanations on how the EPA makes decisions on orders and exemptions and ensure that the sector and broader community is aware of the EPA’s considerations to provide confidence that the rationale is credible and sound.
• Establish and publish a clear process for the issuing and revocation of general orders and exemptions. This should include investigating options for revocations, including thorough stakeholder engagement.
• Seek the advice of independent technical experts through establishing an expert panel and publishing a clear protocol for constituting such group/s.
• Investigate options for an internal review process for certain decisions on resource recovery orders
The legal definition of waste needs to be clearly defined.
and exemptions.
These recommendations were clearly influenced by the MWOO debacle. While the proposed reforms are a step in the right direction, further mechanisms to bring the resource recovery regime up to date with current approval regimes, such as deemed refusal periods and appeal rights, would also have been welcomed.
Arguably, one of the biggest bugbears of recent times has been the Criminal Court of Appeal’s broad interpretation of the legal definition of waste in the long running case of EPA v Grafil. The advancement of the circular economy has been slowed by the ongoing “what is waste?” debate through the courts.
The Grafil cases also exemplified the risks faced by consumers accepting recovered materials (and, consequently, the development of those markets), as well as the need to make producers more responsible for the recovered product they sell. Against this backdrop, it was pleasing to see the review make a number of recommendations including that:
• The EPA should investigate a pathway to enable an “end-of-waste” outcome for suitable common, low-risk recovered materials to better enable reuse, particularly for remanufacturing while ensuring the EPA can still address environmentally problematic and undesirable uses and dumping of those materials.
• If the EPA implements an “end-ofwaste” outcome, the EPA should review relevant elements of the resource recovery framework and associated guidance materials to ensure language appropriately reflects the transition of waste to resources.
• The EPA should investigate whether some activities that use, process and/ or store recovered materials should be excluded from certain aspects of the waste regulatory framework to reduce administrative and regulatory burdens and enhance circular outcomes.
A further issue is the lack of a formal “innovation pathway” for pilot or trial resource recovery projects, which impacts investment in, and development of, the circular economy in NSW. Importantly, the review recommends that the EPA should work with relevant agencies across government to develop a resource recovery innovation
pathway to support the development, demonstration and assessment of new and innovative technology and processes.
The review identified that one of the key principles of a circular economy is to keep materials, products and services circulating within the economy for as long as possible. Consultation with stakeholders identified a strong focus on expanding the EPA’s focus and role from infrastructure and end-product standards to other enablers of a circular economy. This included collaborative partnerships with industry, data availability and transparency, as well as promoting a shared responsibility for circularity throughout the supply chain. Given the stakeholder desire for increased EPA engagement in this area, recommendations centred on the EPA’s own Regulatory Strategy 2021-2024. The review recommended that:
• The EPA should review the role and application of the NSW waste classification system to the resource recovery sector.
• As part of a regulatory plan for the waste and resource recovery sector, the EPA should investigate ways to enhance protections for consumers of recovered resources and place greater responsibilities on waste generators and processors. This could include through compliance campaigns targeting resource recovery orders and exemptions and other safeguards.
• The EPA should investigate opportunities for the increased collection and publication of resource recovery data that could assist in the transition to a circular economy, including collection and publication of the generators and processors operating under a resource recovery order.
These recommendations, if implemented, would help to improve confidence and integrity in the resource recovery market and the circular economy.
The discussion in this part of the review centred on the challenge between setting the right contaminant regulatory limits within the resource recovery framework to encourage the most efficient use of resources while also minimising environmental harm. The Grafil cases had found that a single fragment of asbestos (regardless of type or size) in a recovered aggregate stockpile
The EPA needs to be flexible when it comes to informing industry of its decisions.
would mean that the whole stockpile was “asbestos waste” having regard to the definition of asbestos waste in the Protection of the Environment Operations Act. This approach was inconsistent with the work health and safety regime and the approach taken to managing and remediating asbestos contamination under other NSW environmental legislation. While stakeholders requested more flexibility in dealing with contaminants, the report recognised that the human health risks of asbestos are serious and need to be adequately managed. The review recommended that:
• A scientific expert external to the EPA should review and provide advice on the NSW approach to management of asbestos contaminants in waste and recovered materials. The review should include, but not necessarily be limited to, the protection of human health and the environment and consideration of opportunities and constraints of beneficial reuse.
• Taking into account the advice of the external scientific expert, the EPA should consider how existing approaches to management of asbestos contaminants in waste and recovered materials could be improved.
• The EPA should implement a program to proactively investigate emerging contaminants and better engage with stakeholders regarding emerging contaminants.
It is hoped that the EPA will seriously consider implementing these recommendations to ensure that an appropriate level of risk is applied when considering how to
regulate contaminants in recovered products to protect human health and the environment and provide more consistency across environmental, safety and remediation regulatory frameworks.
The 2021 CSIRO circular economy roadmap for waste management in Australia emphasised that there are three primary enablers to achieve a circular economy: • consistent governance, • market development; and • zero waste culture.
Wilkinson’s report provides practical recommendations based on consultation with a range of stakeholders to assist the EPA with achieving a fit-for-purpose resource recovery framework. However, this is only one of the enablers of a circular economy. It will be incumbent on all parts of state and local government to help drive market development through data sharing, sustainable procurement and development of new recycled and recovered product standards, as well as a zero-waste culture through better education programs and enforcement mechanisms. Waste levy reforms that divert more money back into the resource recovery sector to assist with these enablers, as well as more Commonwealth product stewardship schemes, would further supercharge the circular economy and preserve Australia’s natural resources.
Claire Smith is a Strategic Legal Advisor on ESG, Energy, Water and the Circular Economy for Clayton Utz. Alice Brennan is a lawyer at Clayton Utz.
MATT Genever has spent the best part of 20 years in the waste and environment landscape – the past four years as part of Sustainability Victoria. Genever is currently the interim CEO of the organisation that is helping transform the state into one that embraces the circular economy.
Speaking at the Waste Expo in Melbourne in October, Genever said it is part of Sustainability Victoria’s remit to make sure the state is leading the way when it comes to helping industry meet circular economy and sustainability goals. He sees the way to make the transition as threefold.
First, is industry development and innovation. Genever said this is about making sure the industry is investing in infrastructure so that it has the type of support, investment, and infrastructure in the right places, which will help create strong functioning markets.
“It’s all about making sure we’re setting up a place for innovation; where government and industry can come
together to push the leading-edge behaviour change in education,” he said.
Second, is recognising that Victorian households have a critical role to play in the transition. The organisation has used behavioural science and insights to design campaigns that can support Victorians in making the best choices they can in terms of their overall sustainability.
The final piece in the puzzle is community action. Genever said it is part of the organisation’s core DNA and acknowledged that statewide reforms need local on-ground support and action.
“It’s important that we are walking hand-in-hand with those community organisations that know their communities and their diversity way better than we ever will,” he said. “It’s great to be able to work on ground and support that grassroots action.”
He said all these actions have come together in Sustainability Victoria’s strategy, SV 2030. The paper addresses the need and urgency over the next
eight to 10 years, for action. He said it is incumbent upon the organisation to have a strong plan for recovering as much value from the amount of waste material processed every year in the state, which stands at approximately 16 million tonnes.
Currently, 11 million tonnes, or 70 per cent, is recovered. It needs to be better,
he said, which is why there are initiatives underway.
Genever pointed out that there are some good and bad stats that can be taken into account when setting up strategies. One positive outcome was a survey showing that 90 per cent of Victorians say they are committed to sorting their waste into the correct
streams. On the downside, 50 per cent of that 90 per cent admitted they had recycled at least one item into the wrong stream.
“This is a constant reminder of the importance of engagement with our community,” said Genever. “Why we need to encourage the right behaviour, education, as well as highlighting the necessity of a standardised, easy-tofollow system.”
Genever is proud of where Victoria has come in the past three years, especially with the advent of COVID-19 lockdown. The state government has invested in about 200 circular economy projects, with more than $400 million expected to be invested over the next few years.
Victoria’s Minister for the Environment, Lily D’Ambrosio outlined in her keynote speech at the same event that this investment is expected to create 4000 jobs. Genever said 1000 of those jobs were already happening. But what has really impressed him is that the industry is pulling its weight.
“We’re [currently] managing more than $300 million of investment at a ratio of one to four,” he said. “That means for every dollar that Sustainability Victoria is delivering on behalf of the Victorian government, the sector is chipping in another $4, which shows the intention and importance of partnerships.
“I want you to remember the importance of partnerships between government and industry and that’s fundamentally important for us. The combination of that investment means we’ve added almost a million tonnes of new recycling capacity to the state in just two and a half years.”
And what about those 200 projects
Genever was spruiking – what do they entail and who is involved? He points out that of the 79 local governments in the state, with 72 of them being involved in one project or another. And while he thinks that is impressive, that is not his main selling point.
“It’s the type of projects that make me proud,” he said. “From large-scale manufacturing infrastructure through to community hubs who work directly with councils in supporting them roll out the four-bin system, through to the charitable sector, who we know do a fantastic job.”
A lot of the big players are involved in these projects including Visy, Cleanaway
and the Pact Group, but Genever said that some of the smaller projects are not only just as important, but impressive too in the way they have been rolled out.
One such project involves Socobell, a family-owned, Melbourne-based injection plastics moulding company. Until recently, it used virgin plastics, but in 2021 the owners went to Sustainability Victoria and asked for help to set up its first 100 per cent recycled polypropylene line. Genever said the government was happy to help.
“I love this project for a number of reasons,” he said. “Firstly, they are a manufacturer, who have absolutely no interest in participating in the waste and resource recovery sector. And we’ve known for many years, if we want to supercharge this industry, the manufacturing sector is absolutely the key. I love the fact that these guys came to us and I love the fact that so many of our calls from our investment facilitation service [are from] manufacturers. They want to come to the table, and they want to use the types of high value commodities coming out of the recycling sector and plug that
“Another reason I love it is because it speaks to the importance of policy initiatives working together – it’s important that those policy levers can work together. Finally, what I also love about this is that Socobell is a commercial business, they’re not in this to be a charitable organisation. When I went out there and asked them why they did this, they said, ‘because we see such a strong signal from [the] Victorian
In the past, councils have sometimes gone head-to-head trying to get grant
money out of the state and federal treasuries. And while that is still true to some extent, Genever is finding it encouraging that there has been collaboration between various councils over projects.
“Alpine Shire Council is one example,” he says, “who brought together 10 other councils to do a project looking at how we reduce waste from tourism and events; how we recognise the challenges in those areas that have boom and bust transient populations during different times of the year. I’m really looking forward to seeing the outcomes of that project.
“Then there is the city of Darebin, which is working across 10 municipalities where they’ve got a pilot across 60 multi-unit dwellings in Melbourne to identify the most efficient way that we can reduce waste going to landfill from apartment buildings.”
Finally, there is the City of Bendigo, which is doing a regional upstream and downstream analysis by looking at its markets and opportunities specifically to create circular procurement strategies to support local recyclers and their local industries.
Overall, Genever is happy the direction the organisation is headed when it comes to creating a sustainable future for Victoria.
“Starting with your small actions,” he told the audience, “you can make a big impact by correctly sorting all of your recycling. But it’s not just recycling correctly that makes a difference, but choosing to reduce waste every day. These actions might seem small, but they make a big impact on Victoria’s sustainable future.”
LAUNCHED in February this year by the Battery Stewardship Council (BSC), the B-Cycle battery recycling scheme has recycled the equivalent of 38 million AA batteries during its first six months of inception.
The scheme has doubled the national collection rate of loose batteries and power tool batteries – “enough loose batteries to wrap halfway around the world” the BSC said in a recent report entitled Positive Charge
Inside Waste recently caught up with BSC CEO Libby Chaplin to talk about the scheme, how it’s faring, what still needs to be done, and the future of battery recycling throughout the Commonwealth.
Currently, B-Cycle is a voluntary scheme with almost 90 per cent of all battery importers on board. Chaplin would like that number to hit 100 per cent. Why the holdouts? Chaplin says it is a very competitive industry, which means margins are squeezed. While it remains voluntary, some just don’t see a value in joining the scheme. In saying that, Chaplin and the BSC think there are strategies that can be employed to get them onboard.
“I think one thing we can do is have a call to action for the buyers
from brands who are participating in the scheme,” said Chaplin. “It’s pretty easy to go to the website and see who is participating so users can easily connect the dots when buying a battery.”
When it comes to barriers to recycling, there are a couple of areas the BSC is working on based on some statistics from research it carried out in 2021.
“First, consumers need to be aware
of what to do in terms of having to recycle batteries,” said Chaplin. “But the big issue is convenience of where they can drop off their used batteries. Being able to launch with 2300 – and now moving up to 3200 – drop off locations has been important. Particularly, when you think about where they’re at – all of the Woolie stores now have a drop off location. There is also ALDI, Bunnings – all those major places where people are going all the time. Consumer awareness is a big focus for us.”
Chaplin says that she has noticed an evolution in the industry with an improvement in the awareness of the safety requirements for processing batteries. She believes the reason for the increased attentiveness is not only because of B-cycle, but also because of an international growing awareness about the importance of battery safety, particularly now that there are an increasing number of lithium batteries on the market. Lithium batteries have to be handled carefully for a number of reasons, with the main one being that if they catch fire they are hard to extinguish. She pointed out that fire safety in the general waste and recycling collection trucks is challenging. When the BSC did
its research, it found that 63 per cent of people were either putting their batteries in the general waste bin or recycling bin.
“We recommend consumers tape the terminals of the batteries, because it reduces the potential for a short circuit, which can cause a fire,” she said. “Any battery that has a charge can come up against a metal object and cause a spark and generate a fire.
“We’ve just published our own container protocols that collectors and drop-off points will be required to use for their containers. The objectives that we need them to take on board are things like fire safety, child safety – a whole range of things. It’s very much a risk-based approach – it depends on whether it’s going into a retail store or a transfer station.”
Chaplin also points out that the collection and recycling of batteries is not only great for the environment, there is also an important practical reason for wanting to keep them out of landfills.
“Another issue that’s worth noting is that battery metals are very much in the finite resources arena,” she said. “The World Bank’s climate action report that came out last year, suggested that we would be running out of some
metals used in the making of batteries by 2050 at the rate we were going. That’s not very far away, especially when you think about the incredible exponential increase in battery usage that we’re anticipating over the next few decades. It’s important that we’re starting to really understand how to conserve those resources right now.”
The potential recovery rate of some batteries is up to 95 per cent, according to Chaplin.
Currently, the recovery rate of a battery’s ingredients is about 80 per cent. The hardest parts to recover are the chemicals and some of the plastics, but generally, most of a battery can be reused or recycled.
Another issue is the type of batteries that can be included in the scheme.
As it stands, not all types are included, such as mobile phone, laptop and lead acid batteries, and batteries more than 5kgs.
“We do needs solutions for the growing market of more portable energy storage that is now starting to get into the bigger scale” said Chaplin.
For example, at my place, which is off grid, I rely on batteries that are quite large scale.
“However, when it comes to the end of life, I could literally unplug it and take it somewhere, but I cannot drop them off at Woolies as with smaller batteries. But the good news is that B-cycle will be adding these batteries to the scheme in the near future. We’re also consulting with industry to understand how to deal with larger scale energy storage from electric vehicles and other energy storage systems.”
Then comes the big question – should stewardship schemes be voluntary or legislated? For Chaplin, it’s been an interesting journey, because she’s seen what’s possible with a voluntary scheme.
She said that what they’ve been able to achieve has been remarkable – to see 90 per cent of the market to be engaged.
“A voluntary scheme like ours can be very nimble,” she said. “And a regulated scheme doesn’t have that ability. For example, collection costs this year exceeded our expectations. And we
were able to go back to the importers and offer a decrease on the discount that we’d offer at the beginning – we increased the rate from two to three cents. And we were able to do that in a couple of months.
“ Similarly, we can also reduce the levy quickly if the funds are not needed. With a regulated scheme, you would not be able to do that. I think there’s advantages of both. What I would love to see is a situation where the regulation focuses on engagement.
“There’s a motivation for industry to get on board. And once they became a participant in the scheme – which is designed and implemented and managed by industry – along with transparency and accountability, then we can report on the performance metrics. But we also have that degree of flexibility. I really do think that has been a great feature of our scheme.”
Chaplin also pointed out that what she believes is unique about the BSC is that it covers off on the entire life cycle of the battery. A lot of the schemes only have brands represented on their board, and so you don’t get that level
of discussion and debate when making decisions.
“I think that’s fortunate. I’ve really enjoyed that,” she said. “It means you can have a very robust discussion about what the real issues are; where the pressure points are; the importance of best practice and how we ensure that companies have sufficient resources to implement those.”
One of the big challenges for the BSC when negotiating industry importers joining the scheme, is that they’re very concerned about the competitive nature of the industry. At an importer meeting that the BSC had recently, the importers were still very focused on how to engage the remaining 10 per cent who are not onboard.
“That 10 per cent has a huge cost advantage by not being part of the scheme,” said Chaplin.
“Regulation could help target that and recognise that if it’s a problem product, like batteries, then there is a requirement that industry has to participate in an accredited scheme.”
The recovery rate of materials for batteries can be as high as 95 per cent.
THE NSW EPA has released the draft Climate Change Policy and Action Plan that aims to set the framework for halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (from 2005 levels), zeroing emissions by 2050, and improving NSW’s resilience to climate change impacts.
MRA welcomes the draft documents and congratulates the NSW Government on the initiative and offers.
While I understand the political dynamics of climate change, I believe the Policy and Action Plan proposals are insufficient to drive rapid decarbonisation of the economy. I also think that much more strategic intervention is required, including regulatory and price interventions. The action around waste management (which is MRA’s specialist expertise), is insufficient, however the requirement for licenced facilities to prepare a CCMAP is welcomed.
The Warnken ISE/SITA report of 2007, Management and Resource Recovery Activities in Australia, provided a roadmap for decarbonisation of the
waste sector nationally.
Actions included the diversion of organics from landfill; mandated capture of landfill gas from existing landfill stocks; an energy-from-waste program; capturing the embodied energy of materials through better recycling; and conversion of waste vehicle fleets to biodiesel.
The first four actions represent a 10 per cent reduction in Australia-wide emissions.
That same percentage would be applied to NSW. Unfortunately, the draft Climate Change Policy and Action Plan only considers the diversion of organics from landfill (in passing) and does not address itself to a few of the listed options such as:
• Mandated capture of landfill gas from existing landfill stocks.
• Energy-from-Waste.
• Capturing the embodied energy of materials through better recycling.
This is a considerable oversight and a weakness in the
policy since these are easy to achieve, ‘no regrets’ and relatively cheap abatement options.
I believe the government should set a higher aspiration for direct landfill emissions reduction in NSW, to net zero by 2030 by considering:
• mandating gas capture and flaring on all landfills with > 5,000t CO2-e/ yr emissions by 2030 with offset requirements for any fugitive emissions;
• requiring smaller landfill operators (<5,000t CO2-e/yr) to offset their emissions;
• banning commercial organics to landfill by 2027 (ie expanding on, and extending the requirement for large businesses to have a Food Collection Service by 2025); and
• mandating councils introduce FOGO services by 2027 unless they have specific contractual obligations not to (ie bringing forward the 2030 FOGO mandate).
The government should set a higher aspiration for reducing emissions associated with waste/
resource recovery by considering several issues.
These include expanding energy from waste options beyond the four approved Special Activation Precincts, as well as capturing the embodied energy of materials through better recycling. The latter can be achieved by:
• progressively increasing the landfill levy to drive resource recovery and waste processing infrastructure investment and development;
• providing landfill levy rebates to bonafide recycling facilities to accelerate expansion and capture of additional streams;
• accelerating planning approvals for waste infrastructure (eg. by developing a Waste SEPP or hatching “preferencing” waste processing infrastructure in particular areas of the IN1 zone);
• mandating recyclability as part of product/packaging design;
• mandating minimum recycled content rules in packaging, government purchasing and civil infrastructure; and
• extending the Container Deposit Refund to 20c to capture waste containers.
MRA
REMONDIS came to Australia in 1982, with 35,000 plastic wheelie bins and a contract with Penrith City Council. Today, we support 24,000 commercial and industrial customers with waste collection, processing, recycling and circular economy solutions, right across Australia. We’ve grown to 1,100 employees across 38 branches from Weipa to Coolaroo, Jandakot to St Marys. We rise to the challenge of complex waste streams and ambitious resource recovery goals and we have the scale and expertise – both local and global – to make a difference. Best of all, we love what we do.
THE Waste Innovation and Recycling Awards (WIRA) have been announced with nominations and finalists exceptional in all categories.
At a gala event held at the Melbourne Arts Centre, the Waste Innovation and Recycling Awards represented the best of the best in the waste and recycling industry, with judges stating they were impressed by the high calibre of nominations in all 12 categories. Organised in conjunction with Waste Expo Australia, WIRA was held for the second time in eight months due to the 2021 event being postponed. On behalf of the Inside Waste team, we would like to say congratulations to all winners.
The winners are:
Katherine Dodd – MRA Consulting
Katherine Dodd has more than 12 years’ experience specialising in waste management and resource recovery. She first became interested in the industry while at university conducting research on behalf of Broadcast Australia. The research was looking at how to manage e-waste, which would be generated at significant volumes when the country went from an analogue to digital world. After university, Dodd began working at URS-AECOM where she developed her industry knowledge, working with clients to support the advancement of the resource recovery industry, and a passion for leadership and mentoring.
Recycled glass construction products – Orca Civil
Orca Civil has developed a patented technology that takes glass that was once destined for landfill and makes it into a recycled glass polymer concrete that can be used in building products. The National Waste Account estimates that more than 475 kilotons of glass goes into Australian landfill annually.
Orca’s process allows all types of waste glass to be utilised. Value-added products include recycled glass pavers, modular bike lane separators and tramway separators. Every kilometre of Orca safety separators rolled out across Australian roads translates into approximately 150,000 glass bottles diverted from landfill. To date, more than 500 tonnes of glass has been diverted from landfill using the process.
Recognising individuals or companies that have implemented processes and practices
Recognising individuals aged 35 years or younger who have impressed with their contribution and impact to their organisation and excellence in service.Sponsored by ResourceCo Sponsored by Remondis Katherine Dodd with REMONDIS CEO Jochen Behr. Brad Lemmon (l), ResourceCO CEO – Recycling and Waste, with Orca Civil Products’ Alan Travers and Ken Williams.
The Macedon Ranges Shire Council targeted households by introducing a four-bin recycling system. It targeted all residents within the Shire in a campaign aimed at increasing the use of FOGO (Food Organics/Garden Organics) bins and thus diverting food waste from the general waste bin.
Macedon Ranges Shire Council was on the front foot and supported the four-bin household recycling service with a new campaign to reduce recycling contamination, increase use of FOGO and diversion of food waste from the general waste bin, and divert glass from the comingled recycling bin.
It also encouraged residents to divert glass from the comingled recycling bin to ensure there was a high-quality
comingled recycling product, which would also have the consequences of less glass going to landfill. As a result
of the campaign, the shire’s landfill diversion rate increased from 34 per cent to 76 per cent.
Re.Group’s Southern Materials Recovery Facility (SMRF) is South Australia’s largest and most advanced recycling facility. It has the capacity to process up to 70,000 tonnes annually. It was initially designed due to the COAG export bans that were implemented in 2020. The SMRF deploys advanced screening and optical sorting technologies, as well as robotic quality control, in order to meet the highest of standards of recycling purity and maximise recovery rates. The facility was developed through a joint venture between Re.Group and the Southern Region Waste Resource Authority, which is a joint subsidiary of the City of Onkaparingka, City of Marion and City of Holdfast Bay.
The City of Wanneroo’s multilingual community waste education program was brought about because the city wanted to initiate an effective communication strategy with its culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) residents.
Through community leadership partnerships, the WasteSorted – Talking My Language multilingual learning resource overcomes the difficulties experienced by CaLD demographics in understanding correct waste sorting information due to language or literacy barriers. Since April 2021, the city has empowered more than 50 community leaders and teachers, who have managed to get more than 900 residents to participate in the scheme.
Recognising new infrastructure projects that commenced operating in 2021 or 2022.
Recognising councils that have rolled out programs/initiatives that have measurable success in engaging and communicating with the community, resulting in positive outcomes for the industry.Sponsored by VISY Mike Wheeler, managing editor of Inside Waste and Waste Management Review with Andrew Johnson, Visy General Manager - Local Government Contracts & Services.
Recognising projects that have delivered cost-effective and high-impact success in their targeted fields.
The Mordialloc Freeway Project in Victoria is a 9-kilometre link between the Mornington Peninsula Freeway and Dingley Bypass. Within the project there are several grade-separated interchanges, bridges that pass over wetlands and Mordialloc Creek, as well as a pathway that runs along the alignment. McConnell Dowell and Decmil Joint Venture completed the project in 2021 on behalf of Major Roads Projects Victoria. They did so by implementing the state’s Recycled First Policy, whose brief includes utilising sustainable procurement, and collaborating with companies who can supply such products to these projects. By doing so, the companies saved 300,000 tonnes of materials going to landfill as well as stopping 4000 tonnes of greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere.
Recognising leaders who hold senior positions, who have shaped their business’ success, delivered financial growth, significantly and positively impacted the business’ culture and championed the industry widely.
George Hatzimanolis –Repurpose It
Repurpose It CEO George Hatzimanolis started his working life in the road maintenance industry, where he spent the best part of a decade in various states helping them keep their road networks up to scratch. He founded Repurpose It in 2017 with its main mission to help Australia transition to a circular economy. Under Hatzimanolis’s leadership, Repurpose It has grown to almost 200 employees, who are continually disrupting the industry with technology that turns ‘untreatable’ waste into usable products, as well as
“Under Hatzimanolis’s leadership, Repurpose It has grown to more than 160 employees, who are continually disrupting the industry with innovative technology that turns ‘untreatable’ waste into usable products.”
building a business that is sustainable from every aspect of its operations. This includes contributing to the sustainability of the environment, finding end markets, and making sure material flows are consistent.
Repurpose It Operations team –
Having been founded in 2017 by George Hatzimanolis, Repurpose It has gone from four staff to almost 200 in a five-year period. Hatzimanolis leads a team that is passionate about resource recovery and sees the responsible recycling and reuse of waste as a great business opportunity. The company’s operations team is the heartbeat of the organisation. From delivering its daily business activities – including making high-quality repurposed materials – to delivering on capital programs, as well as making sure its operations are optimised while maintaining a high level of quality and safety, the team is motivated to provide customers with the highest quality of sustainable products. The team is focused on driving a zero-harm culture and strives for operational excellence. It is driven to not only add to the commercial success of the business, but also socially and environmentally.
MRA is an environmental consultancy firm, specialising in all aspects of waste and recycling. The company has a mentoring policy in place to provide employees the opportunity to connect with contractors or senior consultants to learn and develop skills. It also encourages junior staff to work and learn from senior staff members.
MRA has written and implemented a Diversity and Inclusion Policy. With the roll out of this policy, MRA organised a cultural awareness workshop run by Big River Connections. It is dedicated to upskilling employees to progress in their careers, by giving them the chance to manage projects, speak at conferences, and participate in business development. The company sends a yearly survey to its employees asking about satisfaction and ways to improve, in order to evolve and grow the business in the direction that includes the views from employees.
Recognising any private, not-for-profit or government organisation that has proven to achieve high levels of workplace engagement.Recognising excellence or teams that have achieved demonstrable improvements in efficiency,Sponsored by Tomra Cleanaway Repurpose It CEO George Hatzimanolis (l) with company GM of Operations and Major Projects, Ari Karavias.
Healy is the founder of Boxhead Plastics, a non-for-profit social enterprise that collects, recycles and remanufactures scrap plastic car bumper bars. After 15 years of public service, Healy retrained as a polymer technician and pioneered an innovative process that repurposes low-grade plastic waste car bumper bars into products such as golf tees and coasters. According to Healy, the Australian automotive industry’s plastic recycling rate currently sits at approximately 1.9 per cent. Healy’s team at Boxhead is determined to keep this waste stream out of the landfill, while at the same time supporting local jobs and manufacturing.
This is for consultancies with less than 50 people. As well as being voted on by clients, voters were asked to cite a project that the consultancy worked on, and whether the outcome set out in the original scope was met.
MRA Consulting
This award covers consultancies with more than 50 people in the organisation. As with the Small Consultancy of the Year, voters were asked to cite a project that was worked on and whether those aforementioned outcomes were met.
GHD
Recognising women in the industry who have driven change and continue to do so.Sponsored by Re.Group Maree Noble, Treasurer of Boxhead Plastics, and Frank Noble, Committee Member of Boxhead Plastics, with Re.Group’s Chief Development Officer, Garth Lamb. GHD’s Bettina Zimmermann, Senior Environmental Geologist, GHD, and David Gamble, Senior Technical Director at GHD.
Ourservicesinclude:
Re.Group
Maximising the social & environmental benefits of container return schemes returnit.com.au
Maximising the social& environmental benefitsof container returnschemes returnit.com.au
Combining world’s best technology with Australian know-how rdtaust.com
Combiningworld’sbest technology with Australian know-how rdtaust.com
THE annual Consultants Survey is here again. As in past years, the survey is divided into two categories – those with under 50 staff and those with more than 50 staff. In the small consultancy category almost 50 consultancies received votes from their peers and clients. Once again MRA and A Prince Consulting were well represented in various categories, with newcomer ASK Waste Management, based out of Coffs Harbour, making a splash and taking out the honours in the Design and Engineering Facilities category and placing in several others.
In the large category, GHD won the overall honours, with the likes of Ricardo, KPMG and REMONDIS Integrated and Managed Services making inroads into the highly competitive market.
marginally Design and Engineering Facilities 1) ASK Waste Management 2) Talis Consultants 3) Arup/SMEC Consulting Australia Landfill 1) MRA Consulting Group 2) Talis Consultants 3) SMEC Australia Technology/Infrastructure Review and Evaluation 1) MRA Consulting Group 2) ASK waste Management 3) A Prince Consulting Strategy, Policy and Planning 1) MRA Consulting Group 2) A Prince Consulting 3) Blue Environment Economic Evaluation and Modelling 1) MRA Consulting Group 2) ASK Waste Management
who had used the services of a consultancy. Congratulations to all 3) A Prince Consulting Education and Training 1) MRA Consulting 2) ASK Waste Management 3) A Prince Consulting Environmental/Greenhouse Management, Reporting and Compliance 1) MRA Consulting 2) ASK Waste Management 3) A Prince Consulting Environmental Approvals 1) MRA Consulting 2) ASK Waste Management 3) Talis Consultants Procurement 1) MRA Consulting 2) ASK Waste Management 3) Talis Consultants
placed in the Top 3 of the various categories. Small
Company Overview:
Komptech CEA is the Australasian distributor of Komptech machinery and systems for the treatment and processing of solid waste and organics waste materials for recovery and recycling. Our product range includes over 30 different types of both mobile and stationary machines that cover all key processes in modern waste processing including:
• Single-shaft and dual-shaft industrial shredders
• Compost windrow turners for commercial operations
• Star screen and trommel screen machines
• Material separation equipment including windsifters, ballistic separators and stone contaminant separators
• Stationary recycling system solutions including shredders, separators and screening machines
Brands:
• Diamond Z
• Screenpod
• Trackstack
• Rowan
• Komptech
Core Capabilities:
With a specialised product portfolio that includes over thirty different types of machines covering all key processes in modern waste handling, a consultative guiding approach to solution development for customers, and full service aftersales support and parts, Komptech CEA has become a leading supplier to the recycling and waste processing industry. Providing customer value is our focus as we strive to be the industry’s technological leader through continual innovation. Komptech CEA is dedicated to working with you to help you solve your waste problems and identify opportunities with comprehensive, detailed solutions driven by world-class technology.
Contact Details: Sydney 50 Skyline Crescent Horningsea Park, NSW 2171 1300 788 757 www.komptechcea.com.au
Melbourne 1/97 Monash Drive, Dandenong South VIC 3175 1300 788 757 www.komptechcea.com.au
Brisbane 11 Kiln St, Darra 4076 1300 788 757 www.komptechcea.com.au
Adelaide 260 Cormack Rd Wingfield, SA 5013 1300 788 757 www.komptechcea.com.au
Perth 1 Yagine Close, Perth Airport WA 6105 1300 788 757 www.komptechcea.com.au
Auckland 96 Gavin Street Mt Wellington 1060 0800 435 269 www.komptechcea.com.au
Key Contacts: Deon Cope Product Manager 0408 059 231 d.cope@cea.net.au
Komatsu Forest is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of forest machines. We are represented on six world continents by a network of dealers and our own sales companies.
Komatsu Forest’s head office is in Umeå, Sweden, and we have two manufacturing units, in Sweden and the USA. Our own sales companies are located in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, Austria, France, United Kingdom, Russia, USA, Australia and Brazil, and our network of dealers represent us on all other important forestry markets.
Our extensive service organisation takes care of the machines, ensuring that they perform their best throughout their service lives. We have workshops throughout the world, service vehicles for quick assistance, in-house machine and methodology instructors to help maximise productivity, and support functions for everything related to our machines and services.
We offer products and services that
increase productivity while simplifying the working day for you as a machine owner.
We combine all our services under our Customer Care concept. This is our promise that you will enjoy the benefits of Komatsu Forest’s investments in research, development, servicing, support, logistics and innovative services. These combined resources are at the very heart of Komatsu Forest’s offer.
Our goal is to make your working day as safe, problem-free and profitable as possible, no matter where in the world you operate. Let us show you that by choosing Komatsu, peace of mind and accessibility can become a natural part of your working day.
Brands
• Komatsu
• Peterson
• TimberPro
Core Capabilities:
Our world-wide network of highly trained service professionals is ready for you.
We know how important it is to be
close to service and maintenance when help is needed. Therefore, we have a market-wide network of highly trained service professionals that knows your Komatsu, Peterson & Timberpro machine in every detail. They are, in turn, in constant contact with the Komatsu Forest head office so your voice or needs are never more than a call away from our collective expertise. Furthermore, we are constantly developing new services that will help you in your everyday work.
We offer:
• Workshops and field services throughout Australia & New Zealand
• Well qualified personnel with expert knowledge of Komatsu & affiliated machines
• Field Service that enables us to remain close to you and your
machine
• Support and maintenance throughout your machine’s service life
• Maintenance agreements with fixed maintenance prices and other benefits
Contact Details:
AUSTRALIA
Komatsu Forest Pty Ltd
4/11 Ave of Americas Newington, NSW 2127
T : +61 2 9647 3600
E : info.au@komatsuforest.com
NEW ZEALAND
Komatsu Forest Pty Ltd
15C Hyland Cres Rotorua, New Zealand
M: John Kosar + 64 274 865 844
M: Paul Roche + 64 21 350 747
Tricon is one of Australia’s leading suppliers of mobile crushing, screening, recycling, conveyor and associated spare parts. Tricon is also the exclusive distributor for Superior Industries on the east coast of Australia. Founded in 2001, Tricon is now widely recognised as one of Australia’s leading materials handling machine suppliers.
Tricon’s industry reputation is built on our track record of continually meeting customer expectations and demand for supply, as well as value-add services including maintenance, servicing, inspections, training, and repairs. We understand the importance of the productivity and reliability of our products to your business. We also understand the value of minimising downtime and offer a highly responsive after-sales and spare parts service. Our attention to the detail helps your business in its day-to-day operations, ensuring efficiency and productivity. We’re also committed to building longterm relationships with our customers through customised after-sales programs.
We ensure our customers receive the right equipment, at the right price, delivered on time to meet project schedules. We pride ourselves on acting as a trusted partner who can help educate and inform our customers on new product development and training. Tricon has a well-established and loyal customer base, having dedicated ourselves to deliver exemplary customer service, support, and satisfaction for over 20 years.
Our trained service engineers have experience with a wide range of crushing, conveyor, and screening equipment. We have access to a huge range of OEM and after-market spare parts, ensuring the longevetiy of your machine.
Our products and services meet, and in most instances exceed, Australian quality, safety, and environmental standards. Tricon works in alignment to AS/NZS ISO 9001-2016 and management systems comply with Commonwealth and state legislation. Our suppliers, fabricators, and designers work safely and efficiently all using industry best practices, as well as
Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI) is a global leader in energy from waste (EfW), anaerobic digestion (AD) and Power-to-Gas, acting as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor delivering complete turnkey plants and system solutions for energy recovery from waste.
Since 2015, HZI Australia, a 100% subsidiary of HZI, is developing new projects in Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific. Its first project, the 300,000 tpy East Rockingham WtE is now in construction and will start commercial operation in 2023.
• Thermal treatment of residual waste, energy recovery, flue gas treatment, and residue recycling
• Wet and dry anaerobic digestion of food & green resources, renewable power production, biogas upgrading to biomethane and bio-CNG
• Power-to-Gas for volatile electricity into renewable synthetic gas for a carbonneutral economy
• Development, Design, Build, Finance, Own, Operation & Maintenance
Brands:
• Hitachi Zosen
• Aquaroll, DYNOR, Kompogas,
• HZI Etogas, HZI DryMining
Energy from Waste, Renewable Gas, Project Development, EPC, O&M, Asset Management
Hitachi Zosen Inova has been awarded another contract to deliver a gas upgrading unit to Denmark.
Since September 2018 the operating company KW Energi A/S, 20 kilometres north of the German border city of Flensburg, has been treating organic waste and agricultural residues by anaerobic wet fermentation to produce renewable electricity. Now the capacity of the biogas plant is to be increased and a system
Davis is an industry leader in mobile waste processing in NSW. The company has a range of over 100 pieces of Plant & Equipment on offer for hire or contract in our privately owned fleet. All equipment is modern, portable and efficient.
We offer services in Green Waste Recycling, Glass & Concrete Recycling, C&D Shredding, Crushing, Screening, Land Clearing, Mulching, Haulage, Recycled Products & Landscape Supplies. Established in 1975, we are proudly Australian, family-owned and operated, contracting state-wide in NSW.
Davis has a reliable reputation and extensive experience gained over 45 years. We are regular contractors for Councils in NSW and have completed tens of thousands of government, civil and commercial projects.
For decades we have been delivering high rates of resource recovery. We process, supply and deliver quality materials using innovative and environmentally responsible solutions. We process over a quarter of a million tonnes of material per annum. CEO Eric Davis has in-depth knowledge and experience in
sustainable recycling. The company’s focus is recycling and repurposing materials that would otherwise end up in landfill using our high-powered equipment. Our aim is to transform the way the world views and values waste, striving forward towards a circular economy.
Products and Services:
• Green Waste Recycling
• Low Speed, High Speed, C&D Shredding
• Crushing & Concrete Recycling
• Glass Recycling
• Screening
• Forest Mulching, Timber & Stump Grinding
• Land Clearing, Road Widening & Forestry
added to clean the biogas and upgrade it to biogas-based natural gas.
The supplier of the installation is HZI BioMethan GmbH, a German subsidiary of Zurich-based Swiss greentech group Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI). Gas upgrading specialist HZI BioMethan designs and manufactures amine scrubbing and membrane systems at their premises and own production facilities near Hamburg.
A membrane-based gas separation process will be used to separate the carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane contained in the raw gas. The result is biomethane, a renewable natural gas equivalent. The membrane system can produce a good 4.2 million Nm³ of biogas-based natural gas a year. This corresponds to the annual heating energy requirements of more than 2,800 fourperson households. In addition to the high-performance, economical plant technology in standard design, including service and maintenance services, HZI’s successful bid was also
down to a short delivery time of less than ten months.
The plant is due to be commissioned in mid-autumn, with plans to feed the first gas into the grid before the end of the year.
For more information visit: https://bit. ly/3UnqxaE
Contact Details:
Hitachi Zosen Inova Australia Pty Ltd Level 16, 1 DenisonNorth Sydney, NSW 2060
Phone: 02-8003 4110 Email: info@hz-inova.com Web site: www.inova.com
Key Contacts: Dr Marc Stammbach 02 – 8003 4110 info@hz-inova.com
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• Picking Stations; Kiverco
• Forestry Mulchers; FAE
• Excavators 1.8 to 46 tonne; CAT, Komatsu
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Davis offers high-powered, mobile waste processing equipment for hire or contract in NSW. Our Low Speed Shredders process bulky C&D, logs, palms, carpet, tyres & mattresses with ease. Our Horizontal Grinders process green waste, C&D, timber, stumps & logs. Our mobile Crushers recycle concrete, brick, rock and glass. Mobile and Trommel Screens process
soil, timber & green waste. We have equipment available for forestry mulching, subdivisions, road constructions, grubbing, firebreaks. We operate our own service centre for scheduled maintenance and field repairs, this guarantees safety, quality and maximum efficiency for our machinery with minimum down time for our customers. We are dedicated to maximizing productivity and efficiently recovering environmentally sustainable and quality recycled products for beneficial reuse.
Contact Details:
Davis Earthmoving & Quarrying Pty Ltd PO BOX 19
TERREY HILLS NSW 2084
Phone: (02) 9450 2288 Email: davisem@davisem.com.au Web: davisem.com.au
Company Overview:
With 17 years of experience providing machinery in Australia and New Zealand, CSS Recycling Equipment Solutions is a trusted source of quality machinery.
From complete plant solutions to ad hoc machinery and technology, CSS Recycling Equipment Solutions takes a client centred approach to maximise waste and recycling operations and deliver improvements right down to the bottom line.
CSS Recycling Equipment Solutions encompass applications for C&D, C&I, MSW, General Waste, Organics, FOGO, Biomass / Wood, Scrap Metal, hard to process waste and RDF/SRF.
The CSS Recycling Equipment solutions approach is comprehensive, starting with on site reviews of existing processes, machinery and capability, analysis of business objectives, challenges, and end materials. By working closely with clients,
our exclusive global suppliers and our vast network of operators and manufacturers, we deliver results.
CSS Recycling Equipment Solutions are sourced from around the world, are proven and reliable and importantly have been tried and tested in our region and with our unique standards and environment.
Products/Services:
Specialising in all aspects of reduction, separation and recycling technology:
• Complete consultative and collaborative plant design and delivery
• Fuel Preparation Technology
• Shredding
• Screening
• Air Separation (Windshifters, Air Knife, Density Separation)
• Baling and Shear Baling
• Plastics Washing and Preparation
• FOGO
• Waste to Energy technology
Company Overview:
Ecocycle Industries has built a reputation of renown for the handling and processing of Mercury based waste in Australia. With some 20 years of experience, we have the National network with facilities in each State to support and look after our valued clients. We deal with most of the larger waste company’s, councils, and industry direct.
Mercury is seen in lighting waste, dental amalgam, button cell batteries, TV’s – computer monitors, and lap tops, and other waste catalyst, soils etc and we are able to handle and recycle all these various types of waste.
We have a range of specialised stillages, smaller bins, Hook Bins, cabinets, boxes and DG approved containers, with DG registered trucks and DG licenced drivers.
This unique processing ability with the National footprint has allowed us to move into Battery Recycling “EcoBatt” and E Waste recycling “Eco E Waste” and
links nicely into what we do with metal recycling at Recycal. We have our foundries “Castings Tasmania” melting down our steel and making quality castings for industry in Australia and “ACL Metal Powders” using scrap copper, lead and tin to make Copper based powders for our export markets. This vertical integration allows to use most of the recover metals in house and have the highest recycling rates while making green products from recycled metals and solar power.
You can be confident when using our group you will have your materials recycled safely and efficiently, with a first class service back up with quality equipment and containers that will give you the confidence and comfort needed.
Contact Details:
Ecocycle Industries
5-11 Reo Crescent Campbellfield Melbourne Victoria 3061 Phone 613 93089415
Brands:
• 3Tek Scrap Metal technologies (USA)
• Ecostar Dynamic Screens (Italy)
• Ecohog Air Separation Technologies (Northern Ireland)
• Hammel Recyclingtechnik (Germany)
• Jono Enviro (China)
• Vezzani (Italy)
Core Capabilities:
Collaborate, consult, design, deliver and the supply of high quality equipment and plant solutions for C&D, C&I, Biomass, Organics, Wood Waste, FOGO, MSW, Scrap Metal industries.
Source innovative and strategic solutions both within and outside of our stable of equipment solutions, always with the client’s outcome as our focus.
Leverage
Specialists in:
• Hard to process waste and recycling
• Mobile and static processing solutions
• Manufacture of custom components
• High quality and on budget projects
Contact Details:
CSS Recycling Solutions
PO Box 359, Dee Why NSW 2099
Phone: 1800 644 978 Email: info@cssequipment.com.au Web: www.cssequipment.com.au
• Truck wheel washes for EPA and road safety compliance.
Brands:
Company Overview:
As one of Australia’s leading measurement and automation solutions providers, we at Diverseco pride ourselves on the sheer scope of our problem-solving expertise and supply of industry leading innovative technologies. We are heavily involved across a wide range of industries, with a comprehensive solutions portfolio specific for the waste management industry that includes both driver-specific solutions and operations management solutions for material recovery facilities.
Products and Services:
• Waste vehicle on-board payload optimisation and overload monitoring (Chain of Responsibility and legal-fortrade operations).
• Weighbridges and portable truck scales for accurate vehicle weighing and accountability.
• Accuweigh
• AccuOnboard
• BinWeigh
• TruckWeigh
• DigiSens
Core Capabilities:
At Diverseco, our core capabilities reside in our ability to meet and exceed customer requirements through our extensive problemsolving resources, project management, and after-sales support and service: we are ideal partners for any organisation looking to turn their operational problems into new, profitable capabilities.
Contact Details: 3309 Logan Road Underwood, QLD, 4119 M: 1300 069 970
E: enquiries@diverseco.com.au W: diverseco.com.au
detailed and practical advice to support your waste and resource recovery needs.
Contact Details:
MRA Head Office
Suite 408 Henry Lawson Building, 19 Roseby Street Drummoyne NSW 2047 02 8541 6169 info@mraconsulting.com.au www.mraconsulting.com.au
MRA is one of Australia’s leading environmental consultancy firms, specialising in all aspects of waste and recycling. We are experts in waste, resource recovery and the circular economy, technology, climate change, carbon and sustainable development. Our vision of the future is one that is both environmentally sustainable and economically rational. With over 35 professionals in environmental science, engineering, law and finance, working across Australia we have the experience and technical knowledge to provide
Customised advice to all levels of government and corporations. Our objective is to collaborate with you from the initial briefing process through to project development and implementation of solutions specifically tailored to your needs in the fields of:
Strategy & Commercial – Innovative and tailored strategies
Circular Economy – Help move your organisation or material towards a circular economy model
Planning & Approvals – Development and planning approvals and licensing services
Contracts & Tenders – Preparation, review and assessment
Organics – Business case, collection processing and market development solutions
Grants – Scoping, application, writing, review and administration
Waste Education – Effective and engaging programs
Auditing – Research and compliance audits
Carbon – Climate adaptation, ERF reporting and accounting
Company Overview:
Garwood International a 100% Australian owned & family operated business. All equipment purchased from Garwood International is supported via our comprehensive aftermarket services. With our head office located in Sydney, we also have Service and Sales in Melbourne and Brisbane. We can partner with any of your existing service providers Australia wide.
Products and Services:
GARWOOD Garbage COMPACTORS
Rear, Side, Dualpact & Front Loaders.
• Footpath Sweepers
• Tow Behind Trailer Brooms
• Bin Weighing Systems
• Enviroweigh, LoadWeigh and VOPS™
2 bin weighing equipment
Garwood International has grown to become a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of specialised waste and recycling collection and compaction equipment. The company’s reputation for high quality, innovative products, together with its enviable record of outstanding customer service and after-sales support, has delivered strong and consistent growth over the past three decades both in Australia and Internationally.
Clients:
Our Clients range from City Councils, National and International Airports, Department of Defence to Local Government Sectors and Private Contractors.
Contact Details:
Garwood International Ph: 02 9756 3756
3 Hexham Place, Wetherill Park, NSW, 2164, Australia
Website: www.garwoodinternational.com.au
Contact Details: Harrie - 0414 37 66 99 E: info@spartel.com.au W: www.FAB-COM.com.au
Spartel Pty Ltd was founded in 1995 by Dr Harrie Hofstede, specialist waste management scientist in waste composting and pollution control. The company has a consulting arm, Hofstede & Associates, and waste technology R&D programme under the umbrella. The R&D has resulted in six patents in international markets. We have designed and developed two main large-scale composting systems under the FABCOM® Brand. FABCOM® Tunnels and the FABCOM® MAF system.
Core Capabilities:
The overall core capability is all
aspects organic waste processing from waste generation to soil beneficiation products, technology, process data processing and control, odour prevention and control
Products and Services:
• FABCOM® Tunnel compost plants
• FABCOM® MAF composting system
• Wireless data transmission and processing over a 2 km radius
• Aeration controlled by process data
• Remote access process control
• Design and construct of compost plants
• Development and optimisation of compost process and products
• ODOROV™ effective odour control agent for organic waste
• High nitrogen composts (4% N)
Recent Projects/Installations: :
FABCOM® MAF SUEZ Newcastle
Raymond Terrace NSW
Dedicated FABCOM® MAF aeration system for post Bedminster compost maturation & drying; Capacity 10,000 tpa
Brands:
• Genox
• Polystar
Contact Details:
55-61 Nissan Drive Dandenong VIC 3175
Phone: 03 9706 8066
Email: sales@appliedmachinery.com.au Web: www.appliedmachinery.com.au
Company Overview:
Applied Machinery is one of Australia’s largest suppliers of quality recycling machinery. Over 30 years industry experience enables us to deliver turnkey solutions for all manner of recycling applications across Australia.
Products and Services:
• Shredders and granulators
• Plastic washing, tyre, and e-waste recycling plants
• Repelletising systems/screen changers
• Polystyrene recycling machines
• Fimic
• Greenmax
Core Capabilities:
Applied Machinery has the capability to service the smallest single machine requirement, through to the largest of multi-site, staged installations and complete recycling line, turn-key projects. We supply some of Australia’s largest recycling organisations. A wide range of shredders and granulators are always in stock for quick delivery.
Recent Projects/Installations:
Port Macquarie
Polystar Repelletising system and Genox large format shredder to drive recycling operations in the Port Macquarie region and reduce the need for transport of recyclables to metropolitan centres.
Products and Services:
East Coast Office 0447 393363 West Coast Office 0422 525 985 solutions@cooeedata.com cooeedata.com
Cooee provides a cost-effective gatehouse data solution for small to medium-sized landfills and transfer stations. We have a great team with decades of waste experience and dedicated data engineers who ensure that Cooee is set up to meet each of our customer’s unique needs and circumstances. Therefore, saving our customers from frustration and wasted time and money.
• Cooee – Waste Facility Data Solutions, inc:
• Conversion of volumes to tonnage by waste type
• Manage and monitor tip pass use
• Account holder management & invoicing
• Compliance data capture and reporting
• Operational oversight.
Core Capabilities:
We work with our customers to ensure that Cooee is customised to meet their needs and services. Easy to use, the accurate data from Cooee drives good decisions. You can check waste quantities and revenues at a glance, seamlessly manage tip passes and even work in off-line environments.
Richardson Road landfill and transfer station. Shire of Harvey. Customisation, installation, training and commissioning of Cooee at the Council’s waste facility. At the Council’s request, their version of Cooee includes operational and compliance facility checklists. These are sent to their Waste Officer to review and promptly act upon if there are any issues.
Landfill data systems. Shire of Derby West Kimberley. Due to the remote location of the facilities, Cooee’s ability to operate in an off-line environment is important. Cooee provides up-to-date account holder transactions for prompt invoicing.
Company Overview:
Australasian Specialty Coatings – ASC – is an experienced coatings company located in Blacktown. We work in Construction and Maintenance and provide a range of Protective Coatings and Treatments for Concrete & Steel. We have been established since 2003 and we have a strong track record in achieving outstanding results for our customers. ASC successfully works with a wide variety of customers including Sydney Water, Ericsson, Veolia Environmental and Water Services, Suez Water and Waste Services, Unilever, Coca Cola Australia, General Mills, Bega Foodservice, George Weston Foods, Diageo, etc.
ASC is an experienced organisation with ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 Certified Management Systems as well as the NSW Government 5th Edition. We are also members of the Master Builders Association.
Flooring (Epoxy and polyurethane) – Commercial & Industrial Floor Resurfacing, Concrete Remediation, Concrete Repair, Anti-Slip Flooring, Anti-Static Flooring, AGV Flooring, Self-Levellers, Demarcation & Line marking
Densifiers, Waterproofing Membranes, Sealers, Concrete Resurfacing, Epoxy and Polyurethane Flooring, Chemical Bund Linings, Acid-Resistant Coatings
Protective Painting Services
Abrasive Blasting, Vapour Blasting, Shot-Blasting, Corrosion Control Coatings, Chemical Resistant Coatings
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AFTER spending two years at University in China, Cecilia Wu arrived in Australia to complete her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering before getting her masters at the University of Wollongong. What made environmental engineering her career of choice?
“I purely wanted to study Environmental Engineering to do something for society. ”
Like a lot of young professionals interviewed by Inside Waste, Wu mentions there was not a lot of coverage during the degree when it comes to waste or waste management.
“We spent a lot of time learning about water and wastewater treatment, and how we manage it, but the same level of focus was not given to waste, which is why the sector fascinated me.”
However, she felt it gave her a lot of options to explore when doing her master’s degree. Wu did a life cycle analysis of the PET bottle as one of the assignments – from a raw material extracted from the ground through to how it ended up as waste and what type of carbon footprint it would leave behind once it was at the end of its life cycle.
“I have found that Australia’s environmental focus is shifting and evolving at a rapid pace, from diversion from landfill to emission reduction to net zero. It interests me and makes me want to be part of it,” she said.
When Wu graduated, she got a role as an environmental engineer for Suez. Over a two-and-a-half-year period she became a business development co-ordinator (graduate) and then a business development co-ordinator. She continued that role when Veolia took over Suez in March 2022. She is also chair of the NSW Young Professionals Working Group, a WMRR initiative that “was formed to provide a forum for career development and networking for young professionals working, or seeking work, in the waste management and resource recovery industry”.
Her first role was state based, where she would go on site and see the dayto-day operations in different facilities. That included organic processing, and residual waste processing.
“I visited a lot of sites, and I did a lot of audits,” Wu said. “I was doing waste auditing at Camden and the Eastern Creek organic processing line. I really appreciated this hands-on experience because that really helped me to understand the reality of the waste
industry. It was enjoyable.”
Wu’s current role is as a business development co-ordinator, which is part of Veolia’s business development team that looks after major infrastructure development. This includes the energy-from-waste projects that the company is currently working on. Other opportunities include FOGO processing, sourcing the feedstock, as well as finding off-take partners and strategic partners, and getting approvals for such infrastructure.
“With my current role I am more exposed to a variety of different projects,” she said. “I am also exposed to different external parties, engagement with communities, and I dabble in the finance side of things. There are many decisions to make.”
One of the exciting aspects of working for a multinational company such as Veolia is the opportunity to work in different locations around the world. Having already lived in China, and now Australia, Wu has seen how the different bureaucracies deal with the various waste streams.
“I want to get to know the different waste management systems in different places,” she said. “I do see a huge difference in how people will look at waste and how people manage it, from country to country. In China, my home city didn’t really have a systematic way to source separate.
“When I came to Australia, I started learning. I started seeing the changes – even the bin system is constantly evolving in different states, and now I’m part of making that happen for the better of the environment.”
On a personal level, Wu wants to develop more technical skills, particularly around plastic recycling. Also, secondary processing is of interest to her, such as how things can be recycled better. Wu is also constantly asking questions of herself when implementing tasks and projects, especially if they relate to the circular economy.
“We constantly need to ask ourselves, ‘is it the right solutions for the right material?’” she said. “Is this really going to bring us one step closer to the circular economy?
“For me, if you want to close the loop, you have to replace raw materials one by one with the reused waste, or with the material that’s being recycled back into the manufacturing chain. Otherwise, it’s not circular.”
intrinsic to making the waste industry more appealing to graduates and making sure it’s on top of everything in terms of meeting legislative targets and doing better for the environment?
“I’d probably focus on two main areas – one is education,” she said. “Everyone talks about it, but education is important because I think the public has a knowledge gap of how they perceive the waste industry and what the reality is.
“For example, waste management is understood to be an essential service, but on a day-to-day level we don’t really think about it. When we talk about essential services, we usually talk about water supply and electricity. But if our bin doesn’t get picked up, we realise how critical it is.”
Wu would like to see the various levels of government and bodies working closer with the waste industry.
“Being part of the WMRR Young
“We constantly need to be asking ourselves, ‘is this the right solution for the right material?’”
meeting, we do appreciate that we need close engagement with government.”
Wu said some of the common themes she comes across during these meetings include such things as ‘creating enough support’ and, ‘participating in industry regulation discussions’.
Wu loves statistics. She points out that Australia generates 2.6 million tonnes of plastic per annum with more than two million tonnes going to landfill. She wants to find solutions so that doesn’t happen anymore.
“Australia has so much potential to recycle more, and I feel really lucky that I’m at the forefront of making that happen, by working to build the necessary infrastructure and helping to drive behaviour change.
“It’s an exciting time for the sector as we drive the shift towards a circular economy. If everyone works together I’m confident we can get there.”
Scipher Technologies, based in Melbourne, recently took delivery of a brand new Hammel Recyclingtechnik VB 650 Electric Primary Shredder. Scipher is using the unit to process e-waste. With more than 60 active Hammel Shredders in the Pacific region, this is the first electric Hammel primary shredder in Australia, marking the beginning of a new era. The electric unit reduces costs, specifically addressing the rising cost of diesel, requires no cooling and has low energy use, is cheap to run, and is powerful. The unit also has a long life expectancy and is suitable for indoor use. Scipher is pleased with the performance of the VB650. CSS Recycling Equipment is seeing a surge in requests for electric machines, and predicts the trend to continue.
high-powered horizontal grinders allow for achieving smaller particle sizes and create products for beneficial re-use such as mulch, soil conditioners and compost. The company runs the high-capacity 1,050-hp Diamond Z DZH6000 Series and 1,050-hp Peterson 5710C designed for operations requiring high production and frequent moves between jobs.
“All of our shredding and grinding equipment is built on tracks for excellent mobility across sites and to navigate the toughest terrains. Being mobile allows for convenient processing at any location on job sites,” said Eric Davs, CEO of Davis Earthmoving.
Pronar MRW 2.85G twin-shaft, primary low-speed shredder.
Then there is the company’s waste assassin, the Komptech Terminator, a high-torque, single-shaft, primary lowspeed shredder.
Davis can handle difficult materials that once would have been considered un-shreddable.
Products such as rubber tyres, which are slow to decompose and toxic to the environment.
natural resources. Davis Earthmoving and Quarrying is one company that is working to extend the life of materials via its mobile recycling and waste management services.
When it comes to recycling heavyduty materials, it calls for heavy-duty machinery. Davis supplies high-volume, high-powered mobile recycling equipment for hire or contract across NSW. With more than 100 different types of machinery, and a growing fleet, the company is experiencing dynamic development in its equipment line up. The company’s mobile recycling
shredders and high-speed horizontal grinders.
Davis is armed with a range of half a dozen horizontal grinder and shredder models that are highly efficient in tackling a variety of difficult-to-process materials. These include large-scale construction and demolition materials, mattresses, tyres, carpets, bulky waste, landfill waste, greenwaste, timber, logs and pallets.
High-speed horizontal grinders are key to the company’s large-scale mulching operations, able to efficiently recycle timber and greenwaste. The
“We have a commitment to quality. Therefore it’s important for us to run current equipment models with the most up-to-date technologies,” said Davis. “This allows us to achieve the most efficient material processing, and to provide high output for our customers. By running new equipment, we are minimising the risk of breakdowns and lost time in servicing.”
This enables Davis to provide the consistently reliable service. In addition, the company has its own service team who are experts in the equipment and can carry out quick repairs in the field if required.
Built tough for the toughest of shredding applications are the company’s low-speed shredders, for processing nearly all types of difficult waste with ease. One of their top performers is the
“Recycling tyres is an especially important material to recycle, due to the large volume generated annually. Another product that has seen increase in demand for recycling is mattresses. This is where our shredders come into play as they can sufficiently handle recycling of large volumes of tyres and mattresses,” Davis said.
Successfully operating for almost 50 years, Davis contracts mobile recycling services to councils, recycling facilities, private clients and land clearing operations in NSW.
“Our aim is to recover materials for repurpose and beneficial reuse. We’ve been committed to recycling for decades, and will continue to be for decades more to come. We hope our work can improve sustainability rates in Australia. By continuing to invest in extending the equipment line up, the company is a serious player in the recycling sector, with big plans for the future,” said Davis.
Recycling creates some of the toughest operating environments for equipment and machinery components. On any given day, machines might grapple with extreme loads, dust contamination, falling debris and temperature fluctuations. And lots of these workhorses are in need of proper maintenance.
In an industry where productivity is critical, the steel raw materials used to manufacture the equipment warrant a closer look. In fact, the properties of the steel, combined with the selection of the right steel type based on the application or process, can literally make or break the equipment.
Hardox steel comes in a range of grades, widths and thicknesses. But regardless of grade or thickness, the right balance between hardness, toughness and workability is crucial for enabling the optimal design of equipment and attachments and for achieving high performance in aggressive environments.
Hardness and toughness aren’t just marketing buzzwords; they’re mechanical engineering terms that describe material properties. With a combination of through-hardness and toughness, Hardox steel possesses structural properties that differentiate it
from traditional abrasion-resistant steel, which is prone to cracking and wear and requires frequent replacement. Normally, as hardness increases, the steel’s formability and weldability decrease. But the toughness of Hardox wear plate means that it can be used as a structural steel, so fabricators can bend, form and weld it without its losing its properties. Together with its high yield strength, this enables smarter designs that use less steel material while maintaining the product’s strength.
At the Australian recycling equipment company Pacific Shredder, it uses Hardox steel to manufacture shredders that can shred a car into scrap in seconds. The shredder is a 60-tonne drum made of 11 rotor disks, with 12 or 16 manganese hammers attached to it. The rotor rotates at 500 rpm, and the hammers smash the cars against a series of anvils, breaker bars and grids. The inside is armoured with wear plates that stop the flying metal from eroding the entire structure.
Hardox wear plates help maximise uptime, and reduce maintenance and long-term operating costs. For them, a breakdown doesn’t just mean loss of productivity; it means bringing in a 200-tonne crane to lift their rotor out and repair it. Durability is everything.
One of the only ways to boost the bottom line is by improving the life of the shredder.
SSAB has a thick plate program that offers Hardox wear plate in thicknesses up to 160 mm and strengths of 350-600 HBW. Thick dimensions are in high demand from industries like recycling .
The Hardox My Body logo on their equipment, machinery or attachments as proof that they are certified members of SSAB’s Hardox in My Body program. This logo verifies that the product was manufactured using Hardox wear plate and not an imitation. It means that the truck bodies, buckets, containers, demolition and recycling equipment, or other applications have passed strict quality inspections and are approved by SSAB in terms of welding, design and manufacturing process.
MB Crusher, who produces crusher buckets for recycling and demolition, is one of the program’s more than 400 worldwide members. All its crusher buckets are made from Hardox wear plate. Another member, Genesis Attachments, makes the largest cutting shears in the world for scrap processing and demolition. The shears on their monster 420-tonne demolition machine can cut through steel beams 2 metres high and 85 millimeters thick,
it still drives smoothly. Like many other manufacturers,
say
companies collaborate with the steel producer on innovative designs that will improve both the performance and the usedequipment value of their products.
On the day of its 30th anniversary in July, Mil-tek launched the 3rd generation of its pneumatic vertical balers – the A-Series.
Mil-tek is a Denmark-based baler manufacturer with more than 30 franchises all over the world including a long-standing national presence in Australia. The philosophy has always been to make waste management simple, minimising waste, minimising time, and maximising resource recovery.
Before the launch of the new A-Series, Mil-tek’s 2nd generation pneumatic machines have proven themselves around the world as durable small footprint machines. Mil-tek has shipped no less than 53,103 solutions worldwide and delivered machines to more than 75 countries.
The new A-Series continues the tradition of quality and safety in smallfootprint vertical balers, focusing on being a part of a lean waste handling strategy. The pneumatic machines use compressed air to power the pressing
plate making them suitable for production areas, where compressed air is often already in use and available. The machines are also optimal for placement in kitchens and food manufacturing facilities because there is no risk of leaking oil.
These units are also known to be influential in minimising waste with reduced energy consumption.
The focus during development has been on taking an already great series of machines and improving them.
The result is the world’s fastest vertical baler, with denser and heavier bales, and with an even better focus on safety for the user.
Despite the pandemic the manufacturer has ensured “[…] our supply chains are solid during these challenging times and our customers can order with confidence.” – Mil-tek Danmark A/S
When looking at how the new machines are constructed, low maintenance is evident in the design.
The Mil-tek range extends to more
than 30 machines, from the smallest vertical balers to the largest horizontal machines, utilising both electrical and hydraulic technologies.
Infinity Endless Bag solutions
are also provided by Mil-tek, supplementing their detailed sustainability solutions with the most innovative waste disposal technologies.
Unit Dimensions: 16.3m X 3.3m X 2.8m (LWH)
Weight: Dependant upon options selected Drive Options: Electric, Diesel / Hydraulic, Diesel Genset Number of Bays: Up to 8 Bays. (Typically, 3-4 Bays)
Belt Width: 1200mm
Belt Speed: Variable Suitable material: FOGO, Construction &Demolition Waste, Municipal Skip Waste, Commercial &Industrial Waste Throughput: Variable Options/Extras: Air knife, lights cage, vacuum fan, overband magnet, magnetic head pulley, emergency pull cords, air conditioning etc.
Price: POA
More: The EDGE MPS48 modular mobile picking station brings safety, mobility, and efficient separation of commodities in a robust, durable, long lasting and user-friendly mobile picking station
Name: Robbie McKernan Phone Number: +61 (02) 4365 4247 Webpage: www.focusenviro.com.au Email: info@focusenviro.com.au
Air Knife: 15Kw Variable speed / Hydraulic adjustable Suitable material: FOGO, Construction &Demolition Waste, Municipal Skip Waste, Commercial &Industrial Waste Throughput: Variable Options/Extras: Diesel / Hydraulic power source, magnetic head pulley Price: POA
More: The M&K TPS120 track Picking Station (Patent Pending) with inbuilt air density separator and ferrous magnet is the ultimate recycling machine for operators that require new, temporary or additional processing capabilities.
Name: Robbie McKernan Ph: +61 (02) 4365 4247 Webpage: www.focusenviro.com.au Email : info@focusenviro.com.au
Unit Dimensions: Popular 60 Litre option - Height 654mm Width 290mm Depth 606mm. Weight: Approx 3 kg
Capacity (in weight): Range of options from 40 Litres to 90 Litres per stream.
No. of units in range: Extensive range mirroring popular waste streams, including Landfill, Organics, Recycling, Soft Plastics, Glass Only and 10c Refundables. Finished product size: Capacity can be customised.
Options/Extras: Available with Australian Compost-A-Pak® compostable liners, an internal Bag Holder and Trolley options.Price: Prices vary.
More: 60 Litre Base is made in Australia from up to 100% Post-Consumer Recycled Content commonly collected from Roadside Council Bins. Web: https://www. sourceseparationsystems.com.au/product/multisort Email: info@
Weight: 35,600 – 46,400kg, Drive Type: Diesel Motor: John Deere, 6 cylinders, 298 kW at 2200 rpm
Rotor diameter: 1080mm, Inlet Opening: 1160 x 820mm Feed hopper capacity: 5.0 m³
Suitable material: C&D waste, asphalt, brick, concrete, natural rock, glass No. of units in range: 12+, Throughput: 350 tonnes per hour Finished product size: Cuboidal aggregate <70 mm
Options/Extras: More: Main discharge conveyor folds hydraulically, dust suppression system, magnetic separator, hammer changing device, fully remote operated, engine compartment lighting.
Name: Paul Knauer, Tricon Environmental, Ph: 1300 859 885 Webpage: triconequipment.com.au Email: sales@triconequipment.com.au
Unit Dimensions: 7700mm (L) x 2300mm (W) x 3500mm (H)
Weight: 14,000 kg, Drive Type: Diesel, Motor: VOLVO PENTA diesel engine
Shredder Rotor speed: 11 – 35 RPM, Hopper Volume: 2.25 m3
Suitable material: Waste Wood & Biomass, Household & Commercial Waste, Construction & Demolition Waste No. of units in range: 2 Throughput: N/A Finished product size: N/A
Options/Extras: Easy separation of the material flow into two fractions (adjustable screen size)
More: Strong permanent magnet for effective FE separation included, Water sprinkler to reduce dust in the feeding area, remote control and predefined shredding programs that adjust rotation and speed of shafts, track system guarantees high mobility.
Name: Paul Knauer, Tricon Environmental Ph: 1300 859 885
Webpage: triconequipment. com.au
Weight: 3320Kg Drive Type: ELECTRIC OVER HYDRAULIC Speed (slow/high): YES More: automatic sequence control fast speed fast tipping fast lowering Price: $64,000 +gst -*Does not include installation of unit*
Name: WATM Ph: 08 9271 8000 Webpage: WATM.COM.AU Email: hiabwa@watm.com.au
Produces high quality alternative waste-based fuel that allows for higher electricity efficiency and produces less emissions compered to unprocessed feedstock. Valuable recyclables recovered prior to combustion.
Contact: Minna Vilkuna, BMH Technology Agent for Australia & NZ, Ph: 0437135788, E-mail: rarevoyage@bigbond.com www.bmh.fi
EVENING SIR,
What a year it has been. A lot has happened over the past 12 months since restrictions have eased in the Lucky Country. Have been having a few conversations with some of the major players down here, and it seems they are at a bit of crossroads.
A lot still needs to be done in the waste space – not least trying to persuade Joe Public just how important resource recovery is to their Antipodean economy, let alone the environmental knock-on effects.
Sometimes I think I’ve slipped back into the Dark Ages when discussing the subject with my Australian counterparts. It’s nice to be reminded – even unwittingly – how far advanced the ‘old world’ (their word not mine, Sir!) is in its
thinking when it comes to dealing with waste compared to this Great Southern Land.
I guess ours is more out of necessity – Western Europe has almost 10 times the population scrunched into a place that is less than half the size. You’d think they’d take our lessons and apply them to their legislation? But no. I recently talked to a fine chap in the wasteto-energy sector. He said when doing business with Australia, he advises people to treat each state as a different country because of the variances in legislation. Getting things done is frustrating for those at the coalface.
Other big news down here is the suspension of the REDcycle scheme – an idea borne from a mother, Liz Kasell, who was sick of seeing soft
plastics clogging up waterways, drains and washing up on the white sand beaches of this pristine land. While the notion of such an idea had strong community and industry support it is a fickle fate that has seen it shut down. Temporarily. What caused it to close its metaphorical doors? Several issues, but by far the most pressing was the lack of market for the end product. What didn’t help was a fire at the main collection point of where the problematic waste stream ended up – Close the Loop – causing it to stop taking the raw material.
Greenies from Cape York to Mornington Peninsula, Sydney to Perth, Galiwin’ku to Hellfire Bay (yes, I had to look up those last two, too), are up in arms that the scheme might go the way of the Dodo, but
there is more at stake than just the disposal of soft plastics. It’s an accountability issue – who is responsible for this stuff? Unlike a couple of our current residents of 10 Downing Street, the buck has to stop with someone or something.
Judging by the noise down here, appears that the ‘something’ is those manufacturers who produce the waste stream. Product stewardship scheme maybe? Hmm, I’ll let others decide.
All I do know – and as you well know given the circles we move in – accountability, responsibility and doing the right thing – are paramount. It will be interesting to see what the new year brings. Happy holidays to you and yours.
