Inside Waste Feb - Mar 2020

Official Publication of the

ISSUE 94 | FEB/MAR 2020

www.insidewaste.com.au The first of Australia’s waste export bans will come into effect in mid-2020.

INSIDE 26 Consultants Review 2020 34 China plastic ban 37 PV technology

Plastic globe

Export ban challenges are ahead

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THE EXPORT OF SOME paper and cardboard packaging will be “necessary”, despite plans to ban the export of these materials within two-and-a-half years, a new report has indicated.

The newly released Recycling Market Situation Summary Review suggests that significant work is needed to create greater markets for paper and cardboard in Australia, along with greater markets for other materials proposed under Australia’s export bans.

The report, prepared on behalf of the federal government by Sustainable Resource Use, summarises the challenges and expected changes needed to successfully implement export bans for paper and cardboard, plastics, baled tyres, and glass.

It indicates that a lack of market security and sustainable pricing for recyclables are hindering local markets for these materials.

There is no doubt that many in the industry support banning certain waste exports, but the timeline concern some people.

Suez Australia and New Zealand CEO Mark Venhoek said that Suez is

supportive of the principles behind the waste export bans, but the timeframes are challenging. He explained that while the bans do present an important opportunity for Australia’s recycling industry, flexibility from government will be required during the implementation to monitor how industry is performing, and amending targets to ensure no recyclable material is sent to landfill as a result of the ban.

“While some streams will have capacity to meet the timelines, others may not. Should infrastructure development and process improvements not occur at the pace the government expects and in alignment with waste export ban timelines, export markets should not be closed if that material cannot be processed domestically and is forced to be sent to landfill,” Venhoek said.

“Recyclable material that ends up in landfill because of the export ban is counter to the purpose of the ban, further conflicting with the federal government’s resolution that we, as a nation, need to start taking responsibility for the waste we generate.”

The review comes after the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to ban the export of these waste materials. Subsequently, an export ban timetable was published in November 2019.

All waste glass exports are expected to cease by July this year, followed by mixed waste plastics by July 2021; all whole tyres including baled tyres by December 2021; and mixed paper and cardboard by June 2022.

Paper and cardboard accounts for more than half of the packaging in the Australian market, but markets for certain materials are significantly hindered by a lack of demand and low prices. The report highlights that kerbside collected mixed paper and paperboard continues to be “almost unsaleable” locally or through export in any significant volume and it has a current value of about $0/tonne.

The report warns that unless secondary sorting of MRF mixed paper and paperboard (to multiple higher quality grades) meets the requirements of a local or international market, it will not find an end market.

(Continued on page 20.)

AUSTRALIA IS BEHIND in some aspects of waste management, such as energy from waste, but it is thriving in other areas – for example by trialling an app that tells users how they can recycle an item. Inside Waste explored where Australia’s waste management efforts fit in comparison to other nations.

Canada recognised a need to change its growing plastic issue by tackling it head on with a Zero Plastic Waste strategy.

According to a 2019 report, CanadaWide Action Plan on Zero Plastic Waste – Phase 1, almost 90 per cent of Canada’s plastic waste is not recycled or recovered. This represents an economic loss of $7.8 billion.

With plastic production in Canada consisting of a $35b industry; and 3 million tonnes of plastic going to waste every year, the Canadian government took action by announcing it will ban “harmful” single-use plastics as early as 2021.

In June 2019, environment ministers approved the first phase of the action plan, which identifies the government activities that will support the implementation of the strategy. The first phase of the action plan focuses on product design, single-use plastics, collection systems, recycling capacity and domestic markets. Phase 2 of the action plan, to be released in 2020, will focus on preventing plastic pollution in oceans, inland lakes and waterways – advancing science to monitor the impacts of plastics pollution within the environment, consumer awareness, clean-up and taking global action.

(Continued on page 24.)

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Editor’s Note //

Ups and downs

Trusted Advisors in Property, Environment, Planning, Waste & Local Government Law Experts in all areas of waste including: DAs and Land & Environment Court Appeals EPA Investigations & Prosecutions Waste Contracts

WE FINISHED 2019 amid devastation as bushfires had engulfed vast stretches of Australia’s landscape.

Heading into 2020, the story hasn’t changed. With flames still covering many areas of several states (as I write this), and residents rebuilding in the aftermath of fires, there is a clear need for ongoing support. Be it financial, emotional, or physical support, Australia and the world have banded together to help those affected and to minimise any further risk to life and the environment.

State governments have stepped up to help bushfire-effected communities with the clean-up of their properties by waiving landfill levies and offering free green waste services.

Many industries, including the waste industry have been affected by the bushfires and will feel the effects of it long after the embers have cooled.

Inside Waste doesn’t generally cover climate change, but at times like these, it must be noted that climate change is well and truly here

– and there’s no denying it. As we continue to move through 2020, there will be an ongoing focus on waste management and resource recovery – notably what can be done to reduce waste to landfill, overconsumption, and lack of onshore markets.

In this edition, we touch on the struggles within the waste industry, such as increased food waste and the effects of the bushfires.

Importantly, we also focus on the ongoing achievements within the waste industry. We take a look at the progress of CDS programs; we explore the app that is helping people discover the true potential of their recycling bins; and we acknowledge consultants’ achievements within the waste and resource recovery sector through our annual Consultants Review, which was created with valuable feedback from our readers.

Operational Issues & Waste Legislation Waste Transportation Asbestos Issues Official Publication of the

Contact one of our advisors now: 02 9929 3031 or waste@honeslawyers.com.au

Publisher Christine Clancy christine.clancy@primecreative.com.au

or find out more at: www.honeslawyers.com.au/what-we-do/waste/

General Manager (Sydney) Terry Wogan terry.wogan@primecreative.com.au Group Managing Editor (Northern) Syed Shah syed.shah@primecreative.com.au Editor Miri Schroeter miri.schroeter@primecreative.com.au Business Development Manager Beth Jarvis beth.jarvis@primecreative.com.au Design Production Manager Michelle Weston michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au Design Blake Storey, Kerry Pert, Madeline McCarty Client Success Manager Justine Nardone justine.nardone@primecreative.com.au Head Office Prime Creative Pty Ltd 11-15 Buckhurst Street South Melbourne VIC 3205 Australia p: +61 3 9690 8766 enquiries@primecreative.com.au www.insidewaste.com.au

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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

Subscriptions +61 3 9690 8766 subscriptions@primecreative.com.au Inside Waste is available by subscription from the publisher. The rights of refusal are reserved by the publisher Articles All articles submitted for publication become the property of the publisher.

The Editor reserves the right to adjust any article to conform with the magazine format.

Copyright Inside Waste is owned by Prime Creative Media and published by John Murphy.

All material in Inside Waste is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical including information and retrieval systems) without written permission of the publisher. The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material.

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information, Prime Creative Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequences arising from reliance on information published. The opinions expressed in Inside Waste are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by the publisher unless otherwise stated.

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

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News //

Profile | Stephen Webster What was your first job in the waste sector?

I started at Integrated Recycling in 2010. We manufacture a range of recycled plastic products, utilising end of primary life materials from the agricultural sector in the Sunraysia district. I have always thought of waste plastic as a resource rather than a landfill problem. Integrated Recycling has always lived in the circular economy and now we are gaining public recognition for giving large amounts of used plastic a second life and diverting it from landfill.

What’s the favourite part of your current role?

The opportunity to develop new uses for recycled plastic products and extending the understanding, acceptance and use in the market place. In this regard, talking and collaborating with government and stakeholders has been very rewarding. Most importantly, developing an environmentally and economically sustainable business is the main objective. To see this coming to fruition is most satisfying.

How has waste management changed during your time in the industry?

In the past 10 years waste management has developed a greater awareness of the value of waste materials. Waste is seen more and more as a resource, a material suitable for using in a variety of applications. Ten years ago or so, the first thought about waste for many was disposal. Now it is reuse.

What are some achievements that you are most proud of?

The time and effort that has gone into creating the Duratrack recycled plastic railway sleeper, and its potential to be a driver for the circular economy is the highlight to date. Although coupled with that is seeing a safety conscious, risk-averse, conservative organisation like Queensland Rail be a champion for change by enabling the development, testing and hopefully commercialisation in 2020 of the Duratrack sleeper.

What’s next for you?

Steering the Duratrack project through to healthy commercial position will have my attention for the foreseeable future. We are currently developing two other related key projects, which are opportunities to extend into new fields. So the future looks busy!

Legal Notices //

No waste levies for NSW and Vic bushfire victims

Minto Recycling Pty Ltd convicted of breaching its environment protection licence and ordered to pay $90,000 Minto Recycling Pty Ltd (Minto), a wholly owned subsidiary of Bingo Industries Ltd, has been convicted and been ordered to pay to the Environmental Trust the sum of $90,000 by the Land and Environment Court of NSW for breaching a condition of its Environment Protection Licence (Licence) issued by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA).

The Licence authorised Minto to receive and process up to 30,000 tonnes of waste at Minto’s premises at 13 Pembury Road Minto NSW 2566 in the period 25 November 2016 to 24 November 2017. However, in that time, Minto received and processed 169,695.34 tonnes of waste in contravention of its Licence.

As a result of the offence, Minto derived financial benefits of at least approximately $250,000.

On 13 December 2019, the Land and Environment Court convicted Minto of an offence against s. 64(1) of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 for contravening a condition of its Licence and ordered it to:

8

1.

Pay an amount of $90,000 to the Environmental Trust in lieu of a fine;

2.

Pay the EPA’s legal costs; and

3.

Publish this notice in the Australian Financial Review, the Daily Telegraph, the Campbelltown-Macarthur Advertiser, Inside Waste magazine and on the website of Bingo Industries Ltd and the Annual Report of Bingo Industries Ltd published to the Australian Stock Exchange.

INSIDEWASTE

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

WASTE LEVIES HAVE been waived for residents in bushfire affected areas in NSW and Victoria.

Announced in mid-January by the Victorian government, residents in the state affected by bushfires will be able to dispose of their bushfire waste without paying the landfill levy.

Bushfire waste includes the debris from homes, businesses, sheds, stock, fencing and equipment that have been damaged.

The levy waiver will also make it easier for people to dispose of dead livestock.

The Victorian EPA will work with landfill operators and councils in fire-affected areas to apply for the exemption.

Victoria’s premier Daniel Andrews explained that waiving the levy helps some of those that

need it the most during this time.

“This is practical and immediate support for people who are undertaking the heartbreaking task of cleaning up their homes and properties.”

Similarly, in early January, the NSW government announced it would help people dispose of their bushfire generated waste quickly and easily by waiving the waste levy fee in areas across NSW that have been declared bushfire “natural disaster areas”.

Residents should contact their councils before leaving home with their waste to confirm the names of the facilities where the levy is waived and their opening status – noting that conditions are changing rapidly.

More information can be found on the Victoria and NSW websites.

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// News

National program launched to give waste materials value A NATIONAL PROGRAM has been launched to identify valuable products from waste streams, which will then be transformed into useful resources.

The program, TRANSFORM, is an initiative under the Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) that will develop processes and technology that can cost-effectively transform the waste materials.

University of Queensland (UQ) chemical engineering researcher and TRANSFORM lead, Dr Paul Luckman, said there is more that could be done with organics and food waste.

“This program will also be looking to find the technology gaps and process limitations in transforming that waste,” Luckman said.

The team will work across 13 waste–transforming projects with experienced researchers, including UQ waste conversion expert Associate Professor Bronwyn Laycock, to deliver a tool kit for waste transformation processes.

“We’re already looking at a wide range of projects, from turning food

waste into supplements to fuelling sustainable wastewater treatment with food waste,” Luckman said.

“We’re hoping to save 87 gigalitres of water through recovery and reuse, reduce 30 million tonnes in food waste and save at least 44 million tonnes of greenhouse gases emitted over 10 years.”

The TRANSFORM program aims to create 5200 jobs in rural areas and save $600 million in waste produce and waste-handling costs. The Fight Food Waste CRC has many industry and academic partners participating in food waste transformation projects such as transforming potatoes into products.

Australia is the largest producer of potatoes in the southern hemisphere, yet up to 40 per cent of this produce is rejected because it does not meet market specifications, a statement from UQ explained.

The large volume of waste is currently used for animal feed, where it sells for $10/tonne or it is disposed in landfill at a loss to farmers.

Profile | STG Global STG Global is a manufacturer of a variety of heavy mobile equipment, including vacuum trucks, water trucks, service trucks and tilt tray trucks.

The company’s specialised products enhance functionality, increase efficiency and productivity, while the modulated designs are suitable for fitment to the chassis of all medium to heavy vehicles.

When was the company founded and why?

STG Global was born out of necessity and identifying a gap in the market. Hit by drought and in desperation to keep the family farm, a few entrepreneurs were looking for another way to keep the income coming into the farm. After a chance meeting, the very first water truck was assembled and supplied to a local construction site. It wasn’t the most elegant looking water truck, but it did what the client needed. From then on, a range of truck bodies were created.

What are the key services that STG Global offers?

After introducing a range of product offerings, STG Global wanted to focus on delivering a well-rounded product by having constant back up support from two teams – service and spare parts. With these two dedicated departments the company has been able to assist its customers with their fleet management. The company’s service team can attend to the occasional breakdowns and schedule services for all plant equipment.

What are some of STG Global’s plans and ambitions for the next 12-18 months?

The company’s bestselling products are its vacuum trucks. With this range tying into the waste industry, the company aims to expand its product offering and enter the garbage industry. STG Global’s Side Loader Garbage Trucks will be entering the market in early to mid 2020.

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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

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News //

Rabobank’s latest food waste report shows an increase in food wasted by Australians in 2019.

June.

Food waste increase of $1b in 2019 reveals ongoing challenges AUSTRALIANS WASTED A total of $10.1 billion worth of food last year, which was more than the year before, a Rabobank report has revealed.

Released on November 26, Rabobank’s 2019 Food Waste Report revealed that the amount of food wasted increased when compared to the 2018 figure of $8.9b. Food waste minimisation has taken a step backwards, as 2018 marked a year where Australians managed to waste less than in 2017 when $9.6b was wasted.

Rabobank surveyed more than 2,300 financial decision makers aged between 18 and 65 to create the report, which gives a state and generational breakdown of food waste.

All states and territories wasted more food than the previous year, with the report revealing that the average household in South Australia wasted 12.8 per cent of food in 2019, compared to 10 per cent in 2018. Other jurisdictions’ average food wastage per household was: Victoria 2019 – 13.9 per cent 2018 – 11 per cent NSW/ACT 2019 – 12.8 per cent 2018 – 12 per cent Queensland 2019 – 11.8 per cent 2018 – 11 per cent Tasmania 2019 – 11.4 per cent 2018 – 9 per cent 10

INSIDEWASTE

Western Australia 2019 – 13.3 per cent 2018 – 12 per cent Northern Territory 2019 – 10.4 per cent 2018 – 9 per cent Household waste makes up 34 per cent of food waste nationally, with 31 per cent from primary production and 25 per cent from manufacturing, the report revealed. It highlighted that Australians are wasting an average of 13 per cent of their weekly grocery spend, equating to $1,026 each year.

Rabobank Australia head of client experience Glenn Wealands said that food waste is one of the most significant challenges facing the nation and planet today.

“According to the Food Sustainability Index, developed by The Economist’s Intelligence Unit, Australia is the fourth highest food waster in the world. Given the increasing pressure on the planet to provide for a growing population, there is an urgent need for greater action across governments, industry, retailers, and consumers to drive real change,” Wealands said.

“As individuals, each and every one of us can and must make a difference. When we waste food, the ramifications go far beyond just dollars, impacting our planet and precious resources. We know from this research that more than three quarters of us care about reducing

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

food waste and are annoyed by it.

However, it is alarming that less than three out of 10 of us recognise the impact our food waste has on the environment,” he said.

At a launch of the report in Sydney, Wealands, along with other industry stakeholders, emphasised the need for greater consumer engagement to minimise food waste.

Yume Food Australia founder and CEO Katy Barfield explained that there needs to be a shift in consumers’ perception of food.

“We have become so conditioned that your banana needs to be a certain curvature and [needs] a certain amount on a bunch. We’ve got this preconceived idea of what things should look like, but it’s not in nature that we grow food to order in specifications.

“A lot of the product that we get offered at Yume, like 100,000 tonnes a year of potatoes just from South Australia, go to waste because they don’t quite meet the specifications,” Barfield said.

She gave examples from overseas where steps had been taken by retailers to reduce food wastage.

Barfield explained that in the UK, Tesco had reduced its measurement specifications on potatoes by 2mm, which resulted in 50,000 tonnes of potatoes being saved from waste per year.

“That’s just staggering. We have to think about what real food actually looks like. A wonky carrot

is exactly the same tasting as a straight carrot; and that farmer has to pay exactly the same amount of water input to grow it,” Barfield explained.

Wealands said that Australia could learn from best practice in other countries. “For example, governments in Italy and France banned supermarket food waste in 2016, legislating that unsold goods must be given to food banks or charities. Ultimately, there must be a highlighted sense of urgency now, given we’re wasting more than ever before.”

Edwina Beveridge, a sustainable farmer from Young in NSW, said she would probably support similar legislation in Australia but it’s not a straight forward movement.

Beveridge has built her business, Blantyre Farms, by recycling waste from the food chain by taking tonnes of leftover food, from stale bread to ganache, to feed the pigs on the farm.

“One of the challenges we have of feeding food waste to our pigs, is we have to be careful that we are following biosecurity rules. It’s illegal to feed meat to pigs, so we get limited by what we can use from supermarkets because it could be co-mingled with meat products.

“I get nervous when I hear from a pig farmer taking waste products from a supermarket because I wonder if they are following biosecurity rules,” Beveridge said. iw

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// News

WA gov announces operators for CDS refund points THE FIRST OPERATORS of container deposit scheme refund points for Western Australia have been announced.

On January 16, the government of Western Australia announced that 65 entities have been selected to deliver 145 refund point locations.

Launching on June 2, Containers for Change will see millions of bottles and cans diverted from landfill each year.

Premier Mark McGowan said Western Australians had been calling for this type of recycling scheme for a long time. “[The] announcement is just the starting point for the Containers for Change network, which will grow significantly in coming months and years,” McGowan said.

Western Australians will be able to claim a 10-cent refund when they return eligible beverage containers at designated refund points across the state.

Refund points will be established in every region across the state, from the Kimberley to the Great Southern.

About 40 per cent of refund points

WA’s CDS program is launching in June.

will be operated by social enterprises including charities, disability sector organisations, Aboriginal corporations, and sporting and community groups.

The number of refund points across the state is expected to grow to at least 172 by June, and to 229 by the end of the scheme’s first year.

It is estimated more than 500 jobs will be created through refund

Australia each year, and they make up 44 per cent of litter in our parks, streets and waterways.

“The government has introduced Containers for Change to help reduce litter, improve recycling rates, create new businesses and employment opportunities across the state, and provide a new way for community organisations and charities to raise money,” Dawson said. iw

points, including hundreds of jobs to be targeted at employing people living with a disability, the longterm unemployed and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as well as opportunities for apprentices and trainees.

Western Australia’s Environment Minister Stephen Dawson said there are more than 1.3 billion eligible beverage containers used in Western

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THE START OF CONSTRUCTION activities on the East Rockingham Resource Recovery Facility will take place in early 2020, following the successful financial close of the Energy from Waste (EfW) project.

The consortium developing the facility has announced the successful financial close of the project, located in Western Australia, in late December 2019.

Stakeholders have labelled the announcement a milestone in the development of EfW in Australia.

Financing of the $511 million project is being supported by an $18m grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and a $57.5m subordinated debt from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation – alongside a mix of Australian and international lenders.

Investors and developers include New Energy Corporation, Tribe Infrastructure Group, SUEZ, John Laing, Hitachi Zosen Inova and ACCIONA. The new facility, to be located in the Rockingham Industry Zone 40 kilometres south of Perth, will treat about 300,000 tonnes per year of residual waste from municipal, commercial and industrial sources.

The East Rockingham Resource Recovery Facility will generate about 29MW of reliable renewable energy – enough to power more than 36,000 homes.

SUEZ Australia and New Zealand CEO Mark Venhoek said the project demonstrates SUEZ’s commitment to develop EfW in Australia while growing a global portfolio of 55 EfW facilities.

“The project is SUEZ’s first EfW development in Australia and we are very pleased to become a partner in this landmark transaction,” Venhoek said.

“EfW is currently the missing link in Australia’s waste management hierarchy and will play a key role as we move towards a circular economy,” he explained.

“The project will significantly accelerate the improvement of waste treatment practices in the Perth region as well as reducing their environmental footprint.”

The plant will also recover about 73,800 tonnes of bottom ash every year, which the developers anticipate will be processed and used in road bases and other construction materials.

New Energy Corporation business development manager Miles Mason told Inside Waste that the company started 10 years ago in Western Australia with the goal of reducing reliance of landfill and generating renewable base load energy by establishing EfW facilities across Australia.

“EfW has been the missing part of the toolkit of waste management services in Australia,” Mason explained.

“It has a key role to play in recovering energy from residual wastes that would otherwise go to landfill.

“The East Rockingham Resource Recovery Facility project demonstrates to the waste industry that large scale EfW projects can achieve social licence and can be banked in Australia through a traditional project financing model,” Mason said.

Having successfully brought the project to financial close with its partners, the New Energy Corporation will now use its experiences, learnings, and relationships with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, to support other developing EfW projects across Australia.

This includes working on a smaller demonstration project in Port Hedland, Mason explained.

Western Australia is leading the way for other states and territories in Australia with several EfW projects underway.

The East Rockingham plant will be located seven kilometres from another EfW plant in Kwinana.

ACCIONA was also awarded the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for the Kwinana plant, worth $700m, which will treat up to 400,000 tonnes of waste every year and have a capacity to produce 36MW of electricity – enough to supply about 50,000 homes.

The Kwinana EfW project will use Keppel Seghers moving grate technology to thermally treat the waste.

Metallic materials will be recovered and recycled, while other by-products will be reused as construction materials.

The Kwinana EfW plant is estimated to divert about 25 per cent of Perth’s post-recycling rubbish from landfill sites. iw

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

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Councillors don’t budge on Alex Fraser facility decision

Alex Fraser Group wants to extend the life of its Clarinda facility.

KINGSTON CITY COUNCIL councillors have voted against a second application by Alex Fraser Group to extend the life of its recycling operations at Clarinda.

On December 11, councillors denied the application to extend the life of the facility by 15 years, which means the Clarinda Recycling Facility would need to move by 2023.

The council’s initial decision to deny the application was made on November 25, with no changes in sight after the majority of councillors voted against the extension in the mid-December meeting.

The Clarinda Recycling Facility has the capacity to recycle up to one million tonnes every year. In 2020, it will increase its recycling by 200 million bottles per year, including glass from Kingston kerbside collections.

The latest blow has Alex Fraser Group managing director Peter Murphy continually concerned that the council is not recognising the implications this decision will have on the greater community.

“Kingston City Council’s decision is at odds with Victoria’s Recycling Industry Strategic Plan, which aims to stabilise the recycling industry and provide access to markets.

“If [the] Clarinda Recycling Facility is shut down, it will have consequences on Victoria’s recycling, and the supply of material to the state’s infrastructure projects, 14

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increasing costs to taxpayers,” Murphy said.

However, Kingston City Council deputy mayor Steve Staikos, who moved the motion to refuse the extension, explained that steps taken by the council in 2015 to designate the area a Green Wedge “A zone” needed to be honoured.

The purpose of the Green Wedge A zone is to enable use of the land to preserve, conserve and enhance biodiversity, natural resources, scenic landscapes and the heritage values of the area, Staikos said.

He said the area needs to be transitions into a place that the residents in Clarinda, Clayton South, Oakleigh South and Heatherton were promised.

Staikos explained that he supported the refusal of the extension as the site will be adjacent to the core park land proposed for the area.

Councillor Rosemary West, who seconded the motion, explained that Alex Fraser has had long enough to find a new site.

“Right from the start in 2008, Alex Fraser knew they had to quit the site in 15 years. To now claim they need more time is preposterous.

Allowing the extension would set an appalling precedent.

“I want to see our green wedge protected for future generations,” West said.

Councillors who voted in favour

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

of refusing the extension included Staikos, West, councillor David Eden, councillor Tamara Barth and mayor Georgina Oxley.

Those against the motion included councillor Ron Brownlees, councillor Tamsin Bearsley and councillor Geoff Gledhill. Councillor George Hua abstained from voting.

Brownlees argued that the proposed park land in the area would go ahead irrespective of the Clarinda Recycling Facility’s location.

“It’s not dependant on this land,” he said.

“It is operating an important resource recovery facility. Some people might say it’s a concrete crusher – it’s a bit more than just a concrete crusher.

“It provides a lot for the economy in terms of jobs and for the resources needed in the development of our surrounding community,” Brownlees said.

Bearsley said that it was a difficult decision for the council to make.

“Twenty-two hectares close to Melbourne is actually really difficult to find. There have been government organisations working with Alex Fraser to find something, but that is a very hard amount of land to find where it’s not going to inconvenience another set of residents. It’s expect that it will take them some time to find that,” Bearsley said.

To give the local community certainty about the fixed term of its

application for an extension, Alex Fraser put forward a Community Benefits Package – giving the Kingston community ownership of its 22 hectares of land once the facility has moved, along with $7.5 million to put towards sports and recreation facilities.

Murphy said that the Kingston City Council’s decision not to consider this offer has denied its residents a significant expansion to the ‘Chain of Parks’.

“We are considering all of our options and will do whatever we can to see this decision overturned.

“This is clearly an issue of state significance, so we are calling on state government to intervene,” Murphy told Inside Waste.

“While we’ve been working to resolve this at a local level, the state government is acutely aware of the significant impact closure would have on the state’s environment and economy.”

Murphy said that the Alex Fraser Group understands and is committed to moving the Clarinda recycling facility, but more time is needed to do so.

“We have been looking for alternative sites for many years now, and we continue to do so.”

Murphy explained that the request to extend the life of the facility in its current location by 15 years was made as there were no alternative sites available by 2023. iw

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// News

Millions of cigarette butts are littered across NSW.

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NSW develops cigarette butt litter reduction program

NSW is developing its first targeted NSW, it would mean round 795 cigarette butt litter reduction million more cigarette butts going program after a trial showed targeted in the bin and staying out of the interventions could prevent more environment. than 790 million cigarette butts “We know that nine out of 10 polluting the environment each year. people in NSW think littering is The NSW Department of Planning, unacceptable and we’re encouraging Industry and Environment (DPIE) everyone to do the right thing with announced the move on December 13. their rubbish.”

According to the department, City of Ryde mayor Jerome Laxale cigarette butts are the most littered said Ryde recorded great results in With its extreme accuracy, speed and consistency of cut, combined with very low operating item in NSW, making up almost 4 the trial to reduce cigarette butt costs,ofthe new Yawei HLF fiber laser islitter theatperfect way to take your business to the next level. every 10 littered items. Current sites across Meadowbank Designed for reprocessing of polyethylene & data suggests only 40 per cent of Train Station, West Ryde, and Top Dollar cigarette for dollar, the is in a league of Shopping its own,Centre. opening up possibilities for companies butts arenew put inHLF the bin, Ryde City polypropylene flexible packaging material all across the laser cutting sector; from start-ups through to full production, 3-shift with more than 1.3 billion butts All three sites showed significant Pelletising system with integrated cutter eliminates environments. entering the litter stream each year. improvements in cigarette butt need for pre-cutting In 2018 the NSW Litter Prevention binning rates of between 26-48 per cent. worked with 16 councils trialling auto-focus With aUnit quality German built Precitec cutting head, IPG laser source, Siemens 100% of pellets reusable straight back into your “Council will befully utilising the different interventions 40 smoking stress-relieved 840DSL controller and aatfabricated, annealed frame it really is a cut above production line results of the trial to install similar hotspots including transport hubs, the rest. messaging and methods of reducing shopping strips, parks, outside Minimal material degradation without affecting cigarette butt litter in target hotspot licensed venues and office blocks. material properties locations throughout Ryde.

DPIE executive director circular “The City of Ryde continually economy and resource management Fully compatible with FIMIC melt filters For more information: works to provide a ‘Smarter, Cleaner, Sanjay Sridher said this was the Call: 03 9706 8066 Greener’ environment for the most comprehensive review of Email: sales@appliedmachinery.com.au community and this initiative will smoker behaviour ever conducted Visit: www.appliedmachinery.com.au in Australia. contribute to meeting our goals,” Connect with us socially “The results of our world-first Laxale said. intervention trials are fantastic with The new Cigarette Butt Litter appliedmachinery.com.au an overall 53 per cent improvement Prevention Program includes in binning rates. The NSW Litter the delivery of guidelines and P054-Yawei-FPC-1.indd 1 22/12/16 9:27 am Prevention Unit is now using resources, a review of existing Phone: 03 9706 8066 Email: sales@appliedmachinery.com.au the trial results for a new litter litter enforcement strategies, and a program targeting cigarette butts,” targeted behaviour change campaign Sridher said. with the highly recognised Don’t Be A “If we introduce this right across Tosser! campaign. iw Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

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News //

APCO report details packaging progress

APCO’s report highlights progress so far in Australia’s packaging sector.

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THE AUSTRALIAN PACKAGING Covenant Organisation (APCO) has released the Australian Packaging Consumption and Resource Recovery Data report, which outlines the flow of packaging in Australia’s resource recovery system.

The report reveals that of the 5.45 million tonnes of packaging placed on market in Australia in 2017–18, more than half was paper and paperboard packaging (53.2 per cent), followed by glass packaging (23.3 per cent), plastic packaging (19.6 per cent) and metal packaging (3.9 per cent).

Paper and paperboard have the highest recovery rate at 63 per cent, followed by metal packaging at 48 per cent, glass packaging at 46 per cent and plastic packaging at 16 per cent.

The report details the complete Australian packaging ecosystem by combining data from packaging manufacturers, packaging reprocessors, material recovery facilities, and container deposit scheme (CDS) operators. The research also includes analysis of Australian import and export data.

Additionally, the report details how Australia is performing on the delivery of the 2025 National Packaging Targets – with new benchmark data in areas of packaging recyclability, recycled content uptake and plastic packaging recycling.

The National Packaging Targets, announced in September 2018, set the target for 100 per cent of all Australia’s packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 or earlier. Currently 4.7 million tonnes (86 per cent) of all packaging in market in 2017–18 is recyclable.

In the field of recycled content, the National Packaging Targets set a goal to have a 30 per cent average of recycled content included across all

packaging by 2025. This benchmark data has confirmed post-consumer recycled content across all packaging was 1.9 million tonnes, or 35 per cent of total packaging. With the 30 per cent recycled content target now exceeded, APCO will deliver a consultation process with industry to develop a new, more ambitious Target.

The single biggest challenge identified in the data was the recycling rate of plastic packaging.

The National Packaging Targets set the target for 70 per cent of Australia’s plastic packaging to be recycled or composted by 2025.

Currently 16 per cent of plastic packaging is being recycled or composted for future use.

APCO CEO Brooke Donnelly said the comprehensive and robust benchmarking data is one of the critical milestones in APCO’s delivery of the 2025 National Packaging Targets. “[It is] a process that shows how Australia is performing currently and, most importantly, what needs to change in order to make the 2025 targets a reality. It’s encouraging to see such a significant majority of packaging – 86 per cent – is able to be recycled in the current system.

“However, what the data confirms for us is that plastic is the critical issue that needs to be addressed,” Donnelly said.

In February 2020, APCO will be releasing the 2025 strategic document, that sets out a series of key strategies to support Australia’s delivery of the targets. Plastics will be a central focus for this plan, along with a range of interventions and recommendations designed to close the gap between recyclable (86 per cent) and recycled (49 per cent) packaging in Australia. iw

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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

Australia’s packaging targets continue to improve the sector.

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// News

Image credit: SS studio photography / Shutterstock.com

Councils offer free green waste services amid bushfire crisis

NSW and Victorian councils are offering free green waste service to fire-stricken areas.

COUNCILS IN NSW and Victoria have continued to offer free green waste services in a bid to provide extra assistance to residents as fires continue to ravage parts of Australia.

The Blue Mountains City Council, is offering continued support to its residents with free green waste drop off services taking place until January 31 and similarly, the Wollongong City Council and the Baw Baw Shire Council are among those offering the free service.

In a statement in early January, Blue Mountains mayor Mark Greenhill said the council has been working hard to provide every assistance possible to residents.

Fires have been burning across the Blue Mountains in areas including Erskine Creek, Linden Creek, St Helena, Grose Valley and Ruined Castle.

In a statement on January 13, the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) advised that continuing cooler weather has brought good news to the area as all five fires are now under control.

But, as fires continue to take their toll on Australia, councils are urging residents to prepare and take preventative measures where possible.

Greenhill said that extending the green waste service means that the council can ensure every member of the community has as much assistance as the council is able to provide.

“Unfortunately we still have a way to go before the bush fire situation eases, and council will continue to support residents and help those who

are still preparing their properties for bush fires, in any way we can,” Greenhill said.

“Finding additional trucks and staff to provide the weekly green bin service has been a challenge, as waste resources across the state are also providing assistance with the unprecedented bush fire response effort.

“It’s a testament to the dedication and perseverance of council staff and our contractor, JJ Richards, that they continue to find ways to get these extra services for our community during this critical preparation time,” he said.

The Wollongong City Council is offering free green waste drop off points across Wollongong in mid-January.

In a statement the council indicated that while the Wollongong area has not yet been affected by bush fires, the threat is real in its neighbouring local government areas. The council is advising residents to take the opportunity to clear their properties of fallen leaves, twigs and debris.

Wollongong City lord mayor Gordon Bradbery advised that the RFS had some excellent tips on preparing homes for bush fires on its website.

“You can also check if your property is on bush fire prone land on the RFS website.”

In Victoria, the Baw Baw Shire Council is offering free green waste drop-offs from January 18 to March 31.

The council indicated that the offer is of particular importance to those

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

living on larger or rural properties with excess growth and vegetation around their homes – over and above

what can be disposed of in the regular fortnightly kerbside green waste bin collections. iw

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news

WMRR CEO Statement //

WMRR: Circuit | Baulkham Hills 2037 NSW 2135 t: 02 8746 5000 | e: info@wmrr.asn.au | w: www.wmrr.asn.au WMRR:Suite Suite4.08 4.08| 10 | 57Century St Johns Road | Glebe NSW | t: 02| 8746 5000 | e: info@wmrr.asn.au | w: www.wmrr.asn.au

From Fromthe theCEO’s CEO’sdesk desk AUSTRALIA AND THE world have looked on in shock Environment will meet for the second and horror as Ministers Australia continues to tackle a terrifying time this season year on 7 December, first bushfire that will no doubtfollowing be etched the in the 2018 Meeting of Environment Ministers (MEM) in minds of one and all. The scale is colossal. As I write April, which was in part a response to the import this, some 10 million hectares have burned, upwards restrictions driven by are China’s of half a billion animals dead, 28National lives haveSword Policy and the effects this policy has had across been lost, and more than 2,000 homes destroyed.

It the Australian waste and resource recovery (WARR) is utterly devastating and together with our fellow industry.

Key decisions derived theallApril countrymen, WMRR supports andfrom thanks our MEM include: nation’s firefighters (both volunteers and paid staff) for their continuous and heroic efforts as Australia • endures Reducing waste endorsing a target months of generation, hot and dry weather ahead.

Our of 100% of Australian packaging being recyclable, essential waste and resource recovery (WARR) sector can play a significant role compostable or reusable 2025, and developing in mitigating some of the risks posed by climate changeby – we all know that, and targets for recycled content in packaging. today, more than ever, we need to promulgate the positive impacts of a well• Increasing domestic managed, Australia’s forward-thinking, andrecycling integratedcapacity.

WARR system and stress the urgency • Increasing the demand for recycled required to move Australia towards aproducts. circular economy.

• Exploring opportunities tohanging advancefruit waste-to-energy and waste-to-biofuels.

Let’s start with the low – food waste. According to federal • Updating Strategy by year end,approximately which will include circular estimates,the food2009 wasteWaste costs the Australian economy $20 billion economy principles. annually. Approximately 7.43 million tonnes of food is wasted in Australia each year, comprising 35 per cent of the average household bin, and annually, we It iscontinue time to take stock andthan examine what has been achieved these decisions to send more 5 million tonnes of food waste tosince landfill. were According announced.

Now, seven (7) months may not seem like a long time, however to the Climate Council, landfilled food waste in Australia generates in that time we have seen further markets close (Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam) methane equivalent to about 6.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Despite this,and if you an operator under financial stress, (7) months andare despite food waste beingcontinued the third largest emitter of seven greenhouse gases incould the make or break you. to be overlooked as a driver for addressing climate change both world, it continues here and globally. While we know 2020 will be a busy year for WARR, preparing Following the April waste MEM,export we have three (3) states step in with varying for the impending ban, had we also believe that concurrent work can degrees of financial assistance for industry (councils and operators).

This and must be done on food waste. A national campaign focusing on avoidingshould the be expected almost allabsent statesfrom (except and Tasmania) have creation ofconsidering this waste (currently the Queensland National Waste Plan Action Plan), access to significant waste levy income each year.

On the eastern seaboard, Victoria must be a priority in 2020. Not only will this assist in addressing emissions, it has hasaapproximately $600 million levyhip reserves the Sustainability Fund real chance of leaving money in in waste the family pocket!inWhile we have a national andfood NSW raises more than $700 million per annum from the waste levy.

There waste strategy, this simply isn’t enough without the avoidance piece – it is certainly notop lackofofthe funds that can reinvested our essential is at the hierarchy afterbeall!

WMRR hasinto been banging on industry. the drum for greater focus and emphasis on comprehensive supply chain management because Funding helps but as we know, the money goeskeeping a much longerinway a circular economy is based on designing out waste, materials use, with and Government support and leadership, as well as appropriate policy levers. regenerating natural systems. Continuing to place the onus solely on the WARR sector will simply retain the status quo – our current linear (take, make, dispose) VICTORIA model. Our food system is primed for transformation and there is an opportunity for Victoria has develop arguablya been thethat most activeon and earnest and in supporting the industry Australia strategy focuses designing marketing healthier food post-China, with two (2) relief packages announced to support the recycling products, sourcing food grown regeneratively and locally, and ensuring by-products industry, at athe total of $37 million. are fedvalued back into bioeconomy, muchThe like Victorian what the Government UK is doing. has also gone aboveThis andstrategy beyondshould all others states by announcing wouldfor take a leadership role include ambitious avoidanceittargets food manufacturers, in creating market demand for recycled products. community, the food and beverage sector, and retailers. It must provide detailed pathways that map out how Australia can undertake this systemic shift, including SOUTH AUSTRALIA staged approaches and milestones, the policies needed to support this move, 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.

initiatives that promote avoidance such as more effective labelling systems industry howevertothe Queensland Government on the development and a requirement use trimmings and rejects, ashas wellembarked as the investments and of a waste management underpinned byofa waste levy should to increase funding required to drive astrategy circular food model. And course,disposal the strategy recycling and recovery and create new jobs.

The State will re-introduce incorporate and expand (nationally), the Love Food Hate Waste initiative alreadya $70/ tonne landfill levy New in March are also strong attempts to use policy adopted

by Victoria, South 2019.

Wales, There and Brisbane. levers (levy discounts and exemptions) to incentivise the use of recycled material Another area where WARR can play a vital part in mitigating carbon emissions and make it cost competitive with virgin material.

However, little has been done to is eliminating unnecessary waste transportation. In 2019, both Western Australia establish new markets and Government has not taken the lead in the procurement and Victoria commenced or announced a review of their landfill levy while Tasmania of recycled There arebygrants resource recovery operations committed tomaterial. introducing a levy 2021. available There is anfor opportunity (and frankly, a in Queensland although no monies have been allocated to assistWMRR in 2018. necessity) to develop a common approach to landfill levies nationally. doesThis is troubling as Queensland outrate its Container Refund Scheme onwe 1 November, not mean setting a standardrolled financial across all jurisdictions, rather mean which will likely impact the cost and revenue models of the State’s MRFs putting in place a standardised approach (the what and how), in order to more – as we have seensupport most recently NSW. while preventing perverse outcomes. effectively diversionintargets In 2020, WMRR will keep progressing the years-long levy and interstate waste WESTERN AUSTRALIA transportation conversation, which of course includes a national proximity The Western Australian setaup a Waste in direct to principle.

We will continueGovernment to advocate for levy rate ofTaskforce at least $100/t in response all the China National Sword.

As part of this announcement, the State Government jurisdictions to both realise associated benefits as well as ensure that the levy urged all itlocal councilstotodobegin the utilisation of a three system - red for does what is designed – increase landfill diversion and(3)-bin commensurate general waste, yellowrecovery for recyclables and green for organic waste -by over the coming investment in resource infrastructure.

Modelling undertaken Deloitte years to reduce contamination.

While this taskforce is a step in the right Access Economics in 2017 has shown what a >$100/t levy can do, noting thatdirection, if we are yet to rate see any tangible results it or any funding forofindustry.

In October, Victoria’s levy increased to $130 infrom the metro area, upwards 2,200 jobs the WA Authority released its draft 2030,diverted which comprises would beWaste produced and between 2 and 3.53 Waste millionStrategy tonnes oftowaste from a comprehensive and detailed roadmap towards the State’s shared of landfill. In developing a common approach, WMRR also recognises the need forvision a becoming a sustainable, low-waste, circular economy. levy portability element, that is, the applicable levy rate will be where the waste is generated, not landfilled. This will also remove the incentives behind perverse COMMONWEALTH outcomes, specifically, this should end the practice of unnecessary transportation the MEM in April,to Australia now hasofa new Environment ofFollowing waste across state borders take advantage levy Federal differentials.

However, Minister, Melissa Price, who in October reiterated to media MEM’s commitment it will require all states to take action to ensure that the correct legislative to explore waste exists to energy as part to the recognition impacts of under China’s regime in each stateof asthe wellsolution as appropriate theNational Mutual Sword, which is troubling (EfW is not a solution to recycling).

The Commonwealth has Recognition Act. Further, landfill levies must not be seen and used solely as also backed the Australian Recycling Label and endorsed the National Packaging revenue raisers, with collected funds predominantly propping up state budgets.

Targets governments developed by thecommit Australian Packaging Covenant (APCO), Instead, must to reinvesting more of these Organisation funds back to the which has to date, failed to incorporate industry feedback in the development WARR sector and WMRR will continue to call for a minimum 50 per cent of landfill of these To the Commonwealth’s credit, therein has been significant levy revenuetargets. being hypothecated to supporting improvements our essential coordination in reviewing thetheNational Waste Policy, with the end Department sector.

WMRR acknowledges that landfill levy is not the be all and all, but of Environment bringing together industry players and States during review it is one instrument within a suite of policy tools that must be used to drivethe better process. waste management and resource recovery.

Australia has had a challenging four months and studies show a trend towards The updated will now go before on 7 December.

The more dangerousPolicy conditions during summerEnvironment and an earlierMinisters start to future fire Commonwealth can play a key role – one that goes beyond the development of seasons. Climate models also indicate more dangerous weather conditions due to the National Waste Policy.gas WMAA is supportive of the Government maximising increasing greenhouse emissions.

We are one partFederal of the economy but WARR theand levers it has, including taxationto and importation powers, to maintain a strong, can must increasingly contribute lowering our country’s emissions.

We are sustainable waste and and resource recovery industry. looking forward to 2020 our essential industry playing an integral part in this necessary change.

AHEAD OF MEM 2 There bechief movement across Australia, Gaylemay Sloan, executive officer, WMRR 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.

NEW SOUTH WALES At first glance, New South Wales’ eye-watering $47 million recycling support Voluntary schemes like the Used Packaging NEPM, under which APCO is auspiced, package was heralded as the spark of hope industry needed. However, on closer are not working. We have 1.6million tonnes of packaging waste in Australia, which inspection, the bulk of this package that was funded via the Waste Less, Recycle needs to be used as an input back into packaging. Barriers to using recycled content More initiative and therefore the waste levy, was not new, making it very difficult in civil infrastructure must be identified and removed, and Government must lead for stakeholders, including local government, to utilise the funds as they were in this field and prefer and purchase recycled material. A tax on virgin material already committed to other activities. Some of the criteria proposed by the NSW should also be imposed as it is overseas. MEM must show strong leadership on this EPA also made it challenging for industry to apply to these grants. On the plus issue. Ministers have, since April, dealt directly with operators and councils that side, efforts are being made by the NSW Government to stimulate demand for are under stress and we have a chance to create jobs and investment in Australia recycled content through the intergovernmental agency working groups that at a time when manufacturing is declining. Ministers have the opportunity to be have been established, though no tangible increase in demand or facilities have leaders of today, not procrastinators – leaders of tomorrow and we are urging developed… Yet. them to act and not just talk in December.

WMRR.ASN.AU

become a wmrr member advocacy - news - events

QUEENSLAND Unlike its neighbours, Queensland did not provide any financial support to 18

INSIDEWASTE

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

Gayle Sloan Chief Executive Officer Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

Export ban //

Mixed plastics are among items that will need to be processed in Australia.

Market review lays out export ban challenges

By Miri Schroeter (Continued from front page, main story) MORE DILIGENT SORTING of paper and cardboard to specification could open up greater local markets at

better prices, but the report suggests that exporting paper and cardboard is inevitable. With Australia being a net importer of goods the “export of packaging to supplying country markets will be necessary”.

Suez’s Mark Venhoek said the timeframes posed by the government are challenging.

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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

Certain materials, such as nonkerbside sourced newsprint and magazine grades continue to be purchased in the Australian market at prices as high as $250/tonne, however, there is a lack of sorting of these grades by Australian MRFs. This severely limits the supply and quality of available material, the report indicates.

However, the fact remains that Australia currently has a lack of markets for certain materials.

Venhoek said that for some time now, it hasn’t been economically viable to invest in large-scale recycling of materials domestically, hence Australia’s historical reliance on offshore processing.

“Uncertainty about the quality of secondary raw materials has also resulted in the manufacturing industry hesitating to invest in infrastructure.

“Infrastructure of this scale is always subject to lengthy planning timeframes and approvals across states and territories, further

complicating meeting the waste export ban timeframes.”

Suez supports fibre that meets international market benchmarks – of less than one per cent contamination – to still be considered for export, Venhoek explained.

A Bingo Industries spokesperson said there is a need in Australia to create an operating environment that enables waste streams under the ban to be properly processed and recycled onshore.

“We do this by creating incentives to recycle, and creating disincentives to landfill and export. This includes fast-tracking the development of waste to energy plants, encouraging and incentivising innovation.

“There is technology available to recycle most waste streams; and to utilise any residual waste we need to follow our European counterparts and adopt these technologies.

Perhaps most importantly, however, governments need to drive the development of a sustainable market for recycled products, by mandating

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// Export ban

“In nearly all cases, Australia is a net importer of manufactured goods. Consequently, it is extremely difficult to consume all, or even the majority, of many recycled materials within Australia because there simply isn’t sufficient demand for this material.” and/or incentivising the use of recycled products from the waste streams they are banning,” the spokesperson said.

The China National Sword Policy has caused “significant volatility” in the global recovered paper market, with Australian paper mills now reaching their capacity, the spokesperson explained.

“This has in turn led to a significant decline in the value of these materials, both here and abroad, over the last 12 months. For example, export prices for FAS for 95/5 old corrugated containers to China from Sydney and Melbourne have declined by around 65 per cent over the past 12 months.”

Waste Contractors and Recyclers Association of NSW (WCRA) executive director Tony Khoury reiterated that any regulations that ban the export of recycled paper and cardboard will have potential adverse implications on competition in the Australian market.

“Before any decisions are made to change export laws, it would be prudent for the federal government to formally investigate the potential for negative effects on competition via the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

“In nearly all cases, Australia is a net importer of manufactured goods.

Consequently, it is extremely difficult to consume all, or even the majority, of many recycled materials within Australia because there simply isn’t sufficient demand for this material.

“Therefore, while there is support for the intent of COAG’s decision, it will be impossible to recycle and reuse this material onshore unless governments assist in establishing policy settings, supporting new infrastructure, and creating demand for recycled products,” Khoury said.

glass packaging manufacturing plants in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, but there is potential to collect and reprocess significantly more glass. Additionally, other secondary materials for glass, such as using glass as a road base material, are growing, but they do not offer a high market price.

National Waste Recycling Industry Council (NWRIC) CEO Rose Read explained that Australia does not currently have the capacity to remanufacture all the glass it consumes into new glass bottles.

“NWRIC does support the export ban of waste glass by July 2020 as long as governments ramp up procurement of crushed glass into infrastructure within a similar time frame. This will help take up much of the glass recovered through material recycling facilities that process kerbside collections.”

To build demand for cleaner glass now coming through container deposit schemes, Read suggests that increasing recycled content levels in containers will be key, as will expanding the capacity of

domestic manufacturers.

Khoury is in support for the export ban of waste glass by the intended date of July 2020, which he said was realistic.

“On the basis that very little volumes of recycled glass have been exported by Australia, then a deadline of July 2020 is a realistic and achievable.”

“All of state, territory and the federal government need to unite and mandate a minimum percentage of recycled glass in road base and aggregate making materials.

Across all levels of government, procurement policies should be set to include recycled glass content in these materials.

“If the ban proceeds in its current form and the federal government doesn’t act to address these issues, then we will potentially lose valuable resources and consume diminishing landfill space,” Khoury warned.

Room for improvement in plastics There is also significant room to grow market for mixed waste plastics in Australia prior to the ban coming into place in July 2021.

The report indicated that plastics exported for reprocessing in 201718 was recorded at 54 per cent – more than double that of the figure in 2000 which was 26 per

cent. Additionally, the local plastics recycling sector is now smaller than it was in 2005.

While there continues to be strong local and export markets for clean baled PET that are collected and sorted to specification, with prices at $350–$400/t in April–June 2019, the market for mixed plastic packaging bales continues to sit at $0/t or less, the report highlights.

Because there is a lack of demand for mixed plastic packaging, it continues to be stored by MRF operators and reprocessors. Additionally, some MRF operators have overseas partners for polymer sorting, which makes them particularly exposed to import restrictions on mixed and contaminated materials, the report indicates.

The report suggests that there is an opportunity to build the market in Australia, if governments commit to using mixed plastic packaging, which can be reprocessed locally and used to create outdoor equipment and building materials.

The need to “dramatically increase” local plastic reprocessing is seen as crucial, according to the report. That expansion may need to be a 400 per cent increase in throughput and this in turn will require new market outlets for recycling plastic resin, both into packaging and other applications.

Tyre Stewardship Australia CEO Lina Goodman (centre) said there is an increased demand for crumb.

Clearer picture for glass The timeline set out for paper and cardboard is not the only concern as the ban on exporting glass is coming into effect in mere months.

The Recycling Market Situation Summary Review report outlines that cullet use in Australian bottle production is about 407,000 tonnes or an estimated 32 per cent postconsumer recycled content in Australian bottles. There are currently excessive losses of glass in collection and sorting of about 30-40 per cent.

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Export ban //

A market for tyres The reprocessing of tyres has also been deemed a tough sell in Australia as the report highlights that the economic recycling of tyres is difficult.

Transport costs, regulatory settings, infrastructure costs, and the import of cheaper crumbed rubber product that can undercut the markets for locally produced recyclate all pose a threat to local markets.

In 2015-16, Australia generated 447,000 tonnes of end of life tyres – of which, 60-65 per cent were sent to landfill, dumped or illegally stockpiled. However, local recycling of tyres has increased significantly over the years and they have a high value. Local recycling doubled to 44,000 tonnes between 2013-14 and 2015-16.

Tyre Stewardship Australia CEO Lina Goodman said there is an increased demand for crumb rubber across various segments such as roads, rail, and civil engineering in Australia.

“Crumb rubber is primarily produced from truck tyres, this is great news for the industry and it supports the recent COAG statement on the ban of waste tyres.

“The real issue is finding a suitable application locally for end-of-life passenger tyres.

“Currently this product is exported as tyre-derived fuel or baled. Tyre Stewardship Australia is working collaboratively with many organisations to consider how passenger tyres can be used in similar applications as truck tyres,” Goodman said. She explained that with the date set to ban the export of tyres, Tyre Stewardship Australia is working with relevant participants to start the process of transitioning as early as possible.

“We are seeing some organisations who have traditionally baled their material take the necessary steps now to commence a process of transitioning,” Goodman said.

However, Green Distillation Technologies CEO Trevor Bayley said there wasn’t enough thought or consultation provided prior to the ban being set.

“They only talked to people that are actually involved in the industry, not people that are developing technology in the industry.”

Bayley was concerned that the

“The real issue is finding a suitable application locally for endof-life passenger tyres. Currently this product is exported as tyre-derived fuel or baled. Tyre Stewardship Australia is working collaboratively with many organisations to consider how passenger tyres can be used in similar applications as truck tyres.” government was over focussing on the opportunity for crumbed rubber and not looking at alternative solutions.

“There is a market for crumbed rubber, but we are reaching over saturation.”

In order to achieve a ban on tyre exports, Bayley said there needs to be a scaled approach, rather than a 100 per cent ban from day one.

Read wants to see even more wastes types added to the proposed export ban beyond those currently listed.

“Like whole baled tyres, the export of unprocessed car bodies, white goods and unprocessed used machine lubricating oils are having a significant impact on the health of overseas environments and

communities due to the potential for substandard recycling practices in developing countries.

“NWRIC is calling on the COAG to also ban the export of whole baled cars, white goods and used machine lubricating oils,” Read said.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of tonnes of whole baled cars, tens of thousands of tonnes of unprocessed white goods and millions of litres of unprocessed oils are currently being exported to developing countries, she explained. iw The Recycling Market Situation Summary Review report draws on various Australian reports and work from Envisage Works, Sustainable Resource Use, Helen Lewis Consulting, Industry Edge, Blue Environment and MRA Consulting Group.

APCO report gives different picture The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), who did not wish to provide comment for this story, released a report in December 2019 that paints a different picture of Australia’s waste materials sector.

APCO’s report, Australian Packaging Consumption and Resource Recovery Data, estimated that the use of recovered paper and paperboard is fairly evenly split between export (54 per cent) and local manufacturers (46 per cent).

It is worth noting that scrap paper and paperboard import restrictions by overseas trading partners, starting with China’s National Sword Policy in early 2018, will have reduced scrap paper and paperboard exports from Australia across 2017–18 and into 2018–19.

Recovered glass packaging is almost entirely used locally, with only about 3 per cent exported overseas during 2017–18.

Recovered plastic packaging was largely exported in 2017–18, with 77 per cent sent offshore.

The best performing system in terms of recovery rate was the paper stream in 2017-18.

Recovery rates were high across the major paper sub-types, however exports from MRFs for polymer-coated paperboard and exports from reprocessors for the other paper sub-types dominated as recovery pathways, leading to poor local utilisation of secondary materials.

The plastic stream had poor local utilisation of materials, owing to exports being the primary recovery pathways, the report indicated.

In the case of glass, local utilisation of materials was high relative to recovery, likely due to there being well-established end-markets for recovered glass material locally.

Furthermore, the report estimated that 4.7 million tonnes (86 per cent) of packaging placed on the market in 2017–18 had good recyclability. This is dominated by paper and paperboard (of which 92 per cent had good recyclability) and glass (of which 100 per cent had good recyclability).

About 0.5 million tonnes (10 per cent) of packaging was classified as having poor recyclability or being not recyclable.

More on APCO’s report can be found on its website and more on the Recycling Market Situation Review can be found via the Commonwealth’s Department of Environment and Energy.

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// Waste trends

Household waste trends

By Carmel Griffith THE SOUTHERN SYDNEY Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC) with 11 members councils representing 1.7 million residents holds the most comprehensive longitudinal data set of household consumption and waste disposal behavior in Australia. The region is characterised by cultural and socio-economic diversity from the inner-city terraces to the leafy suburbs of Sutherland.

A.Prince Consulting (APC) has just completed the seventh regional waste audit spaning a 20 year timeframe with audits conducted in 1999, 2001, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2015 and 2019.

The latest audit of over 2000 households and 50 tonnes of waste sorted to 73 categories provides some real insights into current waste generation and waste trends in Sydney. Waste audit data is generally reported in terms of generation (the weight of a bin or material(s) within the bin), and composition, (the proportion of materials within the bin). Composition provides a useful snapshot while generation enables waste disposal behaviour to be monitored over time.

APC has compared eight councils with comparable three-bin systems that took part in both the 2015 and 2019 regional waste audit. So what have we found?

Contamination in recycling With China Sword contamination has never been more important.

Contamination rate is the percentage of the amount of contamination present in the bin, relative to the rest of the material. We are initially seeing a 35 per cent increase, which can be confronting. However when compared to the generation, i.e. the weight of the contamination – yes, it has increased, but not nearly so dramatically. Several councils in fact saw a decrease or no change in contamination generation.

The reason the slight weight increase translates to a pronounced proportional increase, is that the weight of the bin has reduced. This year weekly household recycling decreased by 1.1 kg, or 22 per cent, the largest (recycling) decrease in the history of the SSROC audits. This is attributed to the ongoing decline in paper consumption and the introduction of the container deposit scheme (CDS).

Therefore, as we have seen across the SSROC audits this year, a slight increase, no change or even a decrease

in contamination generation has translated in many cases to a profound increase in contamination rate.

Decrease in general waste Weekly household general waste decreased by 1.2 kg, or 11 per cent, the largest general waste reduction in the history of the SSROC kerbside audits.

The largest contributor to this is loose food waste, noted at most councils, and which decreased by 0.6 kg per household per week, 16 per cent.

In addition to food, most or all councils experienced a decrease in recyclable material (material that should be in the recycling bin), and other plastic (non-recyclable plastics and soft plastics). Most or all councils saw an increase in soiled paper and containerised food and liquid. The change in vegetation and all other material varied across the councils.

Despite the reduction in food waste generation, it still accounts for 35 per cent of general waste. Including soiled

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paper, organic material, vegetation, packaged food, and other paper products within the ‘other material’ category below, total organic material is as high as 50 per cent.

Eleven per cent of general waste should be in the recycling bin; 3 per cent should be in the garden organics bin.

Impact of the CDS Early analysis points to a 60 per cent reduction in eligible containers in recycling and some reduction in general waste.

Key messages from this analysis are: • Most council contracts with MRFs are based on feedstock and contamination rate with agreed thresholds over which councils can incur penalties. These findings pose interesting questions over how councils and MRFs should negotiate contamination thresholds in the future.

• The reduction in food waste, other

plastic and recycling observed in general waste this year is a good news story for councils, waste educators, and the community.

• In our current era of climate change, drought and water restrictions, the 50 per cent of general waste that is organic material is a significant lost resource.

• Despite our best efforts 14 per cent of the general waste is material that should be diverted to other existing services – recycling and garden organics.

• The 60 per cent reduction of CDSeligible containers in recycling in just over a year is a positive story for the CDS scheme but is impacting the kerbside contamination rate. iw * Figures from the tables may not total 100 per cent due to rounding.

Carmel Griffith is a senior environmental consultant and waste data analyst at APC. She holds a Masters in Engineering – Sustainable Waste Management.

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Single-use plastics //

Our place on the global stage

By Inside Waste (Continued from front page) AS PART OF THE CANADA-WIDE strategy on zero plastic waste, materials and products will be retained in a circular economy. It is estimated that a zero plastic waste economy could help Canada save $500 million of annual costs, create 42,000 direct and indirect jobs, and prevent 1.82Mt of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gas emissions.

The government is also putting more onus on manufacturers through an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program. Under this initiative, companies making products are responsible for end-of-life management of their products and/or packaging.

Australia’s neighbour, New Zealand, is taking a national approach towards implementing a container deposit scheme (CDS) in the next few years.

In July 2019, the New Zealand government introduced a ban on single-use plastic bags across New Zealand, including bans on biodegradable, compostable and oxy-degradable plastics bags. The ban applies to all new single-use plastic shopping bags with handles that are made of plastic up to 70 microns in thickness.

Additionally in July, New Zealand’s Associate Environment Minister, Eugenie Sage, announced the government is investing in a new plant to create New Zealand’s first 100 per cent recycled plastic food packaging range as part of the wider plan to tackle the plastic pollution challenge. A $3 million grant from the Ministry for the Environment’s Waste Minimisation Fund is helping to expand plastics reprocessing

infrastructure and capability in New Zealand so that waste materials can be recycled and re-used locally.

In the UK, a national ban on the supply of plastic straws, drinks stirrers and cotton buds will come into force in April 2020.

The decision was made after the UK government received 1,602 responses to consultation on the matter. More than 80 per cent of respondents backed a ban on the distribution and sale of plastic straws, 90 per cent agreed with a ban on drinks stirrers, and 89 supported a ban on cotton buds. There will be exemptions to ensure that those with medical needs or a disability are able to continue to access plastic straws. Registered pharmacies will be allowed to sell plastic straws over the counter or online and hospitality establishments will be able to provide straws upon request.

According to the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 4.7 billion plastic straws are used in England each year; 316 million plastic stirrers are used and 1.8 billion plastic-stemmed cotton buds. It also estimates that 10 per cent of cotton buds are flushed down toilets and can end up in waterways and oceans. The UK government’s ban plans to slash these figures. While the Australian government lacks a similar ban, states and territories are leading the way. Notably, in early July 2019, the South Australian government announced it is drafting legalisation for public discussion to ban single-use plastic items such as plastic straws, cutlery, and stirrers by 2020. The state government received 3,500 submissions from community and industry members who supported increased measures to address a

Many single-use plastic-free initiatives are in play in Australia, but more work is needed.

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Pulp based packaging is being introduced for a number of Woolworths’ bakery products.

range of single-use plastic products and other items. On a national scale, Australia has its national packaging targets, but they are not mandated.

Brooke Donnelly, CEO of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) which is driving the targets, said that it is an essential part of APCO’s projects and solutions to first review international models and approaches for inspiration and ideally alignment where possible.

“There are plenty of examples of innovation and inspiration that we can take from other countries and their approach to the single use packaging challenge.

“Similar to our approach here in Australia, the EU has approached the issue by identifying a list of single use plastics products to be banned or phased out. In Belgium and Germany, a ‘Pay as you throw’ charge for household waste collection encourages people to minimise waste and to recycle as much as possible.”

Donnelly explained that although it’s good practice to take note of programs from overseas, it’s important to recognise that these solutions have been developed for different geographies, regulatory models and environments.

Donnelly commended a number of supermarket chains in the UK and New Zealand for incorporating options for shoppers to bring their own containers for items such as deli, nuts and salads.

“It’s also exciting to see the expansion of reuse models operating in Australia, including brands like Globelet, CupXchange, GreenCaffeen, Returnr, which have shown fantastic results in minimising food service waste in closed loop environments.

The Loop project, operated by TerraCycle and currently operating

in US, UK and France, is also scheduled to launch in Australia in partnership with Woolworths in 2020,” Donnelly said.

“Beyond single-use bans and a few regulatory instruments, many initiatives are implemented by business directly and are aimed at driving voluntary consumer behaviour change. The University of Winchester in the UK has a program that sets the default price of a coffee assuming the use of a reusable cup, and adds an extra charge for people requiring a single-use coffee cup.”

Donnelly noted the good work happening in Australia, but she said that plenty more could be done.

“Our work at APCO is central to developing a nationally consistent approach, through our work to deliver the 2025 National Packaging Targets. A particular milestone, in 2019, was our Single Use Plastic workshop, convened in October, which brought together industry leaders and government representatives from all jurisdictions to discuss challenges and opportunities to transition supply chains away from problematic and unnecessary SUPs. “Australia is also seeing significant progress in policy in the past year, exemplified by the MEM agreement to the National Waste Policy Action Plan in November 2019, which set seven national targets and formalises the commitment of all governments to the 2025 National Packaging Targets.”

Retailer investment Major retailers such as Woolworths, Coles and Aldi are taking steps to reduce their single-use plastic footprint.

Aldi Australia corporate responsibility director Daniel Baker

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// Single-use plastics

recognised that changes need to be made, now. In 2019, Aldi announced that it will be working in close collaboration with its partners and business partners to reduce plastic packaging by 25 per cent by the end of 2025.

“From warehouse to shelf, most of our fruit and vegetables are transported to stores in reusable crates, then displayed in store in these same crates. The crates are re-used time and time again for produce.”

Baker explained that Aldi also established Australia’s first national supermarket battery recycling program and it is continually increasing recyclable packaging across its product ranges.

“We will continue to work with business partners to achieve our commitments following the three R’s model – reduce, reuse and recycle.

Looking first to reduce packaging, before considering what can be reused and finally, how to ensure necessary packaging can be widely recycled.

“All problematic single use plastics such as plastic-stemmed cotton buds and disposable tableware will be gone from our stores by the end of 2020.”

Aldi also aims to have 100 per cent

recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging for its exclusive brands by the end of 2025.

“Despite our desire, and that of our customers, to reduce plastics immediately, this process will take years, not weeks. Part of this change will be creating demand for recycled content. While we are ambitiously reducing the amount of plastic in our stores, we are also considering how to stimulate Australia’s circular economy and support the development of recycling infrastructure needed to close the loop. To this end, we have committed to include 30 per cent recycled materials in our plastic packaging by the end of 2025.

“When creating this change, it’s important to ensure our business partners have commercially viable packaging options to reduce their reliance on virgin materials,” Baker explained.

A Coles spokesperson said that the company aims to be recognised as Australia’s most sustainable supermarket.

“In conjunction with REDcycle, Coles offers a soft plastic recycling program in all Coles supermarkets nationally. In 2018 we were the first

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major Australian supermarket to roll out the program to all stores.

“Since the program began in 2011, Coles has diverted 715 million pieces of plastic from landfill across Australia, including more than 200 million pieces in FY19 alone,” the spokesperson said.

“In addition to packaging, Coles has also halved food waste in our supermarkets by donating unsold edible food to people in need and diverting food waste to animal feed, clean energy, fertiliser and compost.

“Our journey to becoming a truly sustainable company will take time, but these commitments are an important first step. We look forward to working with customers to create a more sustainable future,” the spokesperson said.

A Woolworths spokesperson acknowledged that while the removal of items such as single-use plastic bags from all Woolworths stores nationwide was an important step, the company understands that there’s more to do.

“Over the last two years, we have removed around 1000 tonnes of plastic from our fruit and vegetables and bakery ranges. We have also

rolled out REDcycle facilities in all our stores, which allows customers to return soft plastics, including fruit and veg packaging, to our stores to be recycled. Nationally, we’ve now repurposed more than 900 tonnes of soft plastics into useful items like outdoor furniture and benches for community groups and stores with REDcycle.” Woolworths was the first supermarket chain in Australia to display the Australasian Recycling Label on its brand products to help customers understand how to recycle packaging correctly, the spokesperson explained. As part of Woolworths’ plastic reduction initiatives the company is aiming remove plastic wrapping from tomatoes, organic bananas and spring onions, celery bunches and kale. Stone fruit and apple punnets will switch from plastic to recyclable cardboard; and new pulp based packaging is being introduced for a number of its bakery products. Woolworths’ is committed to making its home-brand packaging 100 per cent reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025, which is aligned with APCO’s National Packaging Targets. Coles and Aldi have similar targets. iw

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2020 Consultants Review //

Inside Waste’s annual Consultants Review is created with the help of our readers.

Consultants Review 2020 – Who is on the podium?

By Inside Waste ALMOST A DECADE AGO, Inside Waste launched its annual Consultants Review. The review gives companies, organisations and councils the opportunity to rate the work that consultants have done for them in the waste management and environment space.

The 2020 Consultants Review winners are based on results from a survey conducted in late 2019, which asked respondents a series of questions about which consultants they have dealt with and how they rank them. Similar to previous years, companies were divided into large and small firms to determine the overall 2020 winners based on the number of projects and project value categories.

As with previous years, Inside 26

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Waste also wanted to recognise the firms that did well in specific streams, so we have kept subcategories that allow firms to stand out for the great work they do in certain areas within the industry.

These catergories are: • Waste auditing; • Logistics – collection and transfer studies; • Landfill – design and operations; • Design and engineering of facilities; • Technology/infrastructure reviews/ evaluations; • Strategy, policy and planning; and • Economic evaluation and modelling.

Additionally, in 2020 we have brought back the awards portion of the consultants review. Inside Waste wanted to acknowledge winning firms with a certificate that gives them

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

well-deserved recognition for their hard work, which they can reflect on for many years to come.

This portion was removed in 2019, but we took on feedback from consultants that expressed their desire to see the awards return. We are glad to bring it back and we will share the winners with you in due course.

In keeping with protocol from previous years, we have also ensured that only non-consultants’ opinions have helped shaped this review in order to create a fair result. Each participant was prompted to only submit one set of responses and this was further vetted to ensure that responses were fair and unique.

It is important to us that this review highlights the work that consultants do accross the board and that we reflect this through

the opinions and experiences of companies and individuals that have used consultants’ services.

We received more than 150 responses to the survey that helped shape the 2020 review. These responses came from a variety of appropriate stakeholders: • Local government – 38 per cent; • State government – 9 per cent; • Federal government – 1 per cent; • Private waste contractors/service providers – 35 per cent; and • “Other” waste services – 17 per cent.

Listed under “other” were organisations such as not-forprofits, universities and community developers. These percentages show the vast array of sectors and organisations that consultants in Australia help serve.

We thank all of the survey

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// 2020 Consultants Review

participants for their valuable input, which has helped shape this year’s consultants review. This feedback helped determine which firms took the spotlight as the overall winners as well as those excelling in sub-categories within the waste management and environment sector.

Many of the consultants reviewed in the survey received positive feedback from participants. But, several stood out for the exceptional work they offered clients. These were the ones that were recognised as the top performers by a majority of survey participants and ultimately, the ones that came out as the overall winners.

Congratulations to all winners and finalists. And we would like to extend our thanks to all consultants who are helping to improve the waste industry by providing valuable information and advice to companies, governments and organisations.

2020 Inside Waste Consultants Review winners Table 1: Top 3 large consultancies 2020 Number of Projects Firm

Rank

Firm

Rank

GHD

1st

SLR Consulting

1st

Arcadis

2nd

Golder

2nd

SLR Consulting

3rd

GHD

3rd

Table 2: Top 3 small consultancies 2020 Number of Projects

Overall winners GHD and SLR Consulting were ranked as the winners in the large consultancies showdown based on number of projects undertaken and the value of projects, respectively (see Table 1). In 2019, both companies ranked in third place – GHD for project value and SLR for the number of projects. Their ongoing recognition on the leaderboard shows that both companies’ commitment to the industry continues to pay off.

Arcadis was recognised for its efforts – coming in second place for the number of projects undertaken.

Arcadis specialises in a raft of areas, including (but not limited to) design and engineering of facilities; technology/infrastructure and reviews/evaluations; strategy, policy and planning; and economic evaluation and modelling.

Similarly, Golder Associates was recognised as a leader – coming in second place in the project value section of the consultants review.

Taking out the overall top small consultancies prize for 2020 is MRA Consulting. The company was ranked number one for both the number of projects undertaken and project value. The company received high praise from survey participants who had enlisted MRA’s help throughout last year. Talis took out second place in both sections for the small consultancies – proving it was leading numerous valuable projects in the waste management sector. Third place was split between A.Prince Consulting, which was recognised for most projects undertaken, and Rawtec, which was recognised for projects by value.

Project Value

Project Value

Firm

Rank

Firm

Rank

MRA Consulting

1st

MRA Consulting

1st

Talis

2nd

Talis

2nd

A.Prince Consulting

3rd

Rawtec

3rd

A.Prince Consulting specialises in waste auditing; logistics – collection and transfer studies; procurement – tender development and evaluation; and much more.

Rawtec specialises in areas such as strategy, policy and planning; economic evaluation and modelling; education, training and community consultationl; and environment/ greenhouse management.

Winners by category While the winners for the top large and small consultancies were recognised for their overall contribution to the industry, we also wanted to acknowledge the firms that excelled in particular areas of the waste management and resource recovery industry.

The “best in” awards highlight the top consultancies in subcategories. Consultancies were ranked on their performance in area that they specialised in. Prior to the release of the survey, Inside Waste contacted each firm to confirm which categories were relevant to the expertise they offered. Survey respondents were given a list of consultants to choose from, but they could also opt to add to the list if they wanted to acknowledge a firm that had not been noted. Table 3 highlights the firms that placed first, second and third in each subcategory.

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2020 Consultants Review // Table 3: Top ranking consultancies based on services offered Waste auditing

Design and engineering of facilities

Firm

Rank

Firm

Rank

A.Prince Consulting

1st

GHD

1st

MRA Consulting

2nd

MRA Consulting

2nd

EnviroCom

3rd

AECOM and Golder Assocaites

3rd

Logistics - collection and transfer studies

Technology/infrastructure reviews/evaluations

Firm

Rank

Firm

Rank

MRA Consulting

1st

MRA Consulting

1st

A.Prince Consulting

2nd

GHD

2nd

SLR Consulting and Arcadis

3rd (equal)

SLR Consulting

3rd

Landfill - design and operations

Strategy, policy and planning

Firm

Rank

Firm

Rank

Golder Associates

1st

MRA Consulting

1st

GHD

2nd

A.Prince Consulting

2nd

SLR Consulting

3rd

SLR Consulting

3rd

Survey participants have their say We asked survey participants to tell us what they liked about the consultants they worked with. Here is what they had to say: “A.Prince Consulting have been a key consulting firm in the early stages of the container deposit schemes in both NSW and ACT – very customer focused and knowledgeable in the waste management industry,” one participant said.

“We find MRA Consulting is unbiased and a fairer company to deal with as an SME,” another respondent said.

“BlueSphere Environmental has a knowledgeable and client-focused team. Their experience is readily applied across a range of sites. They consistently demonstrate willingness to explain matters in layperson terms and work capably with both the client and EPA,” one respondent said.

Rawtec staff were commended for their “passionate and extremely knowledgeable” approach. The respondent mentioned that Rawtec is willing to go the extra mile to add value as “they truly believe in what they are doing”.

“Great service and commitment from Great Forest Australia – highly committed, knowledgeable and walk the talk. They work off values set in first principles to enhancing 28

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environmental outcomes and give evidence based advice and calculations based on extensive knowledge of the industry,” another participant said about environmental consultant Great Forest Australia.

“Talis are good to work with. A small team that works professionally and is client focused,” according to one respondent.

“In Victoria, SMEC, Senversa, and Golder are leading the field in

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// 2020 Consultants Review

Environmental specialists

Economic evaluation and modelling

Firm

Rank

Firm

Rank

MRA Consulting

1st

MRA Consulting

1st

GHD and Golder Associates

2nd (equal)

A.Prince Consulting

2nd

Arcadis

3rd

Blue Environment

3rd

Procurement - tender development, evaluation

Education, training, community consultation

Firm

Rank

Firm

Rank

MRA Consulting

1st

MRA Consulting

1st

A.Prince Consulting

2nd

A.Prince Consulting

2nd

Rawtec

3rd

EnviroCom

3rd

Environmental/greenhouse management

“Several consultants stood out for the exceptional work they offered clients. These were the ones that were recognised as the top performers by a majority of survey participants and ultimately, the ones that came out as the overall winners.”

Firm

Rank

MRA Consulting

1st

Golder Associates

2nd

SLR Consulting, GHD, Arcadis

3rd (equal)

The specialists in recycling, waste and carbon

Consultants across the country are helping improve waste management and resource recovery in Australia.

landfill design, management and rehabilitation,” another said.

From a broader context, survey participants enjoyed the help consultants offered in moments where they were time poor and needed advice from consultants that had knowledge of specific matters.

“Consultants are being used more lately due to time restraints and changes in legislation which impacts day to day operations rendering

management time poor requiring consultants to assist,” one respondent said.

“We still select consultants that offer value while recognising experience and methodology. We look for quality and outcomes; not a sales pitch,” was the advice from another respondent.

Another participant spoke about the need for good relationships between local government and consultancies.

“As local government, we highly

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

Need help with your waste strategy?

MRA analyses and evaluates data to deliver innovative strategies and tailored solutions for businesses, government and service providers.

• Increase diversion • Reduce costs • Meet targets • Plan for the long term

Contact our award-winning team today and find out what we can do for you.

Call 02 8541 6169 or email info@mraconsulting.com.au mraconsulting.com.au

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

INSIDEWASTE

29

2020 Consultants Review //

Expected change in spending 2020

Change in spend on waste consultants from 2017/18 to 2018/19 3.3%

10%

4.1%

5%

32.2%

34.5% 48%

40.5%

10% 12.4% • Decrease more than 10 per cent • Decrease less than 10 per cent • No change • Increase less than 10 per cent • Increase more than 10 per cent

• Decrease more than 10 per cent • Decrease less than 10 per cent • No change • Increase less than 10 per cent • Increase more than 10 per cent

Talis is one of Australia’s leading Waste Management Consultancies, providing a full range of bespoke consultancy services to both public and private sector clients.

$

WASTE STRATEGY

WASTE INFRASTRUCTURE

WASTE MANAGEMENT PLANS

SITE INVESTIGATIONS

RESOURCE RECOVERY STRATEGIES

APPROVALS

WASTE AUDITING

DESIGN & PROCUREMENT

CONTRACTS & PROCUREMENT

CONSTRUCTION QUALITY ASSURANCE

FEASIBILITY ASSESSMENT

SUPERINTENDENT

CONTACT US FOR ASSISTANCE ON YOUR NEXT PROJECT Ronan Cullen - WA Alex Upitis - NSW / VIC info@talisconsultants.com.au www.talisconsultants.com.au 1300 251 070

30

INSIDEWASTE

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

value consultants who are flexible, understand the priorities of councils, and are committed to delivering outcomes (not just documents).

Unfortunately, sometimes there is a big disparity in skills from what is included in the proposal, to those who actually deliver the project.”

One respondent supported small consultancies for the services they offer. “I find the smaller more ‘boutique’ consultants are more interested in your business and provide a tailored approach that suits projects and budgets.”

Another participant called for consultants to offer greater help to businesses in rural areas. “It is difficult to engage suitably qualified consultants and attract them to rural areas as the jobs are usually smaller than the city jobs and they are less inclined to want the smaller tasks,” they said.

“Subject matter experts are always valuable but that value could be improved with an increase in commercial acumen and more attention given to the ultimate goal as determined by the client,” another participant said.

Changes in spending We give organisations, businesses and government bodies the chance to participate in this survey each year, as they will continue to engage consultants to help with their

endeavours to improve environmental and waste management impacts in Australia.

Because of this, we also asked participants to share how their spending is tracking and their expected expenditure on consultants in 2020.

Thirty-four per cent of respondents expect an increase in spending of more than 10 per cent in the first half of 2020.

With more than a third expected to allocate more funds to engaging waste consultants this year, consultants can expect to see continued, if not greater, engagement with the waste industry. A jump in spending was also reflected in 2019 figures.

When asked how much their spend on waste consultants had changed from FY 2017/18 to 2018/19, almost half of the respondents (48 per cent) indicated the spend had increased by more than 10 per cent. Thirty-two per cent had indicated there was no change in spending, and 12.4 per cent had increased their spend by less than 10 per cent. Only 7.4 per cent had decreased their spend on waste consultants.

To conclude, we would like to congratulate all consultancies on their continued efforts to help those in the waste industry. We would also like to thank all participants of the survey, who have helped shape the 2020 Consultants Review. iw

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// 2020 Consultants Review

The consultants and their areas of expertise IF YOU’RE SEARCHING for a waste export to help you with your waste management and resource recovery initiatives and plans, here is a list that will help you identify a suitable consultancy. In each volume of the Consultants Survey, Inside Waste puts together a list of the leading waste consultants in Australia.

2020

Arcadis

ASK Waste Management

●

●

EnviroCom Australia

●

EC Sustainable

●

Gemec

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

Procurement - tender development & evaluation, contract management

60%

ACT; NSW; TAS

www.aprince.com.au

●

●

●

$500,000 to $2 million

50%

20%

-

30%

NSW; QLD; WA

www.askwm.com

●

●

●

●

$500,000 to $2 million

20%

30%

20%

30%

VIC

www.blueenvironment.com.au

●

●

●

$2 million to $5 milion

60%

20%

-

20%

ACT; NSW; QLD; VIC

www.envirocom.com.au

●

●

●

$2 million to $5 milion

50%

25%

5%

20%

NSW

www.ecsustainable.com

-

-

-

100%

WA

www.gemec.com.au

●

●

$5 million to $10 million

40%

10%

10%

40%

ACT; NSW; NT; QLD; SA; TAS; VIC; WA; NZ

www.ghd.com

●

●

●

$500,000 to $2 million

60%

-

-

40%

NSW; NT; QLD; WA; NZ

www.greentecconsulting.com.au

●

●

●

$1 to $500,000

80%

10%

-

10%

NSW

www.logicusem.com

$500,000 to $2 million

30%

10%

-

60%

QLD

www.mraenvironmental.com.au

●

●

●

●

LOGICUS Environmental Management

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

$1 to $500,000

●

●

●

Office Locations

●

●

●

Website Address

-

Revenue

10%

www.arcadis.com/en/australia/

●

●

30%

NSW; QLD; VIC

GreenTec Consulting

Talis Consultants

$2 million to $5 milion

30%

●

SLR Consulting

●

10%

●

●

www.360green.com.au

30%

●

Rawtec

NSW

30%

●

Ramboll Energy

10%

$2 million to $5 milion

●

●

-

●

●

●

40%

●

●

MRA Consulting Group

50%

●

GHD Pty Ltd

●

Environmental approvals

Education, training & community consultation ●

●

Mark Rigby & Associates Pty Ltd

Private Sector

●

●

Federal Government

●

●

$1 to $500,000

●

●

Blue Environment Pty Ltd

State Government

●

Percentage of the amount of revenue earned in waste and resource recovery consultancy derived from each of these sectors

Local Government

●

●

●

Economic evaluation & modelling

●

Strategy, policy & planning

A.Prince Consulting

Technology/infrastructure reviews & evaluation

●

Design & engineering of facilities

360green

Landfill - design, operation, gas, closure, rehabilitation etc

COMPANY NAME

Waste auditing

All care waste taken in compiling this consultants survey. No responsibility is accepted for accuracy. While the guidelines provided to consultants by Prime Creative Media stated that only demonstrable experience should be recorded, the information does not present the opinions or recommendations of Prime Creative Media.

Logistics - collection & transfer studies

CONSULTANTS LISTINGS

Environmental/greenhouse management, reporting & compliance

SERVICES AND DETAILS

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

$2 million to $5 milion

40%

10%

10%

40%

NSW

www.mraconsulting.com.au

●

●

$10 million+

10%

-

-

90%

NSW

www.ramboll.com/energy

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

$500,000 to $2 million

30%

30%

10%

30%

SA

www.rawtec.com.au

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

$2 million to $5 milion

50%

10%

-

40%

NSW; NT; QLD; VIC; WA; NZ

www.slrconsulting.com/au

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

$2 million to $5 milion

50%

10%

-

40%

NSW; VIC; WA

www.talisconsultants.com.au

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

INSIDEWASTE

31

Resource recovery //

Making a meaningful impact

By Inside Waste SUSTAINABILITY IS AT the forefront of various organisations’ minds. From the ski slopes of Perisher Valley, to the halls of universities across Australia – waste and resource recovery has taken precedence.

Gone are the days where the convenience of a single-use plastic lunch container is prioritised over its more sustainably friendly and sometimes pricier counterpart.

Organisations are seeking long-term solutions that cost the Earth less. While there are plenty of organisations that are yet to step up their environmental efforts, Inside Waste spoke to those that are saying “no” to a disposable model in favour of a reusable model.

Taking to the Snowy Mountain tops in NSW, Perisher Ski Resort has reduced its single-use product offering, expanded compost collection and increased recycling efforts.

The ski resort’s environment manager, Tanya Bishop, said that by drawing from wider knowledge and experience from Vail Resorts’ company practices, Perisher measured types of waste generated in different operational areas to allow the company to target and prioritise waste reduction efforts. “[Although] Vail Resorts has been on a sustainability journey for a long time, the company took a huge step in 2017 by announcing ‘Commitment to Zero’.”

Companywide, Vail Resorts is on track to achieve its Zero Waste to Landfill by 2030 goal, with a sub-goal of increasing waste diversion to 50 per cent by the end of 2020, Bishop

Benjamine Duncan, from UTS, is helping the university continue to improve its sustainability initiatives.

explained. In total, Vail Resorts was able to divert more than 4.9 million kilograms of waste from landfill over the last season through recycling and composting, according to a Vail Resorts 2018/2019 Progress Report. Those efforts allowed the company to achieve 44 per cent waste diversion – beating its 42 per cent goal for this year.

“Operations at Perisher rely on the preservation of the natural environment and climate. By working towards providing guests with a ‘zero-waste’ experience and running our operation with a focus on sustainability, Perisher can reduce litter in the environment, reduce waste to landfill and reduce resource use,” Bishop said.

“We hope that by exposing our guests and staff to this low-waste way of operating, we will educate and motivate people to expand these sustainable practices into the wider community.”

For UTS, consumer demand and engagement has been integral in its transition for a more sustainable

UTS is phasing out problem materials with its Plastic Free by 2020 Plan. Photo credit: UTS

campus.

The year 2020 marks the university’s elimination of single-use straws, bags, food containers, bottles, and plasticlined coffee cups as reusable, recyclable and compostable alternatives take over.

Its Plastic Free by 2020 Plan was developed in consultation with students and staff.

UTS acting head of sustainability Benjamine Duncan said that sustainability has been a key component of UTS’ strategy for many years, culminating with the opening of the newest campus building UTS Central.

“As in many other organisations, the support for implementing sustainability initiatives continues to grow and UTS continues to find new ways to improve and build on the work we have been carrying out in this area.”

In 2019, a public food court at the UTS Central campus building was designed with the incorporation of phasing out single-use plastics in response to environmental concerns of

staff and students, Duncan explained.

Staff and students are encouraged to bring their own reusable cups, containers and cutlery. All takeaway food packaging is commercially compostable (a mix of cardboard, paper, bamboo and PLA) and all drink containers are recyclable glass, aluminium and paper board.

“We are estimating that in the first year of operation, we’ll be converting around 19 tonnes of waste into usable compost, by diverting food scraps and packaging to be commercially composted rather than added to landfill,” Duncan said.

UTS composts food waste onsite and the university has five green roofs on campus.

She explained that UTS has a responsibility to respond to the plastic waste issue in Australia and to demonstrate better practices and influence change in society more broadly.

“Plastic waste is a huge and costly problem for society causing litter,

Perisher Ski Resort has reduced its single-use product offering to staff and customers.

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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Resource recovery

“Operations at Perisher rely on the preservation of the natural environment and climate. By working towards providing guests with a ‘zero-waste’ experience and running our operation with a focus on sustainability, Perisher can reduce litter in the environment, reduce waste to landfill and reduce resource use.” pollution and negative impacts on biodiversity and human health. Singleuse disposable packaging is avoidable, alternative choices include switching to reusable packaging or using compostable products.

“As a large organisation, UTS can make a meaningful impact by taking steps to reduce our own waste. We can also pilot new sustainability initiatives and share what we learn, so that other organisations can in turn implement the strategies to multiply the impact.

For example, our plastic-free food court initiative could be replicated across other public food courts. The work we have done with tenants (including major brand franchisees) to source compostable and sustainable packaging that is fit for purpose can set a standard that can be replicated across their wider business.”

Key to UTS’ initiatives, is ensuring the ongoing success and engagement of these programs.

“In 2020, we will be making sure everything is embodied properly and reinforced,” Duncan said.

“To make this a success, we don’t want to just ‘set and forget’. We want to make sure the system is well embodied in the process of retailers.”

While initiatives such as those taken

by UTS and Perisher are moving the dial towards greater resource recovery and sustainability, disability advocacy group Purple Orange project officer Kathryn Mills urges all companies and organisations to consider the impacts these changes have on people relying on plastic straws or coffee lids.

“Some companies don’t realise that some people living with disability rely on plastic straws and need lids on their coffee cups. It’s important companies/ organisations are aware of this, before eliminating these items entirely. We are not suggesting environmental improvements aren’t warranted and encourage the reduction in the use of plastic generally, but items such as plastic straws and coffee lids are actually a necessity for some people.

“It is is therefore a question of access – people who rely on items like plastic straws and coffee lids will go to restaurants or cafés but will be unable to enjoy their drink. This means restaurants or cafés are not providing access to people living with disability and aren’t demonstrating inclusion inclusive behaviour, which is unfair,”

Mills said.

Trudy Gepp, who has spinal muscular atrophy, relies on straws as she has difficulty lifted cups.

“Normally [places] have the paper straws and if you put one of those in a hot drink, unless you can drink it in five minutes, you might as well not bother because they just disintegrate.

Wheat straws are so thin that they are next to useless and if you bend them at all they split,” Gepp said.

“It is a breath of relief when you actually go in and see that they’ve still got plastic straws. [It] makes you feel good.”

Gepp’s reiterated that including people that rely on these product in discussions is an important step in the process.

Duncan said that within the UTS Central plastic-free food court, straws made of cardboard, PLA or corn starch are available. “Some of these look and feel just like plastic and are virtually indistinguishable from plastic straws – except they are 100 per cent compostable. Paper, corn starch, and PLA straws go in the compostable bin provided in the food court.

“UTS is committed to both accessibility and sustainability. By working collaboratively, we have been able to ensure that staff and students with special needs are not impacted negatively when we implement changes for sustainability reasons,” Duncan said.

She highlighted that early planning and team engagement are crucial in successfully implementing changes.

“At UTS we have engaged teams across the organisation – management, sustainability, leasing, marketing and project management – to achieve this outcome.

“It is also important to think about the compostable waste stream operational processes that need to be amended to accommodate plastic-free initiatives. At UTS, the compostable packaging needs to be collected separately to be commercially composted off-site – a four-month process that turns food waste, cardboard, bamboo PLA into usable compost,” Duncan said.

In order to see the gains from waste reduction and resource recovery initiatives, Bishop highlighted the importance of data collection.

“In our experience, you cannot

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

AMP Capital’s Chris Nunn said that managers play a significant role in reducing the waste generation.

manage what you cannot measure.

To create a sustainable workplace, understand your organisation’s specific waste types and volumes. This way initiatives can be targeted to make the most impact.

“Do your research. There are many organisations that are in similar instances aiming to improve their waste management. Learn from industry leaders and be willing to share your experiences,” Bishop said.

AMP Capital head of sustainability, real estate, Chris Nunn said that commercial property owners and managers play a significant role in reducing the waste generated by AMP’s building users.

“Construction waste targets (including new buildings, refurbishments, as well as fit-out and strip-outs) and operational waste targets are widespread in commercial real estate companies.

“These typically include commitments to drive down waste generation, reduce or eliminate waste being sent to landfill, increase recycling rates, introduce or expand the collection of organic waste, collect and appropriately dispose of electronic waste, and implement procedures including user education to minimise contamination of recycling and organics waste streams,” Nunn said.

AMP Capital’s 2030 Real Estate Sustainability Strategy highlights

waste targets it is looking to achieve, including: • Continuous reduction in waste generation and improvement in recycling rates, aiming for 5 per cent yearly improvement in diversion from landfill rates (up to a rate of 50 per cent diversion from landfill, after which the target is to maintain and incrementally improve beyond 50 per cent to be agreed asset by asset).

• Implementing measures at all assets to encourage customers and retailers to avoid single-use plastic bags, plastic straws, plastic cutlery, plastic plates, and polystyrene foam packaging, and switch to reusable or compostable packaging alternatives by 2029.

• Monitor and reduce construction and strip out waste – target 80 per cent diversion by 2023.

• Regular e-waste collections at every asset AMP manages by 2024.

Nunn said that the ability to drive single-use plastic packaging bans is hampered by the relatively limited availability of compostable packaging alternatives, which are comparatively expensive. But, he is hopeful these economies of scale will change in the near term.

“This will be helped by more jurisdictions legislating single-use plastic packaging bans, as Hobart did in March 2019,” Nunn said.

He explained that it is very much in the interest of governments and businesses to engage in better waste management.

“There’s solid evidence to show that waste minimisation and recycling makes good business sense, reducing operating costs and improving staff, client and customer engagement.”

The year 2020 is a time for change and greater steps towards environmental improvements, which companies and organisations on the top of the mountains to the hustle and bustle of Sydney’s CBD are taking on. iw

Bins at the UTS foodcourt help customers dispose of their waste correctly.

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

INSIDEWASTE

33

Plastic ban //

China’s staunch stance on plastics

By Inside Waste THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT is ramping up moves to rid the country of single-use plastic, which has contributed to giving the nation a long-standing reputation as one of the world’s largest manufacturers of plastic goods.

The government has started the year with a commitment to ban non-degradable bags in major cities by the end of the year, followed by further bans nationwide throughout the next five years.

Research published by the University of Oxford in September 2018, states that China produced

34

INSIDEWASTE

the largest quantity of plastic in the world in 2010 – at nearly 60 million tonnes. This was followed by the US at 38Mt, Germany at 14.5Mt and Brazil at 12Mt. Information from Statista states that the production volume of plastic in China reached 78.08Mt in 2015.

The country has long grappled with plastic pollution while also taking on plastic waste from other countries.

The China National Sword Policy is reaching its third year – having proven its success in reducing plastic waste coming into the country.

Coupled with the new timetable for banning and restricting certain plastic items, China is set to reduce

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

its plastic reduction and consumption significantly.

In a statement released on January 19, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said both

bags is expected to cease in some areas, including shopping centres, supermarkets and restaurant takeout services in large cities by the end of 2020. All other cities and urban areas

“Under the new guidelines, single-use, nondegradable plastic products will be gradually banned in the restaurant industry in urban areas accross the country by the end of 2022, and in express delivery sectors three years later.” the production and use of a large number of single-use plastics will be phased out, with bans taking place throughout the next five years.

The use of non-degradable plastic

will have these products slashed by the end of 2022.

The production and sale of disposable foam plastic tableware and plastic cotton swabs will also

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Plastic ban

The Chinese government is cracking down on single-use plastic production.

be banned by the end of this year.

Additionally, the production of household chemicals containing plastic microbeads will be banned by the end of 2020; and the sale of these products will cease by 2022.

The Chinese government has announced there won’t be an immediate ban for use of single-use nondegradable bags in city markets, but restrictions will be introduced and extended to these areas by 2022. A complete ban will then come into effect by the end of 2025, the guideline outlines.

In a statement, China Plastic Processing Industry Association secretary-general Weng Yunxuan praised the plan for its step-by-step roll-out.

“The ban will not be imposed all of a sudden, but phase-by-phase.

The current production capacity (for substitute products) in China will not fail to meet the market gap caused by the ban,” Yunxuan said.

Under the new guidelines, singleuse, nondegradable plastic products will be gradually banned in the restaurant industry in urban areas across the country by the end of 2022, and in express delivery sectors three years later. The government has encouraged e-commerce and on-demand service platforms to draft plans to find substitutes for disposable plastic products.

China Sword success Statistics published by the University of Oxford show that from 2010-2016,

China imported between 7 and 9 million tonnes of plastic waste per year. China’s domestic plastic waste generation was about 61 million tonnes and 10-11 per cent of China’s total plastic waste was imported from around the world.

Australia was the eighth largest exporter of waste to China in 2016 – sending across 293,122 tonnes. This all changed with the introduction of the China National Sword Policy.

The Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment reported that China imported almost 13.5Mt of garbage in 2019 – down about 40 per cent year-on-year.

In a statement, Ministry of Ecology and Environment spokesman Liu Youbin said that so far, imports have declined by 71 per cent with the additional help of a continued effort to crack down on waste smuggling. China’s ban on waste imports has gained traction with several Southeast Asian nations.

Malaysia and Indonesia are among nations that have sent waste back to countries such as Australia as the waste was deemed too contaminated.

In late 2019, Indonesian customs officials announced that 100 containers of contaminated waste was shipped back to Australia. Strict measures were put in place to stop contaminated rubbish entering the country. Concerns for the health of people and the environment continued when in November, 2019, the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) released

a report that revealed that high levels of dioxins in eggs were collected near an Indonesian factory that burns plastics for fuel.

Toxic chemicals had been found in dangerous concentrations in freerange chicken eggs in Indonesian communities where plastic waste accumulates from exported materials.

Factories near villages such as Bangun and Tropodo receive more than 50 tonnes of low-grade plastic every day, with shipments coming from countries such as Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, UK, and the US. Indonesia’s plastic waste import volume doubled between 2017 and 2018, according to UN Comtrade data.

Declining some waste materials from countries such as Australia will aid countries such as Indonesia and China in minimising the risk to their people and environments.

China’s latest commitment to ban certain single-use plastic items from production and sale in China, aims to continue to improve the country’s waste management.

In response, restrictions such as these, have led to Australia pushing for greater processing capacity and markets domestically.

The announcement of Australia’s national waste export bans aim to help Australia deal with its waste on-shore. iw For an update on Australia’s upcoming export bans, refer to the cover story.

China is banning the production of household chemicals containing plastic microbeads.

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

INSIDEWASTE

35

EfW //

EfW plants have long been a part of the waste management process in many countries.

Obtaining approval for EfW projects

By Kim Glassborow WITH THE SPOTLIGHT on Cleanaway’s bid for approval for an Energy from Waste (EfW) plant in Eastern Creek, Western Sydney, let’s look at just what legal steps are involved in obtaining such an approval. In short, it is a time consuming, and at times challenging, process.

For applications in NSW, a proponent needs to identify the relevant legal triggers for such an activity. A proposed EfW facility will be classified as a State Significant Development (SSD) if it falls under one of the categories listed in Schedule 1 of the State Environmental Planning Policy (State and Regional Development) 2011.

The main activity that it would fall under would be Clause 20 – electricity generating works and heat or co-generation.

This is one of the main triggers for an SSD project – being any development that proposes to produce electricity generating works, with a capital investment value of more than $30 million, or a has a capital investment value of more than $10 million; and is located in 36

INSIDEWASTE

The preparations for an SSD project typically takes up to one year to perfect, with the culmination of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which also contains all the relevant technical reports that must address the different requirements under the SEARs. an environmentally sensitive area of state significance.

A proponent then prepares a request to the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (department) to obtain the Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs). This sets out all the requirements that must be addressed in a proponent’s environmental application.

Normally, under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, the department is meant to issue its SEARs by 28 days.

If an application is not lodged within two years from the date of the SEARs, then it lapses and the proponent will have to re-submit for fresh SEARs. The preparations for an SSD project typically takes up to one year to perfect, with the culmination of an

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which also contains all the relevant technical reports that must address the different requirements under the SEARs. Once the EIS is completed and submitted it will be placed on public exhibition by the department and referred to the relevant agencies, i.e. an EPA, relevantly affected councils, Sydney Water, Office of Environment and Heritage, Department of Primary Industries, NSW Health and the like.

Once public notification ends, the joy of reviewing all the submissions by the proponent starts. The department will make all the submissions publicly available (online), and the proponent is requested to address the any concerns or issues raised by the community, council and government agencies.

The proponent then prepares a formal Response to Submissions

Report (RTS), which the department publishes on its website.

The department then commences its assessment of the merits of the project, including the EIS, all relevant submissions and community feedback, and the RTS. If there are more than 25 objections, a reportable political donation has been made, or the local council objects to the proposal, the application will be sent to the Independent Planning Assessment Commission for a final determination.

The department will undertake a detailed and comprehensive review of the environmental assessment documents and either approve (subject to detailed conditions) or refuse the application.

In addition to the overview of the planning approval process of SSD, if the project is Integrated Development, it will require an Environment Protection Licence under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act) in order to operate lawfully. iw Kim Glassborow is a senior partner in planning and environmental lawyer at G&B Lawyers.

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Technology

Steps towards a better solar PV industry

By Michael Salt SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) technology is playing a pivotal role in Australia’s necessary transition to a renewable and sustainable economy.

According to the PV Institute, as of 30 September 2019 there were more than 2.2 million PV installations in Australia, with a combined capacity of over 13.9 gigawatts.

While this represents a significant step towards a more sustainable energy mix in Australia, the impacts of the growth of the solar PV industry need to be considered in full. Externalities of the PV supply chain include energy requirements, virgin material consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and waste

generation at the end of life.

When panels fail, wear out in their natural life time or fall below desirable performance thresholds, they are retired from operation and will enter waste or recycling streams.

Researchers at Griffith University have estimated that by 2050 we’ll have generated a total of 1.5 million tonnes of solar PV waste.

For rooftop solar, which comprises most of the panels in Australia, local governments often end up dealing with the waste stream.

Rules and practices for dealing with these panels is dependent on location and varies greatly, with those we have interviewed citing dumping and stockpiling of panels as common practices.

Panels can contain toxic and

Circular PV lifecycle By adding loops within the current value chain for solar PV in Australia, the required inputs and generated outputs could be reduced.

Renewable Energy Renewable Energy

Design Produce and Design Process Design Produce and Process Design

Manufacture

Materials procurement Materials procurement

Manufacture Logistics Logistics

When panels fail, wear out in their natural life time or fall below desirable performance thresholds, they are retired from operation and will enter waste or recycling streams. Researchers at Griffith University have estimated that by 2050 we’ll have generated a total of 1.5 million tonnes of solar PV waste. rare earth materials. Thin-film PV technologies, for example, contain potentially critical metals such as tellurium, cadmium, indium and silver. Extraction of these minerals in mining is energy-intensive, toxic and finite and we should therefore seek to re-use and recycle them wherever possible.

In Australia, responsibility for waste policy and legislation lies with the states and territories.

A consistent approach to the management of PV panels across Australia would promote economies of scale and create certainty for the industry to invest in local reprocessing infrastructure, rather than reliance on an export market.

The commonwealth government is looking to add solar panels to the Product Stewardship Act with the national working group investigating industry-led and co-regulatory options for solar panels, and the flow-on regulatory and economic impacts.

Circular economy as a solution Circular supply Circular supply Circular Supplies Circular Supplies

Recovery

Remanufacture

Recaptured Material Supplies Recovery

Refurbish and Maintain Remanufacture

Recycling Facility Recaptured Material Supplies

Refurbish and Maintain

Recycling Facility

Reverse Logistics Reverse Logistics Recovery Provider

Solar radiation

Recovery Provider

Solar radiation

Electricity Electricity

Maintainance / Improvement Maintainance / Product as a Service Improvement Improve and Maintain Product as a Service

Use

Sale & Market

Use

Sale & Market

Sharing

Resale

Sharing Platforms Sharing

Tracking Facility Resale

Sell and Buy Back

Sharing Platforms

Support Lifecycle Tracking Facility

Sell and Buy Back

Improve and Maintain

Support Lifecycle

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Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

By now a familiar concept, at its core, the circular economy is about creating loops to divert resource flows back into the economy.

We have utilised the ReSOLVE framework developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, SUN and McKinsey Center for Business and Environment in our analysis and reimagining of the PV industry.

The framework (presented below) contains six strategies that industry could utilise.

In a recent Arup research report titled Circular photovoltaics: Circular business models for Australia’s solar photovoltaics industry, we have explored how circular business models could apply across the ReSOLVE Framework. We have considered changes in the design, use and recovery phases

that could apply to the solar PV industry in Australia.

Recommendations There are four immediate key steps to improve the PV industry supply chain: 1. Stop those panels already deployed from entering landfill through consistent landfill bans and support of PV recycling options.

2. Implement a product stewardship scheme to create ownership for reducing the environmental impact of new panels being deployed.

3. Introduce labelling or materials passports to track and disclose the material origins (particularly for problematic materials).

4. Re-think the design of new panels to be standardised and designed for disassembly.

To facilitate the shift to a circular economy, there are several recommendations for industry, policymakers and investors. These include: • Together, the whole industry will need to work to enable standardisation, coordination and collaboration for the business models.

• Policymakers should foster a supportive regulatory, research and business environment for circular business models across all states and territories.

• Business should demonstrate leadership in the space through feasibility studies and pilot projects, especially through collaborations.

• Investors should develop their understanding of the circular economy, and increase their support of CBMs and related research and development. iw Michael Salt is a senior energy consultant at Arup.

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Contamination //

Sun, sand and … contaminated rubbish

By Inside Waste IN 2015/16 there were more than 20 million visitors to Bondi Beach.

As one of the most popular beachside regions in Australia, there is a constant flow of people moving to the area for several months before moving on to the next sandy spot.

The Waverley Council, which covers Bondi Beach, estimates that there are more than 5,000 Airbnb listings in its jurisdiction, and real estate agents offer brief six-month lease agreements due to the quick turnaround of residents.

More than 80 per cent of Waverley’s population reside in Multi-Unit Dwellings (MUDs).

This can cause issues with waste

management, as people who don’t live in the area permanently become complacent or are unaware of the services provided in the area, according to Waverley Council.

Higher density properties typically experience higher than average contamination of recycling streams in the area – a challenge that the council has been combating.

Waverley Council sustainable waste manager Beth Kasumovic said that in 2014, the council conducted a broad survey with community members that reside in apartments.

“Through that survey and site inspections, we learnt that residents felt it was someone else’s responsibility to take care of the bins and ensure proper waste disposal.

Waverley Council sustainable waste officer Patrick Hay promotes recycling “right”.

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We also learnt that residents had difficulties accessing their bin rooms due to poor lighting, constrained space, or excess waste issues.”

The council addressed many of these barriers to recycling through its Recycling Improvement Program.

The project was undertaken in several different stages. Data on MUDs was gathered to identify those that have repeated incidents of contaminated kerbside recycling.

Those were selected to include in the Recycling Improvement Program.

These properties included 77 buildings (2038 units).

Additionally, the council engaged a variety of key stakeholders as part of the program, including strata and property managers, representing more than 200 buildings in the Waverley area. And, through consultation, numerous resources were developed using real images of items, text, and bright colours that matched the Australian Standards for kerbside bins to provide clear guidance on how to dispose of the various items.

“The outcomes of the bin room inspections identified improvements for bin room areas including lighting, positioning of bins, and bin replacements or repairs, and ensuring accurate bin allocation was present,” Kasumovic said.

“Council provided the recommendations to the property managers for consideration and repaired or replaced all damaged bins, and rectified bin allocation errors.

Additionally, the new bin bay room signage and bin signage provided clear imagery of what goes in which bin.”

In order to ensure that visitors are engaged with council communications, the council liaises with property managers and real estate agents who help by reaching out to tenants, including short-term stayers.

Further to this, Waverley Council plans to provide additional education and communication to visitors and short-term stayers in 2020, through its partnership with Airbnb and real estate agents, Kasumovic explained.

“We had the biggest successes when we found stakeholders with similar goals – to improve waste management at their buildings and reduce contamination. By building partnerships with key stakeholders like property managers, strata managers,

and real estate agents we are more successful.”

Waverley Council initiated the Recycling Improvement Program in December 2018 and following the successful reduction of contamination, the program continues to be rolled out across the Waverley local government area.

By the end of June 2019, the council achieved the following recycling improvement outcomes at its targeted MUD properties: • 51 per cent decrease in contamination of the yellow bin for container recycling; • 47 per cent decrease in contamination of the blue bin for paper and cardboard recycling; • 190 bin improvements (replacements/repairs); • • 33 requests for Waste Strata Bylaw templates; • 45 additional strata managers have partnered with council; and • All buildings received new signage with bin bay signage placed on walls.

“Our kerbside recycling processing contractor provides reports regarding the quality of the material recovered.

The aggregated contamination rate in the last financial year, as reported by our recycling processing contractor was 6.87 per cent, which is quite low,” Kasumovic said.

“We are continuing to expand on our Recycling Improvement Program to all apartments with 20-plus units.

We have plans to conduct regular bin inspections across council to monitor contamination and identify trends, such as problem sites that require action, and report back to the community regarding their progress towards recycling improvement,” she explained.

The council offers a variety of options for its community to dispose of waste correctly and reduce the likelihood of items ending up in the recycling bin. It has small recycling drop off locations for household batteries, e-waste and printer cartridge drop-offs at its library and customer service centre, and large recycling drop off events for e-waste, globes, batteries, and xrays. iw Waverley Council won the Outstanding WARR Project: Metro award at the 2019 WARR (Waste and Resource Recovery Awards).

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Government engagement

It’s government’s turn to take out the rubbish

By Mark Smith Victorian Waste Management Association (VWMA) executive officer Mark Smith shares his opinion on how the federal and state governments could better support the growth and expansion of the waste sector.

AUSTRALIA – community and economy – has some ambitious aspirations for waste management and recycling spurred by the tailwinds of closing export markets, human and environmental health considerations, financial risk (to do with fire and abandonment), inconsistent application of regulation and changing community expectations.

The results of which have created a landscape characterised by reactive policy making, over consultation on features of our waste and recycling system and under consultation on other fronts.

Collectively, tens of thousands of Australians working across thousands of sites and driving thousands of collection vehicles deliver services to millions of households and businesses across the country. Often our sector takes on the environmental management of the nation’s economy – not just household consumption and consumer habits, which is often the public’s perception.

In order for our sector to meet the challenges ahead of us and continue to support an expanding economy, we need to grow: we need to expand existing sites; establish new sites, transform how we manage secondary resources and waste; and continue to reduce our reliance on landfills.

Despite a series of government inquiries, audits on statutory authorities, regulators and local councils, we’ve seen slow progress on our collective ability to appropriately manage a series of sustained impacts to the sector.

There are many factors that have contributed to why we’ve seen a delayed response (collectively) to meeting our current challenges including: • A lack of good, strong and consistent waste and recycling policy (this includes product stewardship); • misaligned government intervention to establish new markets or remedy market failures; • limited or no consistent ongoing

VWMA executive officer Mark Smith wants governments to offer greater support to waste management.

education about the waste management and recycling system to the public; and • the ongoing and difficult challenge of expanding and establishing new waste and recycling services and sites from a planning and community acceptance perspective.

Unlike the provision of other essential services provided to the country, waste management less so than any other service, such as roads, hospitals and energy, does not overtly occupy a shared with government.

If we take the example of rail upgrades, provision of new mobile towers or the establishment of a new hospital, we often (or I dare say always) see federal and state governments as a proponent of the establishment – regardless of the government’s financial stake in the asset being developed. Governments will often run advertising, community engagement sessions, compensate where needed, or carry out other activities that build the public understanding of why, when and how this infrastructure or upgrade is taking place.

I’d argue that it’s often seen as a shared space that’s occupied by a government who builds the case for why something is needed and then (working closely with the private sector) trusts the private sector (through a tender/ contract) to deliver or manage the construction, management and future

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

communication/engagement activities.

This approach has seen success in many other areas of the economy, but it is still an area that’s immature for the waste and recycling sector.

The approach that’s currently adopted in many jurisdictions is one where weaker government agencies or departments outline strategies or plans around the waste and resource recovery needs of the state, which are not always published. These are heavily dependent on the private sector delivering the bulk of the investment, people power, assets and building the case for expansion of existing sites or establishing new sites with the public.

This approach is inconsistent with other major investments that are essential to public health or the economy.

It creates market uncertainty around the viability of projects, which limits private investment and conflicts with the financial realities of how the waste and recycling sector works.

The sector is predominantly privately owned and operated and does not heavily rely on direct government funding. A recent economic study carried out by VWMA, using the same modelling pioneered by the Waste Recycling Industry Association Queensland (WRIQ), estimates that private investment contributes more than 95 per cent of the investment into the Victorian waste and recycling system such as sites, assets, plant, equipment and trucks. These figures

that are probably mirrored across other jurisdictions.

Right now, across Australia we see a lag in the development of new projects because of a broken planning approval system that does not meet the needs of what Australia’s waste and resource recovery sector and system needs. Examples of this are on display throughout South East Queensland.

We will also see challenges ahead with incoming export bans that may not appropriately consider the pipeline of new assets that must be built.

Our future waste and recycling needs would greatly benefit from governments across the country taking on the marketing and engagement message in partnership with the private sector to build the case for why we need to expand existing assets and build new assets. Just like the big infrastructure build campaigns we’ve seen by federal and state governments.

Failure to do so will continue to see the waste and recycling system (which is an interconnected network of millions of bins, thousands of trucks, thousands of consolidation and processing points, and secondary resource markets/end of life destinations) unable to meet the challenges ahead of us. All of us. iw Mark Smith, who is VWMA’s executive office, has more than 15 years’ experience in the industry. He previously worked for the Victorian EPA, Sustainability Victoria and VicRoads.

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Equipment //

Shark chomps through bulky waste

By Inside Waste THE SHARK COMPACTOR is as tough and sturdy as the name suggests.

Wood-framed furniture and hard plastics are no match for the compactor. Neither are softer, difficult to manipulate materials such as

insulation bats and large pieces of cardboard.

For light, medium and high-density waste and recyclable materials, Wastech offers a solution to suit various situations with the Shark Compactor, which has recently been added to its inventory.

The transportable compactor is ideal for use as a pop-up transfer station.

Wastech Engineering managing director Neil Bone told Inside Waste that the Shark Compactor is like no other compactor the company has in its portfolio.

“We build standard and nonstandard waste compactors here, but bulky items have always been

The Shark Compactor handles large, bulky waste.

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an issue. When we saw this over in Europe we jumped on it straight away,” Bone said.

“It’s a very powerful transportable compactor that can process large bulky items that would normally be thrown into an open bin.”

Wastech purchased the machine in September 2019, as the company saw a need for it in the Australian market.

The transportable compactor was designed by Danish manufacturer Shark Containers AS to handle large bulky waste in an easy-to-use moveable machine. Large bulky waste is loaded into a 5m3 bucket that lowers down from the front of the unit. When full, the operator starts the compaction cycle which raises the hopper up vertically into the mouth of the Shark. A 180-degree rotational blade then compacts the waste out of the hopper and into the container.

Once compacted the hopper is lowered back down ready for the next load.

“We’ve never seen anything like it around the world,” Bone said.

“When we saw it, it was quite unique and certainty filled a problem in Australia.”

The Shark Compactor is ideal for use in a pop-up transfer station with electric or diesel powered options available. No civil works or saw tooth loading docks are required as users can hand load from ground level. An interlocked safety cage, surrounding the compaction area, allows safe loading of bulky items. It can be used

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Equipment

“It’s a very powerful transportable compactor that can process large bulky items that would normally be thrown into an open bin.” to process washing machines and other large household items, plastic drums and various other difficult to handle materials.

Bone explained that the machine would be helpful to a variety of businesses – from companies that have large volumes of bulky waste, to councils that run hard garbage dropoff points.

“We also see it helping in rural areas that could use it as a popup transfer station. Traditionally, compactors in a transfer station are bolted to the ground, whereas with the Shark, you just put it on the ground – you don’t even need concrete,” Bone said.

The front of the machine folds down so that the user can easily load all waste into the compactor. Bone explained that this makes it easy for the user to lift the bulky materials in the compactor in a safe manor.

Wastech’s consultants work closely with clients to ensure they are

getting the best out of their Shark Compactor – taking into consideration site, space, and what waste types the machine will process.

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

Wastech will be offering it as a fully maintained rental unit and Wastech technicians will conduct maintenance checks on the machines to ensure they are running to their full potential.

More information on the Shark Compactor can be sourced from Wastech, which offers this product and more, nationwide. iw

Features of the Shark Compactor: • • • • • • •

Transportable compactor; heavy duty compaction blade; 30-60 seconds cycle time; 50-tonne compaction force; up to 30m³ bin; 5m³ loading hopper; low feeding height for ease of use; • easy maintenance; • hopper closes when not in use; and • 30 per cent less energy consumption.

Further benefits:

The Shark Compactor can be purchased through Wastech.

• Transportability makes it ideal for use in pop-up transfer stations; • compactor doesn’t need to be bolted to hard surface such as concrete; • it can process items such as furniture, large cardboard and whiteware; and • machine is fully maintained by Wastech staff.

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Young Professional //

Lending a helping hand

By Inside Waste IMAGINE LIVING ON AN island with luscious green land and pristine water. Only the problem is, that this stunning landscape is polluted by household waste.

For Charlotte Wesley, living on Norfolk Island as a child and volunteering in Papua New Guinea as an adult, has meant experiencing these sights.

“My first experience of waste was growing up in Norfolk Island where waste was just thrown over the cliff,” Wesley said.

She lived on Norfolk Island until she was six years old, before she and her family moved to Sydney. Wesley is now a senior environmental consultant at Arcadis and her passion lies in helping developing countries improve their waste management strategies.

“I was always interested in environmental issues and I really enjoyed the waste subjects at university. It’s an area that has a lot of opportunity and incentive to improve.”

Wesley said that while Norfolk Island now consolidates its waste and takes it to the mainland, many nations still need help with their waste management.

“In a lot of parts of the Pacific people are just throwing their waste into rivers and in the ocean. It’s really troubling.

“I saw similar actions where people had to dispose of their waste in the ocean. I know people don’t feel good about that.

Charlotte Wesley (centre-right) volunteered in Papua New Guinea in 2018/2019.

“For my first assignment to Papua New Guinea as a university student, I was staying with a fishing family and seeing them throw their stuff in the ocean, when they see their environment as a resource, I don’t think they like that.”

In late 2018, Wesley returned to Papua New Guinea and spent six months volunteering as a waste management mentor – something she hopes to do every few years.

Wesley was teaching people employed in the waste industry how to collect data on issues faced in their waste management.

“They were really interested in the data. When they have all of that

“For my first assignment to Papua New Guinea as a university student I was staying with a fishing family and seeing them throw their stuff in the ocean, when they see their environment as a resource, I don’t think they like that.” data they can develop a plan and strategy for improved systems,” Wesley explained. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

She also helped them by making recommendations for decommissioning their dumping ground.

“I’d really like to do more of that.

That’s my long-term goal – to be a waste consultant that can help out more in the Pacific.”

The people of Papua New Guinea are trying to create a cleaner, waste-free environment.

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Wesley said it is a powerful thing to be able to work in the waste industry and make a difference to communities.

Through Arcadis and her volunteer work, she is able to do this on a regular basis.

“We’ve all got to do something that we think is important. We’ve got to do something that challenges us; and the waste industry allows me to do that.

Waste is an area where we can really make a difference.”

Australia’s road to making a difference in how resources are recovered is a continuous one. With plans to grow markets onshore as governments prepare for the export bans announced in 2019, the drive to see waste as a resource is being pushed even further.

Wesley explained that resource recovery recognises waste as material that has a greater purpose and value.

“We have a financial disincentive to put waste to landfill. The industry can be challenging as we are producing an abundant amount of resources and not knowing what to do with it, but we have a chance to make a change,” Wesley reiterated.

Wesley is a member of the WMRR Young Professionals group. If you are interested in joining the WMRR Young Professionals, please contact office@ wmrr.asn.au. iw

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Product profile

Application: Recycling bins that are placed together to form flexible recycling stations and located consistently throughout a space or building to save time, money and recyclables.

Features: • Colour-coded to match industry standards; • Available with open or touch lids; • Made from 50 per cent recycled materials; and • Fully recyclable.

Contact: www.methodrecycling.com or +61 (0) 477 630 220

SE6T Garwood International

Method Recycling

Method 60L Recycling and Waste Bins

Turbowash

Garwood International

Dimensions: 7320mm x 3400mm x 3000mm *Typical measurements listed. Exact measurements depending on options and truck manufacture.

Gross weight: 14 tonne to 15.5 tonne Hopper capacity: 6 m³ Water tank: 946L dust suppression system Fuel tank: 200L Turning circle: 990mm Max sweeper width: 2032mm Max Sweep Speed: 25KPH Key users: The biggest seller in the Schwarze range, the Schwarze GS6 Tempest has been specifically designed to meet the needs of urban councils and sweeping contractors.

Contact: www.garwoodinternational. com.au or 02 9756 3756

Cleanaway

Schwarze GS6 Tempest

Application: Keep skilled trades people on the job instead of doing the washing up with our automated parts washers that combine a rotating basket with a series of high pressure jets to clean the toughest grime on large tools and mechanical parts.

Features: • Reduces manual handling risks and labour costs; • Range of models for every size and need; • Heavy gauge industrial steel construction; • Gear driven heavy gauge turntable; • Ergonomic control panel; and • Waterproof electrical control box.

Options/extras: • Fully mobile models for TW2 and TW3; • Pneumatic lid options for TW3 to TW8; and • Front opening cabinet for overhead loading for TW5 to TW8.

Contact: www.cleanaway.com.au or 13 13 39

Skip Bins

Cleanaway

Method Recycling

Recycling Station and Vertical Signage Application: Signage designed to attach to a Method Recycling Station that is personalised to your facilities recycling needs to educate users and reduce contamination.

Features: • Colour-coded to match industry standards; • Personalised to your needs; • High-quality and durable signage; and • Communicates your commitment to recycling and sustainability.

Contact: www.methodrecycling.com or +61 (0) 477 630 220

Dimensions: (LxWxH) 4400mm x 2300mm x 1750 mm Gross weight: 1.5 tonne Fuel tank: 50L Engine: Kohler Max sweeper width: 2000mm Max speed travel and clean: 20km Key users: Rural councils, road construction and road maintenance companies.

Contact: www.garwoodinternational. com.au or 02 9756 3756

Application: Large, open-topped bins to collect general waste, green waste, brick and concrete and other heavy waste. Ideal for projects of every size from home cleaning, renovations, to office clean ups and construction.

Features: • Range of skip sizes available from 2m3 to 31m3 (depending on availability and location); • Prompt delivery and removal; • Recycling of demolition waste available; and • Tailored services to suit specific requirements.

Contact: www. cleanaway.com.au or 13 13 39

Dimensions: 6008mm x 3048mm x 2505mm *Typical measurements listed. Exact measurements depending on options and truck manufacture.

Gross weight: 8.5 tonne Hopper capacity: 3.6 m3 Water tank: 750L dust suppression system Fuel tank: 120L to 180L Turning circle: 991 mm Max sweeper width: 3048mm sweeping width Max Sweep Speed: 25KPH Key users: Mounted on an Isuzu NQR 400, the versatile Schwarze A4 Storm high dump sweeper is ideally suited for councils with small town areas, or inner-city councils with narrow streets.

Contact: www. garwoodinternational.com.au or 02 9756 3756

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

General Waste Bins

Cleanaway

Garwood International

Schwarze A4 Storm Product: Rear and front lift commercial and industrial bins services for general waste, commingled recycling and cardboard waste streams.

Application: Sizes available include 240L, 660L, 1100L, and 1.5m3, 3m3, 4.5m3, and 6m3 Features: Services include bin rental, regular collections on agreed schedule and account management.

Options/Extras: Locks, castors, swivel steering and custom fittings for special needs and purposes.

Contact: www.cleanaway. com.au or 13 13 39

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Eco product

Terminator

Application: BINGO’s Eco Product range is manufactured from the materials collected at its recycling centres and includes building and landscaping supplies.

Features: Aggregate – 100 per cent recycled brick/concrete mix. Used as bedding material for sewer and water pipes, drainage material, decorative pathways and garden beds.

Sand and roadbase – BINGO’s sand and roadbase products are 100 per cent recycled and have a wide range of applications. From pipe bedding and trench filling to paving roads, car parks and driveways. Mulch – The range of natural and 100 per cent recycled mulch looks great in any garden and can be used for moisture retention and weed suppression.

Contact: www.bingoindustries.com.au or 1300 424 646

Application: The Terminator is a low-speed, high-torque single-shaft industrial shredder designed to process nearly all types of difficult waste, including heavy C&D debris, bulky waste, white goods, mattresses, tires and MSW. Features: A remote control hopper with an 11-foot feed opening into one of the largest shredding units in the industry gets your waste materials shredded faster. Heavy duty rotating drum with overload protection and reversing function features robust teeth in spiral arrangement for maximum cutting and tearing while keeping shredding even. The Terminator line of shredders come equipped with a powerful, modern CAT engine with up to 600 HP and Tier 4 Final emission standard.

Achieve a variety of particle sizes with the adjustable cutting gap and counter comb, and swap shredding units to configure from coarse pre-shredding to defined shredding.

Contact: elbquip. com or 1300 ELB EQU

BINGO

Skip bins Application: BINGO has more than 30,000 bins in all shapes and sizes.

BINGO has one of the largest truck fleets servicing NSW and Victoria.

Features: The company offers same day delivery (for orders before 10am), six days a week, in the Sydney and Melbourne metro areas, so customers can get their bin – fast. And when it’s full, simply give BINGO a call and the company will take it to one of its recycling centres.

Contact: www.bingoindustries. com.au or 1300 424 646

ELB Equipment

BINGO

Product profile //

Dominator Application: The Dominator de-packaging machine is designed to process municipal waste, kitchen waste, bakery waste, tinned waste, supermarket waste, plastic bottle waste and plasterboard waste.

Features: The Dominator uses a motor to drive a solid steel shaft lined with paddles, using mechanical and centrifugal forces material is depackaged and forced through a mesh screen. Waste packaging makes its way through the barrel and out through the outlet.

Options/Extras: • Mild steel or stainless steel build design; • 22kW to 45kW motor; • Various paddles designs available, depending on product being processed; • 2m or 3m barrel length; • Various screen sizes available depending on customer requirements; • Up to 15m3/hr throughput depending on material being processed; and • Effluent injection points can be added to the barrel to assist with wet waste.

Contact: elbquip.com or 1300 ELB EQU

Application: BINGO offers a wide range of bins and equipment to suit a variety of requirements. This also includes the safe removal, transportation and recovery of commercial waste. The company offers tailormade waste management solutions servicing NSW and Victoria.

Features: BINGO provides collection, transport and treatment options of liquid waste from commercial and industrial use as well as front and rear lift bins, bulk bins, compactors and balers.

Contact: www.bingoindustries.com.au or 1300 424 646

ELB Equipment

BINGO

Commercial and liquid waste

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Application: For C&D, C&I, MSW, MRF, MBT’s and other specialised recycling applications.

Features: JONO Enviro utilises more than 80 engineers to customise designs for separating all types of waste and recyclable materials in all applications, from small skip bin companies to multi-national waste management companies. From the layout to the complete building if required, the company offer a unique type of solution.

Options/Extras: Screens, density and specific material type separators, optical sorting and automated processing available from JONO Enviro.

Contact: www. cssequipment.com.au or 1800 644 978 or www. jonochina.com

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Genox Granulators – GXC, GC and GMC Series

Applied Machinery

CSS Equipment

JONO Enviro Turn-Key Recycling Plants Application: Size reduction of a variety of materials to a very small, uniform particle size in a single pass. For bulky materials, granulation is often used a secondary size reduction process after shredding.

However, for many applications, granulation is a standalone process.

Features: Large diameter, high performance rotors, robust drives and gearboxes, intelligent control panels, heavy duty construction for maximum longevity.

Options/Extras: A variety of rotor configuration available to suit specific applications. Screen sizes available to suit most output size requirements. Wet processing machines also available. Infeed/ outfeed conveyors are common inclusions.

Contact: www.genoxmachinery. com.au or www.appliedmachinery. com.au or 03 9706 8066 Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Product profile

Wastech Engineering

Waste and recycling management plan Application: Wastech management plans provide a comprehensive report on waste volumes, equipment recommendations, collection methods and operational requirements.

Features: • From feasibility to council submission; • waste streams and volume assessments; • equipment recommendations and collection alternatives; • allocating and understanding operational requirements; • tailored, comprehensive reporting; • priority service; and • preliminary advice.

Contact: www.wastech.com.au or 1800 465 465

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

Applied Machinery

Application: Size reduction of a variety of materials to a uniform particle size, including for flastics, timber, paper, cardboard, copper, aluminium, textiles, security destruction, foams and more.

Features: Robust drives and gearboxes, high performance rotors, intelligent control panels, heavy duty construction for maximum longevity.

Options/Extras: Vertical crammer to improve throughput of some materials, screen sizes available to suit most output size requirements.

Wet processing machinery also available. Infeed/outfeed conveyors are common inclusions.

Contact: www.genoxmachinery.com. au or www.appliedmachinery.com.au or 03 9706 8066

Genox Plastic Washing Systems Application: The HDPE washing line is designed for rigid plastics with a wall thickness ranging from 1-25mm such as typical liquid drums and containers, milk bottles, wheelie bins and pipes. The PE/PP film system is designed for washing plastic films with contamination levels exceeding 80 per cent, minimising the recycling water flow rate and evaporation losses.

Features: Heavy duty, robust, over-engineered construction to handle the most demanding of applications in the most trying environments.

Intelligent control panels ensuring maximum efficiencies and throughput across the systems.

Options/Extras: Conveyors, sorting systems, extraction and bagging stations to suit specific applications and requirements.

Contact: www.genoxmachinery.com.au or www.appliedmachinery.com.au or 03 9706 8066

Bezner Waste Management Solutions

CSS Equipment

Applied Machinery

Genox Vision Series Shredders

Application: For all type of waste processing and storage facilities.

Features: Bezner designs and builds the highest quality solutions for handling, processing and storing waste materials in all applications.

Bezner are the leaders in European design and technology, designing plants from materials recovery to compost and anaerobic digestion.

Options/Extras: All options and designs are available for the waste management sector.

Contact: www.cssequipment.com.au or 1800 644 978 or www.bezner.com

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Wasted Space //

A happier, healthy planet NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS often feature some goal to lose weight, become fit, eat less, drink less – all to feel healthier, lighter and happier.

In a way, this should work in the environment’s favour, as commitments to “be healthier” should help in reducing food consumption and increasing the number of bums on bikes right?

Perhaps in the first few weeks of January these resolutions lead to shorter grocery lists and less wastage as food doesn’t sit in the fridge rotting. And as we see the effects of climate change continuously taking a toll on our environment, it’s another subtle push to encourage people to “do their bit”. Perhaps that means using less plastic, eating less meat, or reducing food spoilage in an attempt to waste less than the $10.1 billion worth of food wasted in Australia in 2019. It can’t get worse than that staggering figure right? As long as we spread the word about food waste and make sure its’s at the forefront of people’s minds, it will help steer people in the right direction, won’t it?

Maybe not.

We are not denying that there is some excellent work happening in the food waste space. Organisations such as Yume and OzHarvest are doing

a great job at using what would be wasted produce and helping it become someone’s meal. But our challenge to everyone this year (yes, that includes you) is to take the good you’re doing, and do better. Our plea comes as we reflect on events we attended in 2019.

Ironically, many of the events that us Wastesiders attended were laden with an overabundance of food. Even the “food waste” events served up meals in the tonnes.

While a catering company or event organiser might have a plan in place to dispose of the food in an environmentally friendly way – by composting, or passing it on to a notfor-profit for example – it’s still over consumption and over assumption. We assume that people won’t be happy if we serve one less sandwich option, or that they will kick up a fuss if the potato salad runs out for the day.

Surely, waste events are the perfect place to test whether Wallace Waste can tolerate the fact that the roast beef has run out for the day (after he already ate three slices). And surely we can assume that Polly Produce will be happy eating the apple cinnamon cake on offer – not knowing that last year there was an apple cinnamon cake AND an apple custard cake to choose from.

If we don’t make changes to our attitudes towards consumption in the waste industry, then how can we expect others to do so?

We’re not suggesting we rob people of their fun to enjoy good food and plenty of it. But as we head into the conference season, it’s worth taking a look at the plethora of options available and questioning whether its really necessary.

Us Wastesiders also want to reduce

food waste and plastic use. We are constantly looking at ways we can minimise waste at events hosted by our company and we will continue to do so, while ensuring there is still plenty of food to go around.

This year, lets promote quality, not quantity. Good luck with your New Year’s resolutions and we look forward to sharing a chat over a cuppa and a slice of apple custard cake. Oh wait.

Damn, that’s off the menu! iw

recyclables, the NSW 20 year waste strategy, Work Health and Safety in the waste management sector and mental health issues in waste and recycling workplaces.

nation’s waste and recycling industries.

It features exhibitors that showcase vehicles, bins, food and organics waste, software and technologies, machinery and equipment, e-waste, food packaging and more.

DIARY February 20 FOCUS Enviro Demo Day Melbourne FOCUS Enviro is hosting a Demo Day in Melbourne to showcase UNTHA shredding technology. Limited spots are available. Those interested in attending should contact Simone at simone@focusenviro.com.au.

May 5-7 Coffs Harbour Waste Conference Opal Cove Resort This conference attracts about 650 delegates both nationally and internationally. It is targeted at anyone who works in, or has an interest in, waste management issues. Attendees will hear from leading waste management professionals on the latest developments in the industry.

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INSIDEWASTE

May 4-8 IFAT Messe München, Germany IFAT is a trade fair for environmental technologies that showcases pioneering technologies, innovations, strategies and solutions. In 2018, the expo features 3,305 exhibitors from 58 countries and regions. There were more than 142,000 visitors who visited the expo, which spanned 260,000sqm of exhibition space.

June 11 Industry update and Dinner Waste Contractors and Recycler Association Kirribilli, NSW These update sessions will address a range of issues such as the impacts of the proposed COAG export ban on

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

August 17-23 Keep Australia Beautiful Week This is held in late August each year to raise awareness about the simple things people can do in their daily lives to reduce their impact on the environment and encourage them to action. Get behind Keep Australia Beautiful Week this August.

August 26-27 Australasian Waste and Recycling Expo ICC Sydney, Darling Harbour AWRE is a vital meeting point for the

October 21-22 Waste Expo Australia Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre Waste Expo Australia is one of the largest gatherings of waste management and resource professionals in Australia. The free-toattend business-to-business conference is hosted alongside an extensive exhibition hall. It will feature more than 120 brands, three conference stages that showcase more than 35 hours of free-to-attend content.

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

MELBOURNE

1-3 APRIL 2020

Australasia’s largest dedicated bulk handling conference & exhibition

DON’T WASTE TIME R EG IST E R TO EX H I B IT AT AUST RAL IA’S ON LY DE DICAT E D B U L K HAN DL I NG EX P O B U LKHAN DLI NG EXPO.COM.AU

IN CONJUNCTION WITH

Scan the code to get more details about exhibiting opportunities.

Supporting Sponsor

Media Partners AUSTRALIA

Platinum Sponsor

MHD REVIEW

Association Partner

AUSTRALIA

Supply Chain Solutions

Conference Sponsor

REVIEW

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