Inside Waste Apr 2022

www.insidewaste.com.au

ISSUE 107 | APR/MAY 2022

INSIDE 30 36 40

Plastic fruit/veg labels Waste to Energy WIRA Awards

Better outcomes with AI

Recycling, reusing, repurposing waste – who’s responsible? in terms of getting us there.

In November, APCO published its Collective Impact Report, which gave a rundown on how close the country was to reaching the packaging targets for design, recovery and recycled content.

And there were some worrying gaps.

How has the country fared over the past four years?

The first target of 100 per cent reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging has yo-yoed between 86-88 per cent between 2017 and 2020, which are the latest figures available.

In other words, they’ve hardly moved at all. More worryingly, the 86 per cent figure was from 2020. In other words, heading backwards.

The target for the average amount of recycled content being included in packaging is 50 per cent. Figures will show that in 2017 that number was at 35 per cent, by 2019-20 it was

sitting on 39 per cent. Four per cent over four years may not seem much, but the original figure to be met was 30 per cent. It was quickly discovered that this figure was underestimated so was increased. With more companies starting to see the benefit of using recycled materials in their packaging, that target could be attainable.

Then comes the problem child. The elephant in the room and the most tricky waste stream of all – plastics.

Not necessarily because plastic is ‘bad’ because it has some redeeming qualities (longer shelf life for food for example, which in theory means less food going to landfill), but there is a perception with the public that it is a troublesome packaging material.

Currently, the target is set for 70 per cent of plastic packaging being recycled or composted.

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PACKAGING is one of the banes of the waste industry – is it recyclable?

Is it compostable? Can it be reused?

What parts are recyclable and which parts have to be shunted to landfill?

Is it biodegradable? Do consumers understand where a soft plastic stops and a hard plastic begins? Do they know that in some cases the lid of a bottle cannot be recycled with the body of a bottle?

During the Waste Strategy Summit held in February, one of the panel discussions was titled Driving Australia’s Transition to a Circular Economy. Chaired by Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) CEO Brooke Donnelly, the panel looked at some of the challenges faced by all industries in the packaging environment, with a mind to reach the 2025 National Packaging Targets – which recently hit a snag

DURING the Waste Strategy Summit held in February in Sydney, one of the topics covered was the role of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning in the waste arena.

A panel discussed how machine learning and AI would impact on the waste industry and how taking on such an approach would allay some of the upcoming sustainability challenges and targets that need to be met over the next decade.

Moderator Blaise Porter, who is the director of corporate sustainability and responsibility at Sims, stated at the outset, that while the issues may be daunting, embracing modern innovations could make the transition easier.

“We are going to need every tool in our arsenal to meet these challenges and to really elevate the entire value chain,” she said. “It is not just about our practice or our stakeholders, it is about the entirety of our society and how we interact with each other. Can AI be one of those tools?”

Joining Porter on the panel were Ian Hansel, a data scientist and director of Verge Labs, Dr Denise Hardesty, principal research scientist from the CSIRO’s Oceans and Atmosphere department, and Associate Professor Ali Abbas from the University of Sydney’s Waste Transformation Research Hub. For Abbas, it is all about embracing the future and the key to this is one word: data.

(Continued on page 26)

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Who’s responsible?

RESPONSIBILITY is something we all claim when it comes to being accountable, but how seriously do we take it? In terms of waste, it depends. We all like to think we do the right thing, but do we? At the recent Waste Summit held in Sydney, it was a key question put to a panel who have skin in the game when it comes to recycling packaging. With the 2025 targets to be met within the next three years, some waste streams are doing a tentative ‘okay’ in terms of being reused, repurposed and recycled. Others, such as plastic, will be lucky to make the cut.

The panel was not finger-pointing, but did make it clear that to put the responsibility on one aspect of the supply chain – from packaging designers through to consumers – is not only short-sighted, but wrong.

Everybody needs to add their little bit to the equation of making sure the circular economy is meeting its targets.

However, being on the same page if you’re part of the industry is one thing, making sure the government is onboard is another. As the NWRIC’s CEO Rose Read points out in her article in this issue (page 28), which Publisher Christine Clancy christine.clancy@primecreative.com.au

Inside Waste is available by subscription from the publisher. The rights of refusal are reserved by the publisher

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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.

Managing Editor Mike Wheeler mike.wheeler@primecreative.com.au

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All material in Inside Waste is copyright and no part may be reproduced or Design Production Manager copied in any form or by any means Michelle Weston (graphic, electronic or mechanical michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au including information and retrieval systems) without written permission of Design the publisher. The Editor welcomes Blake Storey, Kerry Pert, contributions but reserves the right to Aisling McComiskey accept or reject any material. While Client Success Manager every effort has been made to ensure the Justine Nardone accuracy of information, Prime Creative justine.nardone@primecreative.com.au Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any Head Office consequences arising from reliance on Prime Creative Pty Ltd sales@triconequipment.com.au information published. The opinions 11-15 Buckhurst Street South Melbourne VIC 3205 Australia 11 Lucca Road, Wyong NSW 2259expressed in Inside Waste are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed p: +61 3 9690 8766 by the publisher unless otherwise stated. enquiries@primecreative.com.au www.insidewaste.com.au Business Development Manager Chelsea Daniel-Young chelsea.daniel@primecreative.com.au

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looks at the Federal Government’s review of the National Environment Protection Measure for Used Packaging Materials, governments on all levels within Australia are failing the country in terms of managing packaging waste. More importantly, believes Read, they could do a lot more to enforce current laws or start putting some new, hard-hitting ones on the books and make those producing such packaging sit up and take notice.

Finally, we at Inside Waste would like to congratulate the winners of the 2021 Waste Innovation and Recycling Awards. No, that is not a typo, they are the 2021 awards, which were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Well done to the finalists and a hearty congratulations to the winners.

Talking to some of the judges, there were some worthy finalists and in many categories, it was a close call to see who got the gong. Bearing that in mind, the 2022 awards are being held later in the year. If you wish to nominate anybody for the awards please visit the Inside Waste website and hit the drop down menu on the front page.

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News //

Profile | HSR Southern Cross

HSR Southern Cross is an Certified Australian Made and owned company that was founded in 2002 by managing director Martyn Cross who saw a gap in the market for the service of waste equipment.

It was originally established to provide repairs and maintenance to the waste industry.

HSR quickly grew to be known as the go to company in the industry.

Fast forward 21 years, HSR has evolved to design and manufacture a range of Certified Australian Made truck-mounted waste equipment.

The company comes with more than 200 years combined experience in the design, manufacture, fitting and service of truck-mounted waste equipment.

With an in-house engineering department we are able to provide clients with a total solution to their equipment needs, whether it be customising new equipment to suit bespoke operational requirements, repairing and maintaining existing equipment, at every stage of a company’s operational needs, HSR is there to support you.

The company is also an approved

Local Government Procurement (LGP) supplier, meeting all legislative and industry requirements.

HSR Southern Cross maintain a philosophy of core values that guide our business practices, community engagement and sustainability.

These are: • customer service that achieves superior customer satisfaction; • d ependable and reliable products manufactured through a process of passionate development and innovation; • a sustainable environmental footprint that is not eroded by costs; and • p rovide solutions that solve customers’ problems.

Capability and services HSR Southern Cross specialises in skip loaders and rear-loading refuge compaction equipment.

HSR manufactures from NSW and operates across Australia and the Pacific, with a history in truck-mounted waste equipment maintenance.

It is known for delivering highquality, efficient equipment that is intuitive and functional, to clients that include, councils, the NSW and Federal governments, private companies and

multi nationals.

HSR actively encourage the progress into Industry 4.0, through enabling and encouraging its staff to upskill with new technology, including CNC controlled machinery and autonomous robot welding and AMR’s to replace diesel forklifts.

It engages in LEAN manufacturing techniques and embedded software and analytics into its systems and processes to promote a culture of continual improvement and product development.

Its products and services include: • Skip loaders from 4T to 16T in capacity.

• Rear load refuge compactor from 5m³ low entry to 32m³ hard waste and green waste units.

• Hydraulic and pneumatic tower tarping systems to suit all skips and hook loaders.

• Hyva Hook Loaders.

• Engineering department that specialises in mechanical design and mechatronics.

• Trade certified and competent workshop staff, vehicle body builders, hydraulic fitters and electricians.

• CNC machining.

• CNC profile cutting.

• CNC bending/folding.

• Robot welding and systems programming.

• Hydraulic design and fabrication.

Moving forward: HSR has an acute focus on Australian Made and owned. As such, HSR is investing heavily in technology and infrastructure to ensure manufacturing in Australia has a future and remains competitive.

With the recent purchase of a green field site in the Lake Macquarie LGA. This will be the epicentre of its “Smart” engineering and manufacturing in Australia.

This high-tech manufacturing facility with integrate smart devices leading to higher productivity and improved quality, while replacing manual inspection business models with AIpowered visual insights and ensuring reductions in manufacturing errors and saving money, time and resources.

Technologies such as autonomous robot welding and upskilling of welders to robot machine programmers and operators has already been implemented into the company’s manufacturing processes, resulting in improvements in product quality and reduced repetitive strain injury and fatigue of workshop staff at shifts ends. iw

New waste laws add bite to prosecute dumpers THE NSW’s government promise to strengthen environmental laws against dumpers are now stronger due to new laws passed in the NSW Parliament on November 25, 2021.

NSW Environment Minister, James Griffin, said the Environment Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 will help stop rate payers and the Government footing the bill for illegal dumping and contaminated land.

“When our environmental laws were introduced decades ago, they were powerful and used as the benchmark around Australia, but now is the right time to strengthen them again,” Griffin said.

“Since 2012, these laws have been used to successfully prosecute nearly 680 polluters and make them pay $12 million through the courts for their crimes.

“Criminal behaviour has evolved since then, which is why we’ve created 6

INSIDEWASTE APRIL/MAY 2022

powerful amendments to strengthen the law so waste criminals can’t exploit and profit from loopholes.”

In the past three years, these loopholes have seen more than 132,000 tonnes of contaminated waste being illegally dumped in NSW, and the Government or landowners being left with substantial clean-up costs to remedy the problem.

Some of the updates to the legislation include: • E nsuring current and former directors of corporate bodies are held responsible for their crimes, even if they’ve set up and then dissolved companies (phoenixing) to deflect accountability.

• H olding to account related companies that benefit from a crime both financially, and in future licensing decisions.

• A cting against the owners of vehicles involved in illegal waste

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The old dumping laws garnered more than $12 million in fines.

dumping (the Act previously only applied to the driver of a vehicle).

• Ensuring that if land is subdivided or sold, or if a licence is surrendered, the ongoing management of contaminated sites is maintained and not left to government or rate payers to manage.

• New and increased maximum penalties to further deter criminal behaviour.

• I ncreased protections for officers investigating environmental offences so they can do their jobs safely.

“These changes will ensure those responsible for contamination and pollution can be made to clean it up or manage it into the future,” Griffin said.

“This is good news for the environment, and for communities that have suffered from the actions of environmental criminals.” iw

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

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// News

Science and innovation advisor for TSA Mitchell was part of a professional internship program.

TYRE STEWARDSHIP AUSTRALIA CEO Lina Goodman is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Linda Mitchell as the first science and innovation advisor for the organisation.

This appointment is another step forward in advancing Australia’s competitiveness in managing its own tyre waste stream and unlocking opportunities for the national economy, such as the 9.2 jobs created for every 10,000 tonnes of waste recycled, compared with 2.8 jobs for every 10,000 tonnes landfilled.

“This new role is about building our capability to collaborate with, and support, science and innovation sectors critical to research and development of new products from used tyres,” said Goodman.

“It’s also about connecting research and industry to increase commercial returns, such as the creation of new markets, technology, skills and jobs.”

Mitchell recently completed a PhD in chemistry at the University of Sydney, and already has impressive hands-on experience through work with Nanjing University of Science and Technology (China), Durham University (UK), and the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.

“She came to TSA through a professional internship program in 2021, during which she demonstrated the value of applying scientific rigour to the collection, analysis and

reporting of our data to create valuable insights,” says Goodman.

“As well as being an excellent communicator, Dr Mitchell brings a fresh approach, new ideas and a strong understanding of the risks and opportunities around tyre use and recycling, including the impact of tyre chemicals on the environment.

“This appointment is also a great example of connecting science graduates with industry to establish new career pathways. I am delighted that TSA has been able to create this opportunity for emerging talent like Dr Mitchell, and am excited to see what we can achieve together.”

As part of TSA’s strategy team, Mitchell will: • build TSA’s open-access research library for use by government and industry to inform decision making; • be a key point of contact for national and international science and innovation communities; • link research to commercial opportunities and outcomes; and • work with industry to address risks and pursue opportunities in finding solutions for end-of-life tyres, and foster innovation and entrepreneurship.

Mitchell’s first report on the impact of microplastics and tyre and road wear plastics (TWRP) on community health and the environment, will be released in early 2022. iw

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News //

EPA worried about lack of knowledge around asbestos One in four people disposed of asbestos in an illegal way.

RESEARCH commissioned by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has found an alarming lack of knowledge around how to deal with asbestos by homeowners and trade professionals.

Almost 50 per cent of adults in NSW currently live in properties containing asbestos but do not know how to deal or dispose of it safely. A survey of 2000 people found more than one in four reported they disposed of the product in unsafe or illegal ways, including leaving it on-site once it had been removed or putting it in a kerbside waste collection bin.

The researchers also found less than a quarter of trades professionals sought advice from licenced asbestos professionals, and less than half wore protective equipment when they found it.

“Our research shows people often overestimated their skills and

knowledge, which puts themselves and others at risk,” said EPA unit head education and programs Sharon Owens. “These findings will help inform an EPA awareness campaign later this year that aims to encourage homeowners and tradies to plan and prepare for asbestos before they commence work.”

The EPA commissioned two major pieces of research to benchmark the public’s knowledge on asbestos disposal. This research provided crucial insights into what people are thinking and doing around the dangerous substance. It is now being used by the EPA and the NSW Asbestos Coordination Committee to increase safe and lawful behaviour in relation to asbestos and its disposal.

The right safety precautions should be taken at all times but in particular where buildings were constructed before 1990. These are the most likely

to contain the dangerous substance and because of their age are more likely to be demolished or renovated.

Owens said the findings were vital for those doing or considering DIY renovations or maintenance on older homes.

“We found 1 in 3 homes nationwide likely contained it and that renovations were often done by homeowners with the help of family and friends,” Owens said.

“If homeowners don’t think about asbestos when planning or doing work, they can get a nasty surprise that puts their family and friends at risk of disease.

“Asbestos is dangerous and the risk of disease increases with exposure. This research makes it very clear how important educating the community about asbestos is all year round, not just during Asbestos Awareness Week.” iw

Profile | Susie McBurney REMONDIS What made you get into the waste industry?

I’ve been exposed to the industry from day one. My family owned and ran a small solid and liquid waste collection business in Western Sydney when I was growing up, so I lived and breathed the industry throughout my childhood. I pursued a career and qualification in accounting outside of the industry, but ultimately returned to the family business at age 24 and took on the role of general manager. When the family business was sold to Cleanaway, I went with it. My roles ranged from sales to operations to state management. This gave me experience at both ends of the spectrum: in a small familyowned business and in Australia’s largest publicly listed waste management company.

A lot of other sector opportunities opened up after that, and I have

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been in the role of NSW/ACT general manager for REMONDIS for the past seven years.

What are some of the key issues facing the industry?

A lack of regulatory certainty is the most significant and critical issue facing our industry. At REMONDIS, we have access to the world’s most advanced resource recovery and treatment technologies. However, Australia’s regulatory frameworks across multiple tiers of government are sometimes unable to assess or facilitate bringing these technologies to Australia. The best live examples are the recent changes to the NSW and QLD Energy from Waste policies and frameworks. The approval processes for Energy from Waste facilities are gruelling and costly, which when coupled with recently announced precinct restrictions in both states, make proven alternatives to landfilling near impossible to implement. The constant shift and narrowing of the goal posts does not provide the certainty needed to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Australia and will prevent Australia from reaching

its resource recovery targets. If we are to leverage global waste management best-practice and experience to ensure better environmental, social and financial outcomes, it is essential that elected representatives in Australia, backed by the best brains in all government agencies, remain open minded to the benefits on offer. It’s also undoubtedly a case that global waste management leaders such as REMONDIS need to do more to communicate what can and can’t work. an you tell us a little about the C new facility that has opened in Tomago – its capacity, how big of a community it services and the types of waste resources it will process.

This is a text book example of good precinct-based, multi-functional waste processing. The Tomago Resource Recovery Facility is a $22 million investment that will fill a critical recycling gap in the Hunter Valley and lift local recycling to unprecedented levels. It will see REMONDIS nearly double the amount of waste it handles in the

Hunter, from about 55,000 tonnes to nearly 100,000 tonnes per year.

Sitting within Tomago’s industrial precinct, the facility is unique given that it will have multiple sections across two warehouses receiving a vast array of waste for processing and recycling. This includes paper, cardboard, plastics, glass, metals, wood, concrete, outof-spec packaged food products, garden organics, electronic goods, muds, hydrocarbons and liquids such as waste oil and oily water.

A centrepiece is a Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) facility, which processes waste into a solid fuel that can be used for energy-making in industrial settings, and as a cleaner alternative to the burning of fossil fuels such as coal. Operations are well removed from residential areas and enclosed to ensure there are no impacts on neighbouring properties or the environment.

The Hunter recycling rate sits at about 40 per cent, whereas the New South Wales has state-wide targets of 80 per cent and beyond.

We’re confident this facility will narrow that gap. iw

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

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Treaty for plastic pollution a big step THE 174 nations including Australia get a big tick for agreeing to develop a global plastic pollution treaty, said Boomerang Alliance director Jeff Angel. ‘‘The resolution coming out of negotiations in Nairobi has now established the framework of a binding treaty, which will address the full lifecycle of plastic including production and design as well as waste and pollution.

“This is a set-back for the fossil fuel sector who wanted to limit agreements to waste and litter issues, but who will no doubt continue their lobbying,” said Jeff Angel, who is the director of the Alliance. ‘‘Fulfilment of the intention to finalise a treaty by 2024 can’t come soon enough. In the interim, jurisdictions like those in Australia should continue to enact strong plastic use and waste reduction laws. An

effective treaty is predicted to reduce plastic pollution by 80 per cent by 2040; and virgin plastic use by 55 per cent – but it is essential nations curb these drivers even faster. Australia is well placed to do this to protect our oceans and health.’’

Including production and design in the treaty was crucial, said Angel.

Without this, he said some could ignore their obligations and affected countries would be condemned to perpetually cleaning up plastic pollution, while manufacturers could avoid responsibility for the products they produce. ‘‘The Boomerang Alliance acknowledges the positive role the Commonwealth has played in supporting this week’s treaty developments,’’ he said ‘‘What we also now need is action that includes providing funding for clean ups in Northern Australia and,

Australia needs to continue to enact strong plastic reduction laws.

through foreign aid, assist countries in our region to both clean up and then recycle plastics, often washed ashore from elsewhere.’’ ‘‘We look forward to seeing

allocations in the upcoming budget and in the election commitments of the political parties at the next Federal election across a range of measures to combat plastic pollution,’’ he said. iw

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New MRF opens in South Australia SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S newest recycling facility (MRF), able to process 50,000 tonnes of recyclables per year from household yellow bins, has been officially opened today at Kilburn.

The Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) was opened by the Federal Member for Sturt, James Stevens MP, representing the Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley, SA Minister for the Environment David Speirs, Mayor of Charles Sturt, Angela Evans and Deputy Mayor of Port Adelaide Enfield, Hannah Evans.

The state-of-the-art $23.2 million MRF, owned by the Central Adelaide Waste and Recycling Authority (CAWRA), includes the latest in optical sorting technology to produce clean commodities ideal for developing local markets.

CAWRA, a joint initiative of the Cities of Charles Sturt and Port Adelaide Enfield, has designed and constructed

the facility with funding of $4.36m provided by the Federal and State Governments’ Recycling Modernisation Fund. It will be operated by global packaging and resource recover specialist, Visy.

In a first for South Australia, the MRF will include a modern and interactive education centre incorporating a full-length glass viewing wall and an elevated walkway, which will give school and community groups a unique close-up view of the entire recycling process.

CAWRA executive officer, Rebekah Schubert, said CAWRA’s goal was to build the local circular economy by prioritising local markets.

“We want to see South Australia’s recyclables processed right here in South Australia. This facility means we will always have somewhere for our recycling to go and we will keep

L to R: Port Adelaide Enfield Deputy Mayor Hannah Evans; Charles Sturt Mayor Angela Evans; SA Environment Minister David Speirs; Federal Member for Sturt James Stevens.

this local, in South Australia, at every opportunity to help grow our local circular economy,” Schubert said.

“Visy Recycling, materials recovery facility operator and a supporter of the Australian circular economy, will operate the facility.”

CAWRA already has agreements in place to process recycling from: • City of Charles Sturt; • City of Port Adelaide Enfield;

• City of West Torrens; • Mount Barker District Council; and • Rural City of Murray Bridge City of Port Adelaide Enfield Mayor, Claire Boan, said: “The MRF is going to be of great economic value to our local businesses. Finding ways to recycle our waste and transform it into everyday products is good for businesses and diverting waste from landfill is good for the environment.” iw

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// News

Milestone hit with return and earn scheme ENVIRONMENT Minister James Griffin said Return and Earn has well and truly become part of life in New South Wales with 78 per cent of adults having participated and two-thirds of participants doing so once a month or more.

“Return and Earn is a triumph because it hits that sweet spot of improving our environment and delivering direct economic wins to the community,” Griffin said. “Along the way, the Return and Earn network has achieved a 52 per cent reduction in the volume of drink container litter in NSW and recycled more than 625,000 tonnes in materials.”

“Not only is it having a measurable environmental impact with two in every three containers supplied in NSW redeemed through the scheme for recycling, Return and Earn has also become a stalwart of community fundraising activities in NSW.

“More than $30 million has already been raised for charities such as PCYC NSW, the Starlight Foundation and community groups via donations and fees since the scheme started.

“It’s encouraging that thousands of schools, community groups, charities and sporting clubs are making Return and Earn the new ‘sausage sizzle’, helping raise much needed funds for their own projects and causes.

“Return and Earn is an inspiring example of how small changes to our routine can have a significant collective impact.”

This milestone for the Return and Earn scheme has been reached due to the partnership between the NSW Government, scheme coordinator Exchange for Change, and network operator TOMRA Cleanaway. Launched in December 2017, it has become the state’s largest litter initiative iw

Return and Earn is said to have reduced drink container litter by 52 per cent.

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News //

Litter grants target local hotspots Communities from Ballina to Bega and everywhere in between will share in $1.8 million NSW Government funding to reduce litter in their areas.

NSW Environment Minister James Griffin has announced more than $1.8 million in grants for 35 rubbish prevention projects across the state as part of the Litter Prevention Grants Program.

The program is part of the Waste Less Recycle More initiative that has already reduced rubbish across the State by 43 per cent since 2013.

“These grants have played an enormous role in the state-wide rubbish reduction achieved since the program was launched under the Waste Less Recycle More initiative in 2013,” Griffin said.

“This year’s grants will build on our recent successes through innovative local initiatives including solar

smart bins, butt litter bins, ‘swap and go takeaway’ container schemes, and a range of awareness campaigns.

“Previous projects like #Take3For NSW, working with National Parks and Wildlife Services, have successfully tacked litter at three tourist locations with an online rubbish prevention toolkit for tourism operators.

“The Cooks River Alliance joined forces with the River Canoe Club of NSW and collaborated with school, council, business and community groups to create a long-term reduction plan for the Cooks River.

“These grants have been very successful in helping community groups develop strategies and build capacity to prevent rubbish in their local areas.

“And overall, grant-funded projects have achieved average litter reduction at the targeted areas by 70 per cent.

“We know once it is cleaned up it is less likely to return. Grants awarded in the round six program have already made an impact in their communities.”

This latest round of projects announced, developed by councils, businesses, the community and regional waste groups across NSW, will further clean-up and prevent garbage in local hotspots.

The grants of up to $150,000 per organisation were awarded in four streams: • Council Litter Prevention Grants Program.

• Litter Regional Implementation Program (for Regional Waste Groups).

• Community Litter Prevention Grants Program.

• Cigarette Butt Litter Prevention Grants Program (including for businesses and

The new initiative is said to have reduced waste across NSW by 23 per cent.

government agencies).

“I look forward to seeing the results of these projects in the coming months,” Griffin said. iw

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news

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 CEO’sthe desk Timethe to stop madness Environment meet toforacclaimed the second THE definition Ministers of insanity,will according time this year on 7 December, following genius Albert Einstein, is doing the same thingthe overfirst 2018 Meeting of Environment Ministers (MEM) again and expecting a different result. Could we applyin April, which was in part a ongoing response to the to import this definition to Australia’s approach restrictions driven by China’s National Sword developing “product stewardship schemes”, which is Policy and the effects this policy has had across the failure to date to develop funded, whole of supply the Australian and resource recovery (WARR) chain, material waste management solutions? industry.

Keyand decisions derived fromstewardship the April MEM Voluntary co-regulatory product include: schemes are well-intentioned, but they don‘t work.

This is the 11th year since the commencement of the •national Reducing waste generation, endorsing a target Product Stewardship Act and yet we continue of 100% of Australian packaging being recyclable, to face numerous challenges with existing schemes compostable or reusableof by 2025, and related to the prevalence free-riders, lackdeveloping of funding targets for recycled content in packaging. for viable collection networks and infrastructure, continuing inequitable cost • Increasing domestic capacity. imposts onAustralia’s local government andrecycling communities, little change in product design, and • Increasing demand for recycled products. lack of endthe markets for Australian recycled content. There is also a lack of pathway • Exploring opportunities to advance waste-to-energy and waste-to-biofuels. in progressing schemes that are not achieving to mandatory frameworks.

• Updating the 2009 Waste Strategy by year end, which will The landscape is different today compared to 2011. Today, we seeinclude growingcircular economy principles. consumer awareness of, and appetite for, sustainable products, including clear endof-life pathways. Today, developed nations, though not Australia, are continuing It is taketostock and examine what has been achieved since these decisions ontime theirtopath legislate product stewardship schemes to ensure producers take were announced.

Now, seven (7) months may not seem like a long however responsibility for all stages of the products they place on the market,time, and not in externalise that time we seen burden furtherto markets close (Malaysia, Indonesia,Australia Vietnam)can, and thehave financial local government and community. if you are an operator seven (7) months and should, no longer under rely on continued the “out of financial sight, outstress, of mind” mentality where could the make orsector breakdiligently you.

WARR picks up poorly designed materials and products and finds ways to safely and sustainably manage these. The WARR sector does its job well but Following Aprilachieve MEM, what we have (3) states step in with varying the systemthe cannot we allhad wantthree – increased diversion, creation of a degrees of financial assistance for industry (councils and operators).

This should circular economy, recognising recycled material as a genuine secondary resource, to bename expected almost and Tasmania) have a fewconsidering – if we do not have all realstates action(except across Queensland the entire supply chain. access significant waste levy income year. On the eastern seaboard, Weto are great at finding solutions for each the sloppy designs of others but if weVictoria has $600 million in waste levy reducing reservesemissions, in the Sustainability areapproximately serious about creating a circular economy, and creatingFund and NSW raises than $700 million per annum from the waste There is Australian jobs,more we cannot have waste export bans slapped on us with levy. no similar certainly no lack of funds that can be reinvested into our essential industry. restrictions on the import of these materials, or requirements to take back the post-consumer recyclate that we continue to produce. We also cannot deal with Funding helps but and as we know, the money goes a much longer way with increasing volumes growing expectations to reprocess and recycle without Government support and leadership, as well as appropriate policy levers. adequate infrastructure. It is past time for the federal government to embrace and drive what we have been saying for years – WARR is a shared responsibility and VICTORIA greater (or at least, equal) intervention in the upstream is required.

Victoria hasnot arguably the most active and supporting the industry We are asking been the federal government for earnest a novel, in untested solution, but post-China, without two (2) EU relief announced to support recycling to take a page of the andpackages UK’s playbook and mandate extendedthe producer industry, valued(EPR). at a total $37 million.

The Government has also gone responsibility EPR of is relied on when weVictorian are not efficiently and effectively above and beyond all others states by announcing it would take a leadership role managing a product at end-of-life as best as we could, and we don’t have a home in for creating market demand for recycled products. it. It is proven to work because of what it demands of producers – the financing of collection, recycling, and responsible end-of-life disposal of their products. The SOUTH realityAUSTRALIA is that there will be a cost to managing end-of-life and the question is Government announced $12.4 support comprising $2 million of where this should reside.aWe are,million of course, underpackage no illusion that at least a portion additional expenditure, $5 million funding forkey a loan together of these costs will be passed onto additional the consumer, but the is toscheme, be transparent in with the into Green SA budget. The Government has howtargeted and whyfunding they are from factored theIndustries purchase cost. also offered grants for recycling infrastructure.

industry the Queensland Government has embarkedthat on the development Containerhowever Deposit Schemes across Australia have demonstrated by placing of a waste management strategy underpinned by a waste disposal levy to increase the cost transparently on products, we can empower consumers to make informed recycling and recovery and create new jobs.

The State will re-introduce a $70/ decisions, build infrastructure, and increase circulation of materials. Across tonne landfill levy in March 2019.

There are also strong attempts to use policy Australia, these schemes have already led to millions of dollars of investment, levers (levy discounts and exemptions) to incentivise the use of recycled material thousands of jobs, a significant drop in environmental harm (in particular, littering) and make it increase cost competitive with virgin material.inHowever, little has been done to and a massive (over 70 per cent nationally) landfill diversion. establish new markets andEPR Government has not taken have the lead in the procurement In a successful mandatory scheme, where producers genuine of recycled for material. areofgrants availablemediumfor resource recoveryplanning operations responsibility the fullThere lifecycle their products, to long-term in also Queensland no monies have been to assist infor2018. This is will come intoalthough play in managing these costs.

Forallocated example, designing troubling as Queensland out its Container on recycled 1 November, disaggregation and reuse of arolled producer’s own parts to Refund create a Scheme demand for which will likely impact the cost and revenue models of the State’s MRFs – as we products and reducing reliance on virgin materials. Any foreseeable cost challenges have seen most recently in NSW. for product manufacturers, retailers, and the like, could be further managed through appropriate tax incentives for manufacturers. These incentives would promote WESTERN and AUSTRALIA repairability sustainable product design to offset the cost difference between The Western Government set upmaterials, a Waste Taskforce in direct response to repair, recyclingAustralian at end-of-life, use of recycled and manufacturing costs, the China Sword.

As part of this announcement, the State Government including theNational use of virgin materials. urged allinstruments local councils thesolution utilisation of aregard. three (3)-bin system Taxation are to notbegin the only in this Mandated EPR - red for general waste, yellow for recyclables and green for organic waste over the coming could spur on long-term complementary manufacturing and design initiatives.

For years to reduce contamination.

While this taskforce is a step in the right direction, example, the European Ecodesign program, which establishes a framework that sets we are yet to see any tangible results it or any forThe industry.

October, mandatory ecological requirements for allfrom products soldfunding in the EU. aim ofInthis the WA Waste Authority released its draft Waste Strategy to 2030, which comprises initiative is to ensure that manufacturers will, at the design stage, be obliged to a comprehensive and detailed towards the impacts State’s shared vision of reduce energy consumption and otherroadmap negative environmental of products becoming a sustainable, low-waste, circular (noting that 70 per cent of carbon emissions are economy. related to material management), while enforcing considerations such as recyclability, polluting emissions, waste, and COMMONWEALTH water use. It is thrilling to think about how much positive impact we could make the MEM inhuman April, Australia now has a new Federal Minister, onFollowing the environment and health through sustainable designEnvironment practices, and Melissa Price, who in October reiterated to media MEM’s commitment to just as exciting to consider the new sectors (e.g., remanufacturing and industrialexplore waste jobs, to energy as part of thegrowth solution to will the come impacts of with China’s National Sword, design), and local economic that along these changes. which is troubling (EfW is not a solution to recycling).

The Commonwealth has And it all starts with mandating EPR. also backed the Australian Recycling Label and endorsed the National Packaging Most jurisdictions’ WARR Acts already capture product stewardship, but a Targets national developed byled thebyAustralian Organisation (APCO), concerted effort the federalPackaging governmentCovenant to mandate EPR for a range hasis to date, failed totoincorporate feedback the development ofwhich products what is required activate real industry change. The federal in government of these To stance the Commonwealth’s credit, has been significant needs to taketargets. a genuine on product stewardship andthere hold manufacturers, coordination in reviewing the National Waste Policy, with the Department of producers and generators to account, just as it has taken a strong position on Environment bringing together industry players and States during the review end-of-life material management and the WARR industry. If the same level of process. consideration, requirements, and restrictions are not placed on those operating at the start of the supply chain, then Australia runs the risk of becoming a dumping The updated Policy will now go Environment Ministers on 7 December. ground for products that cannot be before responsibly and appropriately managed at end- The Commonwealth play a key role one that goes beyond the development of-life.

This is not acan good prospect.

We–have had so many opportunities to learn of the National Policy. WMAA is supportive Federal maximising and improveWaste our management of materials, and of wethe should takeGovernment on the lessons of the levers it has, including taxation powers, to maintain a strong, the CDS in particular.

As Australia headsand intoimportation a federal election in 2022, let’s see sustainable waste and resource recovery industry. which party takes the lead by committing to mandated EPR for priority products – starting with (but not stopping at) packaging. We should do this so that at the AHEAD election, OF MEM we 2 will not be again lamenting about more missed opportunities following There may be movement across Australia, with someand states doing better than and wondering why national packaging targets were missed national diversion others, but the consensus is, progress is still taking way too long.

It is evident that targets of 80 per cent cannot be achieved. It’s time to stop the insanity. there are funds available in almost all States to assist with developing secondary manufacturing however the only way that this will really happen is Gayle Sloan, Chiefinfrastructure, Executive Officer, WMRR if there is government leadership around mandating recycled content in Australia now, not later.

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

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

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

Gayle Sloan Chief Executive Officer

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5/11/2018 2:53:23 PM

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Circular economy//

Recycling, reusing, repurposing waste - who’s responsible?

(Continued from front page) IN 2017-18 that target was set at 16 per cent. In 2018-19 it got up to 18 per cent, but by 2019-20 it was back down to 16 per cent.

But Donnelly and the panel are all about solutions, not wallowing in the graveyard of emission-causing packaging ending up in landfill.

Joining Donnelly on the panel were Margaret Stuart, who is head of corporate affairs and sustainability for Nestlé Oceania; Vikas Ahuja, who is the sustainability director for packaging specialist Tetra Pak; Justin Merrell, who is the group environmental director for beverage manufacturer Lion; and Jonathan West, who is the executive general manager of strategy and joint ventures with Pact Group, another 22

INSIDEWASTE APRIL/MAY 2022

“We have also seen an increase in domestic investment in capacity. If we look at just plastic packaging and the reprocessing of it, as an example, we’ve gone from about 218,000 tonnes in capacity to at least 440,000 tonnes forecasted for 2025. We have seen efficiency in terms of collection from 58 to 62 per cent between 2018-20.” packaging specialist.

Donnelly knows that the 2025 targets are closing in, fast. While she is happy with the direction in terms of commitment by different organisations, companies and associations, she said the time frame is worrying and that trying to create an effective recovery system is “basically turning the Titanic”.

However, it is not all bad news.

“We have had the introduction

of the ARL – the Australasian Recycling Labelling program – which is a national program to inform consumers on how to reduce contamination in the packaging waste stream by making sure it goes in the right bin,” she said. “We have also seen an increase in domestic investment in capacity. If we look at just plastic packaging and the reprocessing of it, as an example, we’ve gone from about 218,000

tonnes in capacity to at least 440,000 tonnes forecasted for 2025.

We have seen efficiency in terms of collection from 58 to 62 per cent between 2018-20.”

What needs to be done in order for these targets to be met, and if not met, then at least be as close as possible to being reached? In a nutshell, harmonisation and responsibility by everybody – not just the packaging manufacturers and their clients, but also the public at large. Stuart argued that they were the key.

“What is important to consumers – as a consumer-facing organisation like Nestlé is, is important to us,” she said. “They want to know that their packaging is not going to be found in nature when they have

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Circular economy

Consumers are now starting to look at the types of packaging companies are using.

finished with it. They want it to be recycled. They want us to make recyclable packaging and therefore it must be important to us. It is that simple.”

West agreed. As a company that manufactures packaging on behalf of companies such as Nestlé, he knows that they need to the meet the expectation of the end user, even if Pact is one-step removed from them.

Gone are the days where the only KPI was meeting the needs of the immediate client.

“Why is it so important for PACT as a packaging company? Because it is, ‘what is important to consumers?’,” he said. “We need to meet the expectation of our customers around the desire for sustainable supply chains and sustainable packaging.

We think it is not just good for the environment but absolutely good for business. Our strategy is very much around leading the circular economy in plastics and plastic packaging, both primary and secondary.”

Merrell concurred. The landscape has changed. Not only are people starting to look at the type of packaging that is being used – it’s recyclability etc – but also what the wholesaler and retailers’ plans are for end-of-life for the product’s protective covering.

“There is a clear expectation from the consumer and investors that we don’t waste that resource,” he said. “We use aluminium. We use steel. We use glass. All of those

“I think the responsibility lies with the people who place the materials on the market and also the users of the brands...

Us as householders and residents and the community should take responsibility with what they put in their bins and how difficult it is at times to deal with the contamination.” materials can go around many times in the circular economy. There is an awareness of how much resources go into producing those materials from a lifecycle point of view. These are strong reasons why you want to recycle those materials and that is the expectation of consumers.”

Vikas went one step further and said that although everybody has their part to play, the packaging producer and end user probably have more of a responsibility than most. It also helps if there is a slight change in the way we think about the reuse of products.

He gave an example of Replas, which uses recycled items in the products it produces.

“I think the responsibility lies with the people who place the materials on the market and also the users of the brands,” he said. “Us as householders and residents and the community should take responsibility with what we put in our bins and how difficult it is at times to deal with the contamination.

“The responsibility lies across the whole chain – all the way from supply to the people who are using it. Markets are the key. I had a great

conversation with Harry Burkhardt who runs Replas in New Zealand and he said ‘I don’t recycle materials; I make products for people who approach me to make them for them and are willing to pay me for them.

It just so happens people pay me for recovered materials.’”

The person on the end who is paying money for recycled product is key to the value of it.

Like any set of initiatives, one of the key ingredients for the packaging targets is communication. Not just between packaging manufacturers and their clients, and those client’s end consumers, but at a governmental level, too. There were hints from some of the panels that the various governments could do a better job of selling not just the current packaging targets, but any waste-related initiative.

“Governments need to measure the effectiveness of these policies,” said Merrell. “Where they have got it right, they need to be prepared to celebrate. I really enjoyed the Remade in Australia campaign. It’s a little proof point to tell consumers that we are heading in the right direction – keep putting things in

Harmonisation would go a long way to making a circular economy an easier sell to the public.

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

APRIL/MAY 2022 INSIDEWASTE

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Circular economy //

Greenwashing is seen as a barrier towards a circular economy being truly circular.

“The discussion we then have with our brand marketers about when they invest, what they do and how do we invest in sustainability, those conversations become harder. I fear greenwashing not because of the impact on my own brand but because of the impact on the marketplace as a whole and how consumers see things.” the yellow bin and we’re going to make a song and dance about it. We know polices are going to change over time, so we need to make sure it is data driven and continue to harmonise policies across the various states. Continuing to harmonise the policies is important and standardising the waste recovery infrastructure is also important.”

Once it has been established that harmonisation is in place, West said industry and consumers need to be leading the way. Although government is coming to the party in a variety of ways – especially making monies available for infrastructure projects – they are not the ones who can make the step change because without industry and people at the end of the food chain onboard, things will not change. Pact is already spending money on making sure its plant is up to the task when it comes to producing packaging from recycled materials.

“I don’t think it is a governmentlead solution,” he said. “For the industry to become self-sustaining, 24

INSIDEWASTE APRIL/MAY 2022

ultimately demand must be there.

I see that there is a responsibility on the end customer and consumer of the products to demand that the products are made from recyclable and sustainable materials. Once that demand is there, the industry will invest. We’re investing, with our partners, in $200 million plus in recycling capacity. We do that as we know it is so important.

“A further $100 million will be spent. We realised that it was no good having the recycled resin at the end of the manufacturing process and then not being able to use it in anything, or not being able to turn it into things that your customers want.”

Finally, while the panellist’s companies take their environmental and social responsibilities seriously, they are concerned about fringe players not being so transparent or appearing to be so in the eyes of the public.

“Greenwashing makes me afraid because for us to do this type of thing, our brand marketing team

have to be invested in it,” said Stuart. “They’re willing to invest in it when they see consumers are willing to pay for it or willing to buy their product. Greenwashing, unfortunately, can have the effect of creating consumer cynicism about everything. Once that consumer cynicism is created, then genuine efforts to change are affected.

“The discussion we then have with our brand marketers about when they invest, what they do and how do we invest in sustainability, those conversations become harder.

I fear greenwashing not because of the impact on my own brand, but because of the impact on the marketplace as a whole and how consumers see things.” iw

Industry and consumers need to lead the way in reuse of resources.

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Machine learning and AI //

How AI, data and machine learning can help with better waste outcomes

Models can make predictions where waste hotspots are occurring.

(Continued from front page) BUT this future comes with a couple of caveats – it’s not just any data, and there needs to be a way to streamline the amount that is being generated.

“Data is going to be the bedrock of this transition of the circular economy. It is going to be the bedrock for achieving better waste management systems,” Abbas said.

“It is not about big data as a lot of companies are pursuing. It is about quality data. We’ve got problems with the data in the waste sector.

It is all over the place. Some people might call it a dog’s breakfast.

There is certainly recognition by the 26

INSIDEWASTE APRIL/MAY 2022

government nowadays that data is going to be a problem that needs to be solved.”

Hansel agrees with Abbas’s assessment but takes it one step further – how to use it correctly so it benefits the industry and is not a burden in terms of how it can be used to the nth degree.

“Ten years ago, you would have had a lot of people searching Google asking, ‘What is big data? How can I use it?’ And those sorts of things.

That has dropped off, so you have things like AI machine learning taking off on the back of it, because everyone has collected this data, and are asking, ‘what are you going to

do with it?’,” said Hansel. “It’s one thing to have it sitting on a hard drive somewhere, but how are you going to utilise it? It sounds simple, but we are only just beginning to put it into practice now.”

Some might put the data collection into the ‘too hard’ basket, but Hardesty believes that even though there is not a lot of great information being collected from a range of waste facilities, the information that is being collected is important and shouldn’t be taken for granted.

“We can go out and collect small amounts of information to be able to make really good predictions about patterns such as where

people dump, what gets lost to the environment, and where does it get lost to the environment. We can use those models to make predictions about hotspots to identify possible interdiction or intervention points and those sorts of things,” she said.

“Even if we are talking about citizen-science collection data, or volunteer collected data, or working with the likes of Clean Up Australia’s data – that information is incredibly valuable. Yes, it needs to be cleaned.

Yes, it needs to be curated and those sorts of things. But harnessing the power of the information we have is possible, is achievable, and it need not be outrageously

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Machine learning and AI

costly in terms of both dollars and human resources.”

It is one thing to collect the data, according to Hansel, and another to apply it to the industry in a way that is beneficial and can assist with better outcomes. He said that with the machine learning models companies might get some quick wins, but to really utilise it properly they need to spend some time developing it and applying it to their own data. It is about collecting the data and then understanding how it can best be used and processed – whether it be images or objects.

“Take imagery as an example,” he said. “There are pre trained models that you can get a basic understanding of what might be in the image. If you want to do something that is very niche and focused on one particular area, you might have to spend time on it to retrain that model, to put in new imagery fit for purpose, rather than generic stuff. You will have to spend a bit of time to take these models that do work and actually apply them to cases in business.

That is one of the things you really need to sit down and take and think about – ‘what data do I have?’ ‘What models are there and how am I going to apply these to the problem and make it better?’ and ‘how can I tell that I am making it better and not just throwing data at the problem and not really having any measurable effects?’”

Abbas pointed out that in terms of the circular economy and data’s place in it, partnerships are going to be important. He sees the circular economy as being people-centric.

“It is about those connections, those partnerships and those engagements between people,” he said. “We talk about a lot of things emerging nowadays because of IoT (Internet of Things) and data. It will be about sharing data and having those business models around doing so, and how we can communicate and operate together to build a new business model around sharing. With the sharing through AI and partnerships, there will be a lot of disruptions going on.

That is something for business to watch out for.”

As for the technology itself, Hardesty gave a practical example of how data can be collected. The CSIRO has a partnership with Hobart City Council whereby it is putting smart sensors into storm water assets and drains. This is because the agency knows that one of the key areas where it is measurable to see how waste is prevalent in

According to some scientists, data will be key for a circular economy to truly work.

the environment is through the storm water systems.

“We see this through our pollutant traps and our goalie baskets where we get cigarette butts, plastics – all sorts of things coming through the systems,” she said. “Every time a new building, a new retail centre, or a new community gets built, we put in storm water assets.

“However, we don’t have mandates, or resources necessarily to manage those. If we start to put in inexpensive sensors, we can look at sensor systems and at cameras where we can use machine learning algorithms to identify the type of fullness, and identify objects, that are being littered in these areas. We can then find hot spots and help councils to manage those assets more efficiently, at less cost, in a much safer way rather than be reactive.”

Abbas agrees and said that to get such information from sensors is important in terms of measuring outcomes and solutions. He said it is not about pushing out products that are going to make that linear profit trend for a company, such as growth.

It is about design for longevity.

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

“It is about design for multipleuse utility and therefore that metric around a product is what is now evolving,” he stated. “Not diversion rates necessarily from landfill, which is the tail end of the waste management system, but more at the front end.”

Abbas also pointed out that he sees AI and machine learning a little bit different from most people. How? “Most people think AI stands for Artificial Intelligence,” he said.

“I think it stands for Algorithmic Intelligence. It’s not necessarily artificial because I don’t see anything that is actually artificial intelligence.

It is algorithmic. AI is about making machines or objects smarter. Machine learning is an activity within AIbuilt models that can generate knowledge and learning. And they can be adaptive, and they can appear to be intelligent, or appear to have intelligence for those objects.

“I’m saying we are better these days at managing uncertainty with these algorithms and we’re getting better. Over time, machine learning models adapt, and they learn, and that uncertainty becomes less and less

over time as more information and data comes in. These machine learning parameters adapt. They move and they get that prediction even closer.”

Hardesty pointed out that although some people may be overwhelmed by AI and machine learning – so much so that they might even query why it is necessary at all – the information that can be garnered from the collected data is better than the alternative.

“Knowing what your uncertainty is, is really important because it is better to have a known unknown than an unknown unknown where you don’t know what your uncertainty is,” she said. “At whatever level you are doing, as long as you have some baseline information, some baseline parameters that everybody collects, then you always go back to that most common, or least common denominator of the data. You can disaggregate it to whatever scale you need to make the best use of it. It may be useful to apply what we have with the imperfections that we have and then continue to move forward rather than be paralysed by the lack of perfect information.” iw APRIL/MAY 2022 INSIDEWASTE

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Packaging//

There have been minimal recyclable design improvements in packaging over the past few years, according to an independent review.

Packaging regulation fails to drive change, Federal Government must act now

By Inside Waste TIME is ticking to resolve the serious flaws that exist in the regime for managing packaging waste, a review of the National Environment Protection Measure (NEPM) for Used Packaging Materials (UPM), released by the Federal Government, has found.

National Waste and Recycling Industry Council (NWRIC) CEO, Rose Read, said a consistent theme throughout the findings was the lack of a united government approach to clear goals and obligations, as well as a lack of enforcement.

As a result, the UPM NEPM has failed to deliver on its environmental protection goal, “to reduce environmental degradation arising from the disposal of used packaging, and conserve virgin materials through the encouragement of waste avoidance and the re-use and 28

INSIDEWASTE APRIL/MAY 2022

“The review’s series of recommendations to address these failures must be tackled urgently if Australia is to meet any of its 2025 packaging targets, let alone the 2030 National Waste Policy Action Plan Targets.” recycling of used packaging materials by supporting and complementing the voluntary strategies in the Covenant and by assisting the assessment of the performance of the Covenant”.

“The review’s series of recommendations to address these failures must be tackled urgently if Australia is to meet any of its 2025 packaging targets, let alone the 2030 National Waste Policy Action Plan Targets,” Read said.

“It is clear that a new, national scheme, underpinned by federal regulation is urgently needed and that this regulation must clearly set out objectives, responsibilities, financing, and targets as well as

penalties for non-compliance by packaging companies and brands.”

Read said this national scheme should take a co-regulatory approach where the government sets the rules and ensures compliance, and the organisations that make and use packaging invest in activities that design out waste, increase reuse and recovery of used packaging materials, and contribute to government regulation costs.

“These companies can no longer keep passing the environmental costs of their poorly designed, wastegenerating packaging on to local councils, state governments, the waste and recycling sector and the

broader community,” Read said.

While the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) may have increased the number of brands signed up to the Covenant in recent years, the independent review of the NEPM and the Covenant found there had been minimal design improvements and only small increases in recycling rates and recycled content.

Similarly, the review found that brand performance against the packaging sustainability framework had been small.

This was further reinforced by the findings from APCO’s recent Collective Impact Report, which found that on current projections, Australia will fall short by 50 per cent of its target to recycle 70 per cent of plastic packaging by 2025.

As stated recently by APCO CEO Brooke Donnelly, the core message of this report is clear – if we are

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Packaging

going to achieve the 2025 National Packaging Targets, we all need to do more and the time to act is now.

“Simply signing up to the Australian Packaging Covenant and committing to the Sustainability Packaging Guidelines has enabled brands and packaging manufacturers to avoid their product stewardship responsibilities across the whole lifecycle of their packaging and pass the buck to local councils and state governments under the veil of shared responsibility,” Read said.

“The independent review findings provide the next federal government with a real opportunity to reduce Australia’s waste generation, create new businesses and jobs, reduce carbon emissions, and conserve our virgin materials while also cleaning up our precious waterways and habitats and protecting our wildlife.”

The waste and recycling sector wants to see the incoming federal government put in place regulation and procurement regimes that reward good packaging design, innovative reuse, and market development for recovered used packaging and penalise those who continue to rely

The incoming federal government will need to do better job at encouraging sustainable packaging.

on non-renewable virgin resources and poorly designed packaging that cannot be easily reused, recycled, or composted.

“Just look at the effectiveness of state-based container deposit legislation in changing packaging and beverage companies’ behaviour.

All it took was some good legislation and a committed government,” said Read.

“Now, we see major beverage companies redesigning their containers, so they are more recyclable, increasing recycled content, investing collaboratively with the waste and recycling sector to build innovative collection and recycling processes, reducing council costs and litter as well as creating jobs and providing meaningful social benefits to those in need.

“Let’s hope that the next federal government has the will to step up and move quickly to put in place smart regulation and procurement regimes that ensure all packaging companies and brands step up to meet the 2025 packaging targets.

“The independent review findings cannot be ignored. The UPM NEPM is a failure. It’s time to throw it out and start afresh.” iw

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29

Opinion //

Prioritising design in a circular economy

By Mike Ritchie WOULD the maniac who designed the first plastic fruit sticker please stand up!

Why is it that every banana, orange, apple, kiwi fruit, and other piece of fruit you buy now comes with a plastic sticker attached to it?

I get that in some cases it improves scanning at the checkout, but why plastic?

It is ridiculous that these are not made out of wax-proof paper, or corn starch, or some other material that can be readily composted in a household compost bin or a standard industrial composting facility.

Their current fate is to contaminate household food and garden (FOGO) collection services, industrial composting and every backyard compost bin in Australia.

It astounds me that EPAs have not jumped straight onto this issue and regulated it out of existence.

If my clients pollute the environment with plastic, the EPA issues a ‘stop work’ notice and my client is prevented from continuing until the pollution is remediated and the process improved.

Why do we tolerate commercial scale pollution in the form of plastic fruit stickers (and polystyrene beads, balloons, non-compostable wet wipes, and the like) when there are clear alternative

Plastic fruit stickers should be banned and replaced with sustainable alternatives.

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Polystyrene beads need to be banned just like single-use plastic bags.

single options which do not cause environmental harm?

I give credit to the national waste action plan and the commitment by

state governments to start banning single-use plastic, including the aforementioned polystyrene beads.

But the list needs to be expanded and the pace of reform massively accelerated.

I am not arguing that such plastics are the main cause of environmental harm to the planet, but they are a contributor to pollution and there are clear alternative options.

It is the ease with which they could be substituted for compostable versions of the same thing, that frustrates me. It is so easy to fix, but only EPA’s can do it. I can’t. You can’t. Governments, and EPAs specifically, can.

It should be a simple decision by the appropriate Minister to put them on a list, giving proponents say six months to produce an alternative version, which

does not cause environmental harm, or they are banned. Simple.

It amazes me that in the era of circular economy, climate change, plastic action plans and so forth, there is no state in Australia with legislation focussed on the end-oflife fate of products.

We have a plethora of regulations around things like product safety and occupational health, yet there are currently no regulations in Australia requiring consideration of the end-oflife fate of products including their recyclability or the pollution that they may cause.

Fruit stickers are just one obvious example of a failing regulatory system.

So are non-degradeable wet wipes.

In the interest of free markets, we are failing to prioritise environmental protection, even where there are simple, environmentally sustainable alternatives available. That is very frustrating. iw (Postscript - the NSW EPA is preparing to ban plastic fruit stickers in the next round of regulatory reform.

Minister Kean – more power to you.

All states should do the same.)

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

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Workforce //

Labour shortages start to bite

By Inside Waste “FROM a labour front, these are the most challenging times we’ve ever seen. You’re talking about wage rates going up in the order of 25-30 per cent at the moment.”

That is the conundrum that Tyrecycle CEO Jim Fairweather finds himself in – pay high wages or don’t have a workforce. Such is the current situation in many parts in the waste industry as labour shortages hit and wages start to rise.

The culprit? As with many cases over the past two years, COVID-19. Like a lot of labour-intensive industries, the waste arena relies on overseas workers to fill in the myriad of gaps that appear in the work force when there is low unemployment. However, due to strict immigration legislation due to the COVID outbreak, a lot of the blue collar, overseas-based labour that would walk into a job in the waste industry are now stranded in their home countries unable to get

back into Australia. Add to that people who are close contacts, have COVID, along with a general lack of labour due to low unemployment, then you “have the perfect storm”, according to Fairweather.

The answer? Simple – open the borders, said Fairweather. And he doesn’t mean let everybody in with no restrictions. But he does believe the government needs to be more malleable in allowing people into the country that have been double vaccinated, had a booster and are willing to adhere to local rules around spreading COVID – i.e. wear masks, sign into premises and keep social distancing.

“We need to get international labour back in the market because we are running at four per cent unemployment, and we cannot find the people to fill the slots,” he said. “And the people we can find are extremely expensive for the roles that they do, and it is putting huge cost pressure on operators likes us in terms of

delivering a value for money service to our customers.”

Fairweather said the costs of shipping are adding to margins being squeezed, which means they have had to pass some of those costs onto customers. This in turn has meant they can’t pass the labour costs to the consumer because Tyrecycle has already asked them to shoulder some of the burden with shipping.

“And when you’re talking about the shipping costs, you’re talking about that now being far greater than what our collection costs are,” he said. “Just the cost of moving the TDF (tyre derived fuel) offshore is now far greater than what we were originally charging our customers for the whole service.”

Fairweather said that his companies are currently running at 60 per cent labour capacity. In days gone by, labour hire agencies would have filled in the missing gaps but the market is so tight they can’t even do that.

“We were running at about 50 per

cent no shows for interviews at one stage as people stayed home with job keeper,” he said. “That has fallen away now, but it is incredibility hard to get people.”

While he is not too worried about the immediate future, in six months’ time is could be a different story. Then there are the issues of the current force being over stretched, which leads to tiredness, and then safety issues start to kick in.

“We can sustain it for now and into the medium term we are okay,” he said. “We are hoping in the next six months the borders open up and this labour issue goes away or at least starts to improve. The danger will be whether it starts to impact the capacity of the market to collect all the tyres. Our workforce is very tired.

They are working long hours and lots of overtime just to get through the sheer volume of work we have on the go at the moment.

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// Workforce

make sure you are managing fatigue and all those sorts of things. It is always important, but especially so in this environment. We are managing that very carefully. Lately, the top two items in my board report every month is managing our labour force and safety.”

The final aspect that worries Fairweather in the immediate future is the ramping up of blue collar labour needed in other, better paying industries.

“The tricky part at the moment, is that for this type of work, the mines are getting busy again,” he said. “And

when the mines get busy they can pay whatever they want to pay, and you just lose workers.

He said in the waste industry, drivers have gone from $30 an hour to $40 an hour. Fitters have gone from $35 an hour to $50 an hour. Plant operators have gone from $26 an hour

Collecting used tyres from clients has become an issue as the labour force shrinks.

to $34 an hour. If a worker does a 10 hour day and some overtime and double time and other penalty rates, they are probably earning $550 a day, which equates to $130K. While Fairweather is concerned at the moment, he is a not a gloom merchant. He does see an end to the issue but would like the government to step up and shorten the amount of time it will take the overseas workforce to start entering the country again.

“We are okay at the moment,” he said. “It has been a complicating factor that the COAG waste bans just come in as well. There is lots of movement in the market. There are smaller operators dropping out of the market, which is increasing the demand for our services.

“Our outlook is we remain very positive, and we think the borders will open and we are confident we can continue to run the business cost effectively, efficiently and maintaining our service levels for our customers.

As we go forward, and as the borders start to open up, that should ease pressure in the labour market , which will continue to grow on the trajectory we were on.” iw

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33

Regulations //

Environmental licences and authorities – a timely reminder

By Gavin Shapiro NOT a week goes by without a prosecution of an operator in the waste industry in one of our environmental courts, either for unlawfully carrying out activities without a licence, or breaching licence conditions. State environmental regulators are vigilant in enforcing licences and breaches against the waste industry, with some recent prosecutions serving as a timely reminder to pay close attention to your licence and licensing requirements.

When do I need a licence?

The specific requirements vary in each state, as do the names and types of licences. But broadly, each state’s environmental legislation sets out categories of ‘scheduled’ or ‘classified’ activities – activities (carried out at a facility or in transportation/vehicles) that require a licence. Scheduled activities for 34

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waste include either a facility that receives/stores/disposes/processes waste over certain thresholds (such as landfills, MRFs, EfW facilities, FOGO and composting, etc), and transportation of waste – typically, with lower thresholds for more hazardous waste types, or liquid waste in the case of transport.

Sometimes, there can be complexity in determining if a licence is required. For example, some types of waste may need to be tested or chemically analysed for proper classification. More often, facilities don’t hold licences if they expect to be under thresholds, but then realise far too late that the volumes of waste they are accepting put them over the threshold – something that has led to many prosecutions. Accurate forecasting of volumes and careful systems, including appropriate documentation and testing/sampling to ensure that only authorised waste types are received, are part and parcel

of ensuring that you either stay under licence thresholds, or hold the appropriate licence for the appropriate materials.

Offences Each state’s environmental legislation establishes numerous offences related to waste. These are typically: transporting waste to a place that does not hold the requisite licence to receive it; receiving waste at a place that does not hold the requisite licence to receive it; treating a place as a waste facility without the requisite licence; or breaching the conditions of a licence.

By far the most common prosecutions relate to transporting waste to land that does not hold the requisite licence, or treating a place as a waste facility without the requisite licence. Often this is because these are waste dumping cases – i.e. ordinary land without a licence obviously cannot be used as a landfill. However, many prosecutions

also occur because the wrong waste type has been accepted, meaning the land does not hold the necessary licence for that waste type, for example, asbestos-contaminated waste, the wrong categories of C&D waste, hazardous waste, etcetera.

The other most common reason for prosecutions is the breach of licence conditions. While many operators would consider themselves law-abiding, compliant operators, it can be surprisingly easy to commit a breach.

Perhaps the most common licence breach prosecuted by regulators is for accepting waste above annual licence limits. This leads to the next issue to remember regarding prosecutions.

Not only can regulators seek a criminal conviction and fine, in many states they can seek a ‘monetary benefit order’ – that is, whatever profit waste made as a result of the breach (e.g. exceeding authorised volumes) can also be recouped by the regulator, over and above the fine

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Regulations

and conviction. It’s also worth noting how severe the penalties can be. For serious offences, there are potential prison sentences of up to seven years for individuals, and fines of up to $5 million for companies.

What if the regulator won’t grant the licence, or grants it with onerous conditions?

Most jurisdictions allow an applicant to appeal against a refusal of a licence application, or any licence conditions that they are unsatisfied with. These are ‘merit’ appeals, meaning that the Court or Tribunal decides the case on what it considers most appropriate – not necessarily on strict legal principles. This means that matters of scientific and technical evidence, likely impacts, and financial and economic factors, can all play a part in the Court’s decision – having the Court act as an independent umpire is a powerful tool for applicants if they consider the regulator’s decision was unreasonable.

In practice, a lot of cases end up settling early on in the process, as even the threat of having the regulator’s decision overruled can prompt a rethink. It’s also for this reason that typically, the regulator will give a licensee an opportunity to comment on draft conditions before they’re imposed.

It’s important to bear in mind that many states allow an appeal against a ‘deemed refusal’ – that is, failure to make a decision within a certain period of time. In NSW, this is either 60 or 90 days. Applicants often needlessly wait more than 6-12 months without a decision, when they could have appealed the ‘deemed refusal’ – and potentially settled the case or received a decision from the Court by then.

Importantly, appeals can only be commenced within a very short time after the decision (refusal or imposition of conditions), or ‘deemed refusal’ – just 21 days in NSW. It is crucial to watch the clock closely.

As licensees know, regulators also regularly review licences, and can amend or impose new conditions.

Again, such decisions can be appealed.

Finally, in systems such as NSW where the environmental regulator also has input to the development application process, it is worth bearing in mind that when you appeal against a failure to grant the development application, the Court has the power to also overrule the environmental regulator’s opposition to the proposal.

Common licence conditions and breaches – pay close attention to your conditions In each state, there are a range of standard-form conditions.

These relate to factors such as the types of materials that can be received/processed/stored, volume and capacity limits, monitoring requirements, control and limits on emissions of substances, control of fire hazards and stockpiles, record keeping and reporting, requirements to maintain plant and equipment properly, and to operate plant and equipment completely. In addition, there are specific conditions developed for each site and operation, and conditions imposed for pollution reduction studies and programs if the regulator is seeking to improve performance at the site.

Given how serious the consequences can be for breaching licence conditions, licensees need to be confident that they understand all of their obligations clearly and have systems to ensure compliance.

It can be surprising how often we think we know what licence conditions mean, only to realise on re-reading them that they are ambiguous and can have multiple meanings. The Courts used to read ambiguities against the regulator so that licenses weren’t unfairly penalised for misunderstanding an ambiguous conditions. These days the Courts are more typically reading conditions whichever way they consider makes most sense, regardless of the outcome for the licensee – so resolving ambiguities and understanding conditions clearly is critical.

An example of why it is so important to understand the requirements of conditions comes from a case where I defended a construction client – although involving a development consent condition, the principle was equally applicable. The condition required the client to submit a traffic management plan (TMP) to the Council. They did so. The TMP stated that only certain trucks should be used. However, there was no condition that required the TMP to be followed. The Council issued multiple fines as different trucks were used, arguing the condition had been breached. When the client appealed, we successfully argued that the requirements of the condition – to submit the TMP – were complied with, so there was no breach.

On the other side of the ledger, there are countless cases where

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

operators have been convicted and fined for breaching conditions relating to quantities of material received, waste types received, noise, odour and pollution control requirements, and not maintaining plant and equipment properly.

Who’s liable for a breach?

The laws in each state make licensees responsible for all breaches related to the licence. It is not usually sufficient to argue that it was an employee or contractor who committed the breach – the licensee in most cases is still automatically liable for their actions. It’s therefore critical that licensees have robust, well-documented systems in place to ensure that anyone coming onsite complies with relevant licence conditions. I have been involved in multiple EPA investigations where those systems – including contractor induction records, training records, and the like – have proven critical in defending the client.

Most state environmental laws also make directors and managers of companies personally liable for the offences committed by the company.

While this is more typically used

against smaller companies where it is easier to demonstrate who was in control and gave directions, it can be applied to larger companies.

In a number of states, corporate and executive liability can even pierce the corporate veil, to pursue parent and related companies and directors of related entities (with NSW’s POEO Act being amended imminently).

Conclusion The saying goes “you’ve got to spend money to make money”. For waste operators, it’s far better to spend time and money upfront obtaining favourable licence conditions and developing systems to comply with them, than it is to spend time and money in Court, and on lawyers down the line. Equally, it’s worth remembering your rights to appeal where necessary, to keep the regulators honest. iw Gavin Shapiro is a partner at Hones Lawyers. He specialises in the waste industry, including waste contracts, waste legislation, EPA investigations and prosecutions, and operational issues.

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35

Energy from Waste //

Time to stop the waste

By Marc Stammbach IN a recent Inside Waste Issue, one of the Australian landfill stakeholders confirmed that around 70 per cent of landfill gas captured over the life of landfill. The IPCC states that methane has 28 times the greenhouse gas (GHG) potential of carbon dioxide, yet our political leaders aim for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Add to this the USA EPA, which summarises that landfill gas is produced at a stable rate for around 50 years with 50 per cent methane content. The are several consequences.

This includes that any benefit of the 70 per cent capture of landfill gas is offset by the escaping methane or an equivalent of 420 per cent (30 per cent fugitive x 50 per cent methane content x 28 GHG factor). In other words we are still emitting the equivalent of six times more carbon dioxide (420 per cent/70 per cent) into the atmosphere.

This starkly contrasts with the current landfill practice in Australia where the gas capture is celebrated as a success and financially rewarded with carbon credits. The active landfill period of 50 years means that any zero GHG by 2050 commitment is already doomed and will need to continue to at least 2080. This is because with the current policies, reactive landfills will still be part of waste management in 2030. Therefore, our landfills will continue to be GHG emitters past 2050 and we truly pass the problem down the generations while missing carbon neutrality at that time. Our Stammbach believes that private industry will avoid over investment in the EfW sector.

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The supposition that EfW causes harmful emissions is wrong.

grandchildren are unlikely to thank us for this debt.

We need to stop the waste and stop wasting time. We must act now.

Stop pretending that landfilling is a sustainable solution. It is not.

We need to applaud the jurisdictions that are already enforcing separate food and green waste collection. Then we need to rethink the need of source separation in all the other states,

not by 2030 as some jurisdictions are targeting, but for tomorrow.

There is a need to stop pretending that conversations about which state or territory government has the most enlightened policy approach to a circular economy is the same as Australia nationally taking meaningful action to prevent valuable resources from being buried in landfill.

Then there are the more obvious

solutions such as stop landfilling of untreated waste and getting the recyclables and organics out.

Finally, there needs to be a push for anaerobic digestion of organics.

In-vessel composting is great, but also needs energy instead of producing renewable energy in the form of bioelectricity or biomethane, which is something that is done by anaerobic digestion.

Energy from Waste (EfW) is a viable solution because: • Private industry will take care to avoid over investment • Stop spreading the fallacy that there is EfW overcapacity in Europe. This was temporary over a few years and has been mostly discussed out of context. We should be grateful if there is some over-capacity because we always need services.

• EfW does not hinder recycling and waste reduction initiatives. Some countries with some of the highest recycling rates in the world also have the highest EfW rates.

• Stop claiming EfW causes harmful emissions. It is plainly wrong.

Many countries in Europe have EfW facilities in the heart of their cities and in the immediate neighbourhood of residential areas.

• If treasury and the EPA can’t see past the revenue from landfill levies then go-ahead and tax EfW but also

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Energy from Waste

ramp up the landfill levies (they are mostly a general tax income, and not a levy).

Shouldn’t we wait for something better than EfW? Look in the mirror and explain to your grandchildren why you watched on and took no action while we have continued to use landfills since the year 2000 and their emissions up to at least 2080.

Even the Greens can be realists, but no, not the local ones. In Germany, the birthplace of the Greens, they support thermal waste to energy for more than 25 years because it recovers energy from waste that otherwise won’t be recycle and it’s clean, green and effectively deals with the environmental and economic waste of landfill.

EfW is an essential element of a circular economy, which cleans up 96 per cent of the incoming material and concentrate pollutants in the flue gas treatment residues. Those residues still must be landfilled but will produce no further greenhouse gas. And if your pocket is willing, we can even recycle that 4 per cent.

The cleaned 96 per cent of the initial residual waste is turned into approximately 20 per cent aggregate, which can be reused in road construction as it is done in many jurisdictions throughout the world.

About 4 per cent of the metals can be recycled – true urban mining inclusive of ferrous, aluminium, copper and gold.

Around 76 per cent will be carbon dioxide and water.

Didn’t we just discuss the importance of carbon dioxide in landfills above?

Yes, CO2 will be formed and around 50 per cent therefore is of fossil origin from the waste and harmful.

Hence, carbon sequestration is the

next frontier. The first pilot plants have been successfully operated (Fortum Oslo Varme’s waste-to-energy, Norway).

The first full-scale projects are in discussion. Full sequestration means that an EfW will be carbon-negative as roughly half of the CO2 is derived from organic material and is already climate neutral.

Contrast this to the landfill of today, which will continue to spew GHG gases in 2050 and beyond with no technical means to change its way unless you dig it out and burn the remains in an EfW plant.

The challenge is not the capture but the storage of carbon dioxide. There are few suitable reservoirs, and the development time is long.

Alternatively, CO2 contained in the EfW flue gases can be captured at the source. The CO2 is being reacted with calcium to form mineral calcium carbonate – a stable, non-toxic, valuable component that has many uses, including as a raw material in the construction industry, a fertiliser, and a mineral filler in the paper, paint, and plastics industries. The high achievable capture rates can enable EfW to become carbon sinks. The system is also geographically independent.

Hence, our political leaders should enable carbon sequestration solutions instead of embracing landfills, hampering EfW, and believing a cap on EfW will do any good for our environment. It is time to stop the waste, source-separate now, and recover value in the inevitable residual waste with EfW and carbon sequestration. iw

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 Operational Issues & Waste Legislation Waste Transportation Asbestos Issues

Contact one of our advisors now: 02 9929 3031 or waste@honeslawyers.com.au or find out more at: www.honeslawyers.com.au/what-we-do/waste/

Marc Stammbach is the managing director of Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI) Australia

Stammbach believes any benefit from 70 per cent capture of landfill gas is offset by escaping methane.

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

APRIL/MAY 2022 INSIDEWASTE

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Waste strategies //

Queensland’s bold approach to address First Nations waste challenges

By Anne Prince QUEENSLAND’S Respecting Country, A Sustainable Waste Strategy for First Nations Communities, provides a framework for 17 First Nations councils to transition to improved waste practices. The Queensland Government is the first and only state in Australia to develop a specific waste strategy for First Nations councils and communities, acknowledging that existing state strategies continue to leave behind communities with unique and specific challenges.

The strategy aims to improve health, social, environmental, economic and compliance outcomes in often forgotten locations by identifying priorities and setting performance benchmarks and timeframes for transition. Launched in April 2021, development of the strategy was funded by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science (DES) who partnered with the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) to undertake contract and project management services. A.Prince Consulting (APC) developed the policy, undertaking consultation and engagement with all councils, including site visits to every community to identify the issues and opportunities.

Importantly, the strategy was codesigned in collaboration with the First Nations councils.

First Nations councils, unlike other Queensland local government areas, have a negligible rate base and are entirely reliant on state and Commonwealth grants for both capital and operational budgets. Although waste management is an essential service, it is often overshadowed by other pressing issues and competing priorities. This has resulted in decades of legacy waste accumulation, the purchase of cheaper secondhand equipment (which is prone to breakdowns and requires more regular servicing), or equipment that is not fit-for-purpose or expensive to operate and maintain. In many cases there are also substandard and overflowing landfills where burning for volume reduction is commonplace.

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TORRES REGION PROGRESSING A WASTE SOLUTION Current process everything is landfill / burnt

STEP

01

STEP

02

STEP

03

Proposed NEW approach

Build a transfer station

Return empty skip bins

Composting

Recycling

NPARC to Horn Island

Bale all waste

Batteries

Electrical Skip bins loaded onto barge waste Oil

NPARC Landfill

Tilt tray bales to landfill

TSIRC to NPARC

The plan is to make for a better future for all Torres Strait Islanders.

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Waste strategies

A RWMP has been developed for the Torres Straits and Northern Cape York communities.

The Queensland Government is keen to address these failings. It understands each council is facing specific issues requiring tailored solutions. As a result, Regional Waste Management Plans (RWMPs) are being developed to support implementation of the strategy. The plans detail both the council-specific and regionallevel actions and funding required to support acquisition of fit-forpurpose equipment, infrastructure and programs to address current and future needs.

The first RWMP has been developed

by APC for the Torres Straits and Northern Cape York Peninsula communities, covering Torres Shire Council (TSC), Torres Strait Island Regional Council (TSIRC) and Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council (NPARC). The region is home to 10,900 people in 22 communities, generating an estimated 8,044 tonnes of waste per annum. Budget constraints are often a limiting factor in finding suitable regional solutions. However, for the first time the most appropriate, long-term and sustainable waste solutions are being considered for current and future generations.

TSIRC faces the greatest challenge of any council in Australia. It replicates services on 15 outer islands

spread across 42,000 km2 of ocean, with populations ranging from 85 to 813 residents. Each island has a landfill operating at or beyond capacity, some close to groundwater bore sources. A number of landfills only manage to contain waste and reduce volume through non-compliant burning practices. Alternative landfill sites are limited given the size, topography, hydrology, Native Title and land tenure complexities on the islands. The region has minimal resource recovery given the high freight costs and stringent biosecurity requirements designed to protect mainland Australia.

Between 2007 and 2010, a successful pilot waste project was undertaken on Warraber Island, a coral-atoll home to 254 residents.

This community embraced a FOGO service a decade before mainland councils, and operated an on-island composting program using shredded cardboard for a community garden, resulting in greater food security for the residents. A recycling program was also initiated, with a mini sorting station for baling recyclables for export to Cairns. These two initiatives alone resulted in a reduction in waste to landfill of 66 per cent by weight and 45 per cent by volume, with an

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

average material recovery rate of 80 per cent. The Warraber pilot program was designed to be transferable to all outer islands. However, it was discontinued due to limited recurrent funding.

The proposed solution for the region follows the proven concepts of recycling, composting, a container refund scheme (CRS), and the separation of household, hazardous/ problematic and bulky wastes. All outer island landfills will be capped and closed, and new mini transfer stations will be constructed for baling of all residual waste for export. This is modelled on a process used in other remote island communities, including Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island.

The proposed destination for the baled waste is the newly constructed 30year capacity landfill at NPARC. Here, waste will be treated under quarantine procedures using deep burial and geo-marking. Both Queensland Biosecurity and the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (AWE) have been engaged in the process to mitigate biosecurity risks.

To support this approach, TSIRC has introduced new by-laws that came into effect from 1 July 2021, prohibiting any commercial or construction waste

being deposited on the outer island landfills. A ‘Containers for Change’ program is being trialled on Coconut Island, with uncompacted containers transported in freight chillers to meet biosecurity requirements.

The draft RWMP recommends that the Warraber Island project be reinstated and expanded. It is anticipated a 69 per cent reduction in waste to landfill could be achieved by recycling (20 per cent) and composting (49 per cent) on each island of origin.

This initiative provides an opportunity to measure diversion, recovery, project logistics, operations and financial performance while allowing other islands, stakeholders and agencies to see the program in action. It also affords an opportunity to apply the ‘learn by doing’ mantra while seeking continuous improvement.

Once finalised and released, the RWMP will be the roadmap to a better future for waste management practices on these remote islands. The current waste management regimen has developed in an ad hoc way over many years.

Significant investment is now essential to bring operations up to today’s regulatory standards and to safeguard the health of all islanders. iw APRIL/MAY 2022 INSIDEWASTE

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The 2021 Waste Innovation and Recycling Awards were postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was great to see the resilience of the industry as it overcome lockdowns, restrictions and having to adapt to a new way of doing things. Now it is time for the industry to acknowledge

it successes throughout what has been a very challenging 24 months.

These awards are all about celebrating the industry – milestones, innovation and achievements throughout 2021. The quality of nominations was high, which made the list of finalists all the more

Waste, Waste Management Review and the Prime Creative Events Team, we offer a hearty congratulations to the 2021 Waste Innovation and Recycling Awards’ winners and look forward to seeing the latest innovations, services and projects coming to fruition over the next 12 months.

difficult to decide upon.

Judges were impressed with all of the finalists, and it was interesting to see that there was very little difference between them when it came to scoring. However, as with any competition, there can only be one winner. On behalf of Inside

Community Engagement Success of the Year TerraCycle School Recycling Program TerraCycle School Recycling Program is designed to empower teachers and parents to raise the next generation with sustainable practices and values, by incorporating hands-on learning about recycling in the classroom, while driving positive outcomes for the environment.

Since 2017, TerraCycle has helped more than 5,500 Australian schools sign up to more than 40,000 recycling programs, to divert 1.8 million units of waste from landfill.

TerraCycle partners with leading brands such as Colgate, BiC, PAW Patrol and Glad to offer schools free recycling solutions. Schools that return waste earn TerraCycle points that can be

redeemed to raise funds for themselves, or non-profits such as WWF and Keep Australia Beautiful.

TerraCycle first launched recycling programs in Australia for schools to sign up to in 2014. In the first four years, school sign-ups grew steadily year on year. In 2017, sign-ups increased by 111 per cent, while 2018 was the first year that sign-ups exceeded more 1,000 new schools recycling from all over the country.

TerraCycle achieved 64 per cent growth in school sign-ups from 2018 until 2019 before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Despite COVID-19 and the ensuing restrictions impacting the opening of schools across the country, there was still a 50 per cent increase in school sign-ups to TerraCycle

recycling programs, compared to 2017.

From 2018-20, shipment weight increased on average by 82 per cent each year.

On multiple occasions, TerraCycle created long-lasting relations with schools and their community, while driving positive outcomes for the environment by preventing hard-torecycle waste from going to landfill.

In 2014, Colgate first partnered with TerraCycle for the Oral Care Recycling Program. Through this program, collectors ship their used toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and floss containers for recycling, instead of sending them to landfill. Since its launch, the Oral Care Recycling Program has enabled Australians to divert one million pieces of oral care waste from landfill and raise

more than $100,000 in donations and prizes for schools and charities.

Ways in which the community are involved include: Hero collectors – TerraCycle puts the spotlight on top Community Collectors; TerraCycle Points Power Up – Collectors earn TerraCycle Points each time they send shipments of waste; TerraCycle Schools Newsletter; social media interaction profiling school collectors in media and blog content; various competitions; and signing up bonuses for those who join the scheme.

In addition to driving positive environmental outcomes, every time the community sends waste back to TerraCycle, they earn points, which can be redeemed and donated to a notfor-profit or an organisation such as a school. iw

Outstanding Facility of the Year Bega Valley Shire Council The Bega Valley Shire Council built an emergency landfill cell and resource recovery area, which was a direct response to the 2019-20 Black Summer Bushfires.

In New South Wales, about 2400 homes were lost, with the Bega Valley Local Government Area sustaining losses across 58 per cent of the shire. The fires destroyed 465 homes, damaged a further 134 homes and destroyed about 1100 outbuildings.

Although much of the damage was sustained during a day and night fire event, the fires burnt for a devastating 65 days.

During the bushfires the amount of waste the fire generated in the Bega Valley was estimated at more than 200,000 cubic metres, of which half 40

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was asbestos-contaminated. All was destined for landfill.

The landfill was under pressure after the clean-up of the March 2018 Tathra and Reedy Swamp fires. Council was proud of how it managed this clean-up but could never have expected the plans and processes it put in place then would need to be actioned again and on a bigger scale.

Bega Valley Shire Council and representatives from Department of Planning, Industry and Environment agreed to construct an emergency landfill cell and associated infrastructure at the existing Central Waste Facility (CWF).

Throughout the project, staff made every effort to ensure the community received exceptional value – designing, and constructing the facility well

beyond the expectation of both the Solid Waste Guidelines and the Emergency Waste Disposal Cell Design and Siting Specifications. As such, the council now has all planning approvals, infrastructure, and capacity in place for the next disaster, which will be a matter of not if, but when.

All up, it took just 14 weeks for this facility to move from conception to becoming operational (ordinarily a project that would take up to 12 months).

The application and approval processes proved challenging, noting immense pressure to gain approval, while also ensuring due processes were followed and that all proposed activities would withstand intense public scrutiny, with much community focus around the CWF.

Most neighbouring landholders were opposed to the landfill which is subject to community scrutiny, and so staff worked to ensure that the project has been completed to best-in-class capacity. Group emails to neighbouring property owners worked well overall to keep communication lines open with the people impacted the most.

The emergency landfill cell and processing area was strategically located within the site so that the area could be used for a multitude of purposes once landfilling ceased.

Staff undertook monitoring, including an increased sampling regime, with additional monitoring bores, dust jars and increased surface water monitoring – measures beyond the requirements set by the NSW EPA as part of council’s Environmental Protection Licence. iw

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Waste Innovation and Recycling Awards

Workplace of the Year Handybin Waste Services Handybins founder Harry Wilson knows that in order for a good business to thrive, you need good staff on the ground and in the office. Having spent more than 50 years in the waste business Harry knows what makes a good enterprise tick, and at the core is the staff.

The company prioritises its staff and their contributions to waste reduction. It is excited to have seen the expansion and evolution of the company to maximise its opportunities in waste reduction. The additional training and prioritisation of safe work practices has enabled its staff to feel empowered and secure in their roles at the company.

Regular scheduled performance appraisal discussions between employees and management result in positive feedback from staff, particularly in relation to company policies such as the promotion of women in waste, subsidised

waste collection services for staff, superannuation co-contributions, paid leave for performing local charity work, and free flu and tetanus vaccinations and medical check-ups through our preferred local doctor.

As well as being a pioneer in the waste arena, the company has also led the way in terms of making sure staff are looked after. Wilson just doesn’t meet the requirements under legislated labour laws, he goes out of his way to make sure his staff are looked after.

In terms of building a quality culture at Handybin, Wilson provides ongoing support to staff, in a variety of areas within the business.

This includes: • A n employee incentive and bonus scheme for those that are willing to go the extra mile.

• A nnual awards are presented to longer serving staff – for those who achieve those milestones there are anniversaries such as 5, 10, 20, and 30 years awards for being

Handybins has an employee bonus scheme.

with the business.

• Super co-contributions – if a staff member makes a salary sacrifice contribution, Harry will make an extra contribution of up to $520 a year into that staff member’s super fund.

• As well as the annual Christmas party for all employees, he gives out a free ham and six-pack of beer/

wine to staff members.

Wilson’s staff say he provides ongoing leadership to management to support fairness and equity amongst all staff members, including having a range of best-practice workplace bullying and discrimination policies and procedures. Consequently, employees are motivated and there is minimal staff turnover. iw

Operational Excellence Award REMONDIS Australia REMONDIS Australia has operated Mugga Lane Landfill, Mugga Lane Transfer Station, Mitchell Transfer Station and ACT’s Recycling Drop Off Centres since it acquired Thiess Services in 2011. REMONDIS has also operated the Mugga 2 Quarry site since 2019, which receives contaminated soils from the region. The facilities are managed on behalf of ACT NoWaste and service all of Canberra and some adjacent NSW jurisdictions. Over time, the facilities have transitioned from disposal to resource recovery operations with the REMONDIS ACT team using their operational expertise to assist the region to achieve their ambitious objectives under the ACT Waste Management Strategy 2011-2025.

REMONDIS and ACT NoWaste delivered the following initiatives and improvements: • 2016: Established the first KPI based landfill disposal contract (for MLL), delivering value for money to Government and residents with a quantifiable bonus and penalty structure; • 2017: Enhanced plant fleet, including an additional 836 compactors, to ensure operations are not impacted by maintenance activities;

REMONDIS has delivered economic and environmental outcomes to several plants throughout the ACT.

• 2019: Developed plans and Safe Work Method Statements, trained staff and amended the EPA Environmental Authorisation to receive and safely intern the remaining Mr Fluffy houses at MLL; • 2019: Replaced walking floor fleet with side-tippers, reducing turn around times from Mitchell Transfer Station by more than 40 per cent; • 2019: Commissioned a Tarpomatic machine to reduce the amount of void space consumed by day cover; to date it is estimated the equipment has reduced the site’s

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cover requirements by 75,000 cubic metres; and • 2019: Successfully opened Mugga 2 Quarry with a unique gate fee sharing and booking arrangement that ensures staff and equipment are only present and operational when jobs are booked in with 48 hours notice.

REMONDIS has a progressive workplace safety culture that stems from great teamwork, contributions from all tiers of the workforce and a good understanding of responsibilities towards safety. Toolbox meetings,

safety committee meetings, workplace inspections, audits, risk assessments and incident reports are completed to simultaneously communicate, report and consult on valuable safety aspects.

REMONDIS has delivered the social, economic and environmental outcomes that include significant operational efficiencies and cost-savings, significant reductions to greenhouse gas emissions, flexible solutions to the ACT residents and implementing measures to reduce and control air quality, which can affect nearby communities. REMONDIS has also recorded zero at-fault odour complaints for Mugga Lane Landfill during the current contract spanning more than five years of large-scale putrescible waste landfill operation.

REMONDIS has a collaborative and consultative relationship with ACT NoWaste, the owner of the facilities that REMONDIS operates on ACT Government’s behalf. REMONDIS is able to plan for, present, consult and discuss technical and operational challenges and opportunities with NoWaste on a case-by-case basis. Communication between the parties is two-way in nature, with both REMONDIS and NoWaste tabling site improvements for consideration at different times. iw APRIL/MAY 2022 INSIDEWASTE

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Waste Innovation and Recycling Awards //

Innovation Award Handybin Waste Services: Multi-stream recycling services Since building its MRF in 2012, and further upgrading in 2015, Handybin has successfully introduced glass, polystyrene and textile recycling to the communities it services.

The processing of these materials has led to Handybin implementing specific technology, plant and handling methods for the materials.

Glass processing Handybin has implemented a soft material MRF with minimum breakage approach. This enables Handybin to pick whole glass and larger pieces by colour, which creates an opportunity to sell the material as a premium.

To ensure high resource efficiency for glass recovery, a new frontend system incorporating modern technology to give a cleaner primary separation of product was designed.

The latest soft disc screens, bounce belts and ballistics screen softly separate whole glass containers, with minimal breakage. The disc screen is

a well proven and effective way of separating containers from fibre. The latest generation of soft screen with tight collars, aids in clean separation of materials while minimising breakage of whole glass bottles.

Among other benefits of the system, the disc screens have plastic sleeves/collars to prevent further glass breakage on the steel shafts holding the discs. The intervals in the disc screen are graded differently meaning that its first few rows drop out the small broken glass and the later rows drop out whole containers.

The process facilitates containers, whole bottles and larger pieces of broken glass, which fall off the bounce conveyor under the disc screen and are conveyed to the container line.

Textiles in the yellow lid recycling Since May 2016 “Fabrics” bags have been received and processed on a permanent basis in the existing MRF. Residents are posted two “Fabrics” bags, which are used to dispose of good quality clothing that will be distributed to local charities.

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The bags have been designed to ensure that clothes are collected and delivered intact. This innovation is supported by ensuring compaction rates are consistently kept low to prevent bag splitting, which helps to avoid soiling and damage to the clothing. The methodology employed at the receival plant includes extra care taken by the loader operator not to rupture bags when pushing up or depositing bucket loads of recyclables onto the main input conveyor belt.

Bags proceed up the main conveyor and onward to the first receival station where they are manually removed by two sorters.

One of the two sorters picks the fabric bags from the conveyor and drops them down a chute where they are collected in 1100L bulk bins. At the end of shift, all full 1100L bins are wheeled to the Textiles Processing Area. Prior to assessment the bags are manually counted and recorded. The bags are opened by the operator and each individual item of clothing is assessed for quality. Any items deemed unusable by charities are removed as residual waste.

Expanded Polystyrene Handybin started processing Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) at its MRF in late 2013 after discussions with the NSW EPA. The company made application and received a grant towards infrastructure to process EPS. This included a polystyrene granulator, heater and extruder. In addition to promoting commercial collections and drop-off of EPS, Handybin introduced collection point trials at each councils’ waste management facilities to maximise EPS recovery.

The only way to ensure the required quality is to hand sort the product that is placed in the cages by residents. Non-EPS expanded plastics are removed, as are adhesive tapes on product and any loose material that adheres to product. Clean product is fed into the grinding section of the processor. It is heated and extruded into “sausage-shaped” lengths. The MRF Manager has devised a system where the sausage is blocked in crates. The resulting cubes are stacked on pallets and shrink wrapped to keep the product clean and allow stacking on flat top trailers for transport. iw

Outstanding WARR Project: Metro REMONDIS Australia: Creating Change with Containers in WA REMONDIS Australia operates the collection and processing of nonglass products for Western Australia’s Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) for the Perth, Peel and Wheatbelt regions.

Containers are sorted at drop-off points by material type and then collected and processed in order to be sent to facilities for repurposing.

Using its system, REMONDIS was able to reduce the number of trucks on the road.

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REMONDIS currently collects and processes more than 28 million containers per month, equivalent to 500 tonnes from more than 60 locations. The company has introduced efficiencies to service this scheme, which has led to cost savings, reduced safety risks and a reduction of 1000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

In many other CDS operations, containers are collected using infrastructure such as open top hook-lift bins to maintain the form of a container and therefore ease in conducting the strict audits required on CDS products in order for refunds to be processed. However, by maintaining container form, the available space within bins and trucks is not used and there is a large amount of air being transported. This increases not only the costs, but it also creates a large amount of carbon emissions due to increased truck kilometres.

As this was the first CDS in Australia that REMONDIS had tendered for, the company’s solution was to offer on-site compaction and rear-lift truck compaction to reduce the amount of

air and increase the number of bottles able to be collected and transported.

RFID (radio frequency identification) and trade-approved scale technology was used to ensure REMONDIS could report to the high level of auditability and accountability needed for CDS operations.

In the request for proposal provided by scheme co-ordinator WARRRL, REMONDIS was asked to give a solution based on the operations of the Queensland scheme. However, REMONDIS risked a non-conforming bid by submitting a compaction model. What was presented to WARRRL was an approach that improves industry practice to provide not only the cheapest model, but the safest, and an environmentally-friendly collection service. The company was able to reduce the number and frequency of trucks on the road, while collecting the same number of containers as seen in some east coast collection points.

The company’s target was to achieve a compaction ratio of 4:1, while providing reporting on the number

of containers collected and receive no complaints from refund sites that collections were not frequent enough and therefore impacting their business – as this was one of the highest concerns from companies who operate similar producer responsibility CDS collection points on the east coast.

The latest KPI reporting from WARRRL shows that REMONDIS is yet to have a complaint from refund sites and its compaction model is operating between 4:1 and 5:1.

In comparison to standard industry practice using hook-lift bins, their compaction model achieved a decrease in required truck resources. At current projection this is allowing the company to reduce more than 6,000 truck hours per annum.

The compaction methodology can easily be adapted and used by other CDS providers nationally. The technology used to both compact bottles and cans, as well as RFID and trade approved scales used to track the movement and weight of bottles, while expensive, is adaptable to multiple vehicle types. iw

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

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Waste Innovation and Recycling Awards //

Woman of Waste Susie McBurney: REMONDIS Susie McBurney has more than 20 years’ professional experience in the waste industry, spanning a number of senior management positions at both REMONDIS and Cleanaway. McBurney grew up involved in a waste and recycling business that was started by her family. McBurney’s journey in the industry, coupled with her background in Chartered Accounting, has given her practical and data-driven experience managing complex operations across all solid and liquid waste streams. As REMONDIS’ general manager for NSW and ACT, she oversees the management of more than 15 sites, including landfill operations, composting and material recovery facilities, and domestic and commercial collection depots.

McBurney has been a participant in the waste industry her entire life – from a child interested in her family’s waste business, to becoming general manager of the company at age 24.

During her tenure as general manager, she increased turnover by 500 per cent and then sold the business to the publicly listed Cleanaway in 2005.

REMONDIS general manager for NSW and ACT, Susie McBurney.

Since then, McBurney has shown impeccable leadership and driven organisational change in every role she has been involved in. She was the first female Operational State Manager at Cleanaway in 2012 and first female State General Manager at REMONDIS Australia in 2014. Throughout her career, she has navigated complex projects in collections, processing and infrastructure including: • Managing the Sydney Olympics waste contract for the Darling Harbour Precinct.

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• M anaging site upgrades to Cleanaway’s Kooragang Island facility for Liquid Waste.

• Managing the emergency removal of asbestos and waste of 44,000 pallets resulting from a building roof collapse due to a record hail storm in 2007.

• Led the construction and development of REMONDIS’ awardwinning Organics Resource Recovery Facility in Awaba, NSW. • Currently leading the development of REMONDIS’ 50,000sqm Tomago Recycling Precinct in NSW. McBurney is the NSW/ACT general manager for REMONDIS, representing the company’s largest operational footprint in Australia. She is responsible for 11 operational sites and an additional four depots across NSW and ACT and has grown the business considerably since she started in 2014.

She led from concept to completion, the construction and operation of REMONDIS’ Lake Macquarie Organics Resource Recovery Facility.

McBurney has always championed diversity and inclusion where possible.

While at Cleanaway, she was asked

to take part in the pilot program of Cleanaway’s My Mentor – Courageous Woman, a 10-week program with key females within the organisation and designed to help their career development and to understand and work on their strengths and weaknesses for career progression.

McBurney has continued to influence and mentor other women. She has engaged in numerous speaking opportunities including WARR’s Women of Waste industry breakfast, the Coffs Waste Conference and as a speaker for Cleanaway’s My Mentor – Courageous Women Program. She is a believer in REMONDIS’ graduate program, which ensures graduates are given the chance to participate across all of the business and continues to mentor graduates who enter the waste industry, this year mentoring business graduate Paige Milligan.

She believes in always supporting her employees and is very much a hands-on manager, being out in the yard or onsite as she understands that there is a need to break down the barrier that waste management is often perceived as male oriented. iw

Outstanding WARR Project: Regional McMullin Building Demolition – Drumderg The demolition of the McMullin Building proved to be a benchmark project for the University of Newcastle, Drumderg and TSA Management in establishing complementary protocols for planning, achieving and exceeding best practice environmental, recycling, HAZMAT removal and safety across all phases of the demolition project.

In total the project included: • 99.83 per cent of materials diverted from landfill – above six-star Green Star standard for the project • 97 per cent World-leading safety score (independent auditor) • 35 Significant trees retained • 15,000+ tons of concrete crushed and processed on site.

Detailed planning and investment into specialised equipment were all contributing factors to the project’s success.

The University of Newcastle engaged Drumderg Services as the head contractor for the demolition of the McMullin Building and Theatre buildings 44

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located at the University’s Callaghan Campus in Newcastle, following a tender process that focused on experience, innovation, as well as sustainable practice.

The project was managed by TSA Management, and overseen by the Infrastructure Facilities Services department of the University.

The demolition works were monitored and recycling initiatives reported monthly.

Through identification of the waste streams and recovery options the project exceeded the requirements to achieve a diversion of 99.8 per cent of the building fabric from landfill.

Through Drumderg’s full-time operation of one of the largest C&D and C&I plants in Australia, this project benefitted from the intimate knowledge of the nuances of demolition waste and how to maximise recovery on site.

This was evidenced by managing offtakes directly into industry, such as waste wood produced from the demolition being mulched and transformed into chipboard, to separating vermiculite and friable

insulation from the building mass so that 15,000t+ of concrete and brick were decontaminated and crushed on site into a road base ready for reuse.

Effective recycling strategies were conceived in the development of the demolition methodology and demonstrated in 3D modelling, which articulated: • materials separation on site; • loading out zones; and • identifying waste streams.

Several other sustainability opportunities were taken up including: 1. T he retention of an additional 35 trees during the works, originally nominated for removal.

2. R ecovery of resources for reclamation and donation. This included liaising with charities that could repurpose retained items to give back to local communities, using identified waste repurposing streams.

3. T he project allowed for reclaimed material to remain on campus for reuse by the University, 4. E ngagement with University Research Teams. The project presented a unique opportunity for University researchers

The building’s demolition had more than 99 per cent of its materials diverted from landfill.

given the building’s age, structural composition, coastal location, and its endurance through the 1989 Newcastle earthquake. Researchers from the College of Engineering, Science and Environment were able to capture data throughout demolition to calculate the carbon footprint and laboratory assessment.

5. Safety & Innovation. Safety was an integral part of the planning and implementation of the project.

There were no incidents recorded throughout the project’s duration, a testament to the safety culture embedded by Drumderg and the University. iw

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

Dear Melbourne, Since we began in 2014, we have led major initiatives to minimise waste and maximise resource recovery in Melbourne.

While we are focused on the future transformation of the recycling and resource recovery sector, we are also looking back proudly on the significant contribution we have made to the community.

Later this year, we will move to a new business unit, Recycling Victoria, where we will continue to work with you to transition to a circular economy.

You can read about our impact here: mwrrg.vic.gov.au/impact.

Best wishes, Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group

Waste Innovation and Recycling Awards //

Leader of the Year Harry Wilson: Handybin Waste Services Harry Wilson is an industry icon, with a career spanning 50 years in the waste and resource recovery sector.

His working career has included both small private companies and large Australian blue-chip corporations and developing his own business. He has lead innovation, conducted research and shared results leading to best practice. He has given back to the sector his time and expertise as an active executive member of WCRA, NSW for more than 20 years and served as President for 11 years.

Wilson is synonymous with resource recovery, championing for the betterment of the sector.

In 1987 Wilson left his corporate position with Brambles to start a waste collection business for Sulo Australia MGB, introducing the efficiency of the mobile garbage bin and increased productivity of single

driver side-loading collection vehicles to councils across Australia and South East Asia.

In 1992, he acquired that business and named it SMS Municipal Services.

In partnership with councils and the communities they serve, it went on to introduce trials to identify best practice outcomes to maximise recycling while minimising contamination. He piloted projects aiming to optimise bin sizes and service frequency for both recyclables and residual waste.

He designed and built some of Australia’s most sophisticated MRFs of the 90s to process materials to the highest quality to ensure end markets. He also pioneered garden waste collections in Willoughby Council from 1993. In so doing, he diversified collections from just general waste to include recycling and garden organics. He did this using mobile garbage bins and sideloading trucks instead of bags, crates

SPONSORED BY

Handybin’s Harry Wilson.

and bundled green waste services.

His years of pioneering collection trials and processing garden organics and recyclables came to the fore in 2005. Combining his logistics background with his deep understanding of resident behaviour, Wilson created a new company called Handybin Waste Services and

won the kerbside collection and MRF processing contracts for Coffs Coast – three mid-NSW north coast councils of Coffs Harbour, Bellingen and Nambucca.

At the same time, in partnership with Paul Coffey a leading organics expert, they started Biomass Solutions, winning a 20-year processing contract of organics and mixed waste for Coffs Coast.

Being at the start of the introduction of the mobile garbage bin in Australia, better known as the “wheelie bin”, Wilson has been heavily involved in the evolving landscape of municipal collections.

With a career spanning more than 50 years in the industry, he has witnessed, and been a part of, enormous changes.

He has brought innovation to the industry as an employee, as a business owner, but also as an association director and president. iw

Young Professional of the Year Tara Osborne, General Manager – BINGO Tara Osborne has been at BINGO for more than four years and has seen the company through its Initial Public Offering (IPO) and several large acquisitions. She has been an important part of the leadership team and BINGO’s recent success.

Osborne started her career working at Credit Suisse in is Equity Capital Markets team in 2012. Not long after, she began work for IntraAsia, which was focused on emerging markets.

Her next job was with industrial engineering business BroadSpectrum, which in turn was bought out by Spanish conglomerate Ferrovial, which among other things, has waste assets.

This was Osborne’s first foray into the waste business.

“The opportunity at Bingo came up when [Bingo CFO] Chris Jeffrey was heading up the development team as the chief development officer,” she said. “I was approached to help corporate development function. I set up investor relations for the company once they listed on the ASX in May 2017.”

Being made a general manager at 28 hasn’t curbed Osborne’s ambition, although she does love her current 46

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Osborne became a general manager at BINGO at the age of 28.

roles and sees potential in many aspects of the business.

“I do a bit of everything when there are challenges in the organisation,” she said. “For example, the floods at the moment. We are having challenges with certain assets around water issues. I can jump into the team and pull different people together and have a discussion about what is the strategy.

“Then there are issues like changes in the regulations, such as the recent ones covering recovered fines. I’ve been leading that internally and

making sure we are looking at our response with industry to the EPA and also preparing the business operationally for that massive change and shift,” she said. “I work on the innovation side of the business internally to try and solve some of their issues. Like looking at offtakes for certain products that might be problematic such as engineered timber or PVC.” And as for her future, she has plenty of areas she would like to cover off before moving up the corporate ladder.

“I would like to get a bit more

operations experience and move horizontally to widen my experience beyond the corporate skill set that I have,” she said. “Eventually, I would like to take a C-suite position helping grow the business. I’m not in a hurry to move up.

“I would rather move across and expand my skill set so that I am in the best position possible to make that step up.”

And the issues she would like to work on?

“I’d like to work on things like turning waste into fuel, or waste into methanol,” she said. “There are so many opportunities out there to collaborate with other industries – high carbon industries – we need to almost partner with them because they are important.

“With green activism and where it is heading, I am of the view that waste – such as biomass – is a coal replacement. We need to move away from coal.

“You have cement kilns, and you have steel manufacturers who have to look at RDF or biomass. It’s constantly moving and evolving.

“The circular economy and innovations space. I have the best job in the organisation.” iw

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

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Container Deposit Schemes //

Big beverage has little say in WA CDS

By Inside Waste “WHEN we look at commentary about Western Australia generated out of the east coast we get frustrated because there is this myth about the scheme being run by ‘big beverage’, which is simply not true.”

So says Tim Cusack, the CEO of WA Return Recycle Renew (WARRRL), the entity responsible for the Containers for Change container deposit scheme (CDS) for Western Australia. Cusack is passionate about the state’s CDS but is perturbed about misinformation that has stated WARRRL is nothing but a mouthpiece for the big beverage manufacturers who fund the scheme.

“Big beverage has three of nine seats on our board [those three seats don’t have higher voting rights than the other six seats], and they have provided seed capital for the scheme to be established, getting it ready to operate on October 1, 2020,” he said. “It operates like any board.

It has an independent chair and five independent directors who very much protect their independence.

Look at the results. I ask those who critique our scheme to look at the results, which speak for themselves.”

Cusack said the scheme has 48

INSIDEWASTE APRIL/MAY 2022

“We have an incredible array of refund points across regional WA, which is amazing when you think the size of WA is the size of continental Europe. And let’s not forget the isolation of some very remote communities, so to have a presence in those areas is fantastic and speaks to how much the community has embraced the scheme.” been successful and has so far returned just over $108 million to communities throughout the state.

It has 77 refund point operators that provide 258 refund points. One achievement that he is especially proud of is that any person who lives in the Perth metro area only has to travel a maximum of four kilometres to find a place to dispose of their containers.

“We have an internal objective to get it to 290 refund points before the end of the year,” he said. “We have an incredible array of refund points across regional WA, which is amazing when you think the size of WA is the size of continental Europe.

And let’s not forget the isolation of some very remote communities, so to have a presence in those areas is fantastic and speaks to how much the community has embraced the scheme.”

The beneficiaries of the

scheme include local government organisations, aboriginal corporations, sporting organisations and community organisations such as Lions Club and Men’s Shed.

Cusack said there are diverse not-for-profit groups in the mix, including the disability sector. Two of the biggest disability employers in Western Australia – Good Sammy Enterprises and Ability Centre – are both operators within the scheme. As for big beverage companies, Cusack said they have limited influence. Being on the board they do have a say, but not a majority opinion, he said. People need to be less cynical about them as entities and look at what they are doing. In other words, look at the reality, not the perception.

“I will give you two examples.

Gage Roads Brewing is an independent WA brewing company,” he said. “It has agreed to promote

the container deposit scheme on its packaging. The first beverage company in Australia to do so. Why? Because they actually have a genuine commitment to resource recovery.

They have a corporate commitment to that. To manifest that commitment, they put it on the packaging to encourage their consumer to get the material, once finished, back to a refund.

“Then you look at Coca-Cola. There are critics of Coke, but you look at what they commit to publicly in all of their corporate statements and look at what is on their packaging.

They have a real commitment to it. They are about to build a PET site, part of a joint venture with PACT and Asahi, that is going to build massive investment on the east coast. This is multi-million dollar investment in recycling. I don’t hold a candle for Coke, but I just want to make the point; if you look at the beverage sector generally, you can see incredible commitment to resource recovery and recycling.”

The scheme has been ongoing for the past 16 months and so far has a redemption rate of just over 76 per cent. While Cusack wants that number to increase, he is happy with the way the scheme is running, albeit

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Container Deposit Schemes

The WA CDS has returned more than $108 million to communities in WA.

with a minor hiccup.

“The only issue we’ve had has been our IT point of sale system,” he said. “Only really in the sense of functionality gaps, if that makes sense. There are things our refund centres wanted the operating system to do that it couldn’t do. We are now on the latest version, and we have done a lot of enhancements to that software environment. As we roll out we fix those bugs, we provide functionality enhancements. That is being really well received and is very popular and the community have embraced it.”

He said they also use what is called the Member Number scheme. It is a facility that allows organisations and individuals to send their refund to a bank account rather than receiving cash.

“It can be their own account, or even a charity or community group they support,” said Cusack. “So far, we have transferred more than $3.7 million to community groups in donations alone. We have transferred many more millions – somewhere along the lines of $12-13 million – to the community groups that actually run refund points because they get 100 per cent of the handling fee where they are providing the refund point service, which is another

unique feature to our scheme.”

As the CEO, Cusack is looking ahead and sees two key opportunities that he would like to take advantage of over the next 12 to 18 months.

One is to continue to extend the reach of the scheme – to make it more localised than it is today.

“We have 4500 community groups and charities with a member ID number,” he said. “That tells you the amount of interest right across one end of the state to the other, and those organisations can provide access to the scheme though donation points.

“We are actively pursuing that at the moment. We do expect to see a much wider presence in the community through an informal donation structure than simply relying on the refund points themselves.”

He said that they also need a stronger partnership with the waste management sector. The WARRRL already has a strategic partner in the form of Cleanaway, who provides the majority of logistics and processing services outside of Perth. In Perth, they have a relationship with REMONDIS, who is the provider of logistics and processing for nonglass items.

“We have good partnerships

WARRRL’s Tim Cusack.

with those two companies, but we are working hard to extend those partnerships to the other major players in the waste sector in WA because they are all involved in capturing eligible containers,” said Cusack. “And not all of that material is getting back to the scheme. It is about making sure we have opportunities for separation of source in all settings – not just residential settings. To pursue that, we are attempting to build stronger partnerships, closer relationships with the waste sector in the state.” iw

The scheme currently has a redemption rate of just over 76 per cent.

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

APRIL/MAY 2022 INSIDEWASTE

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Equipment News //

AI helps sort batteries EcoBatt has pooled best practices from around the world to build an automated battery sorting system.

By Inside Waste WHEN building its Melbourne facility, the EcoBatt team visited battery recycling sites around the globe, learning from their success, failures and experiences.

Director of EcoBatt and Recycal, Doug Rowe, said the lessons learned by colleagues overseas proved invaluable when sitting down with the engineering team at COVA design to come up with a patented automated battery sorting system that separates battery chemistries.

“Taking the best bits from each of their operations and being able to start with a clean sheet enabled us to build a plant that incorporates all their observations and suggestions,” Rowe said.

“We felt privileged that they were so willing to share their experiences and they continue to follow the progress and development of our battery sorting plant.”

Rowe said many and varied batteries are collected from EcoBatt’s recycling drop-off points. The battery sorting plant can sort them down to the smallest cell battery to the larger alkaline or lead acid batteries. It can also remove batteries that may contain sand or vermiculite, which is a group of hydrated laminar minerals such as aluminium-iron magnesium silicates.

“It is not just a couple of sorting

conveyors in a row with people trying to pick chemistries by eye,” Rowe said.

“It’s a sophisticated automated system with Artificial Intelligence reading the batteries and placing them in their correct category by chemistry.

We can sort about 10 tonne per day during one shift.

“Accurately sorting of these batteries is so important as the chemistries differ greatly from battery to battery. Each reacts differently and contains different metals.

“We continue to see so many different batteries coming through from industry and we continue to learn more about them every day. Sorting them and keeping the chemistries together allows for much safer and controlled recycling and processing.”

Rowe said safety is one of the main concerns when sorting batteries. He said that EcoBatt’s sorting facility has all the safety systems in play including thermal cameras inside the sorting shed, sprinkler systems, sand boxes, and specialised metal fire extinguishers in case of any emergency. Separate outdoor storage containers also have sprinkler control, suppression systems and heat detection. He says anything of concern can safely be put in these containers, which are further protected by a Fire Rover fire detection and suppression system.

“Batteries need to be respected and

The chemistries vary from battery to battery.

handled correctly and we go out of our way to ensure we do all we can to make that happen,” he said.

There is some hand sorting at the beginning of the process to remove batteries in plastic bags and other mixed items.

There is some hand sorting at the beginning of the process.

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EcoBatt also accepts mobile phones in its battery collection bins located around Australia. The phones are separated along the processing line and stored in bins for further recycling. The phone batteries are removed to recover specialised battery materials and metals inside them, while the phones themselves are processed separately. Mobile phone charges and accessories and wearables including smart watches can also be recycled in the collection bins Rowe said it ensures clients have easy access to recycling.

“Batteries now play such an important part in our lives with many finding their way embedded into all kinds of toys, tools, mobile equipment and indeed all around the household,” he said.

“Even in the workplace batteries are found and needed in so many devices.

Without a way to recycle them, people would store them in drawers, leave them around the house or workplace and in many cases, they would be placed in the rubbish bins.

“Now there is an answer to recycle the batteries and more importantly, collection points all around the country for them.” iw

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Equipment News

HiAce Steel supports local waste management sector

By Inside Waste GLOBAL steel manufacturer and supplier, SSAB, is helping Australian businesses withstand wear challenges in severe conditions with the Hardox HiAce range. Engineered for applications in acidic and corrosive environments, Hardox HiAce abrasion-resistant steel is an structural material for garbage trucks, recycling containers, tipper/ dump bodies, and other heavy-duty equipment.

A 2019 report found that Australia produced 7.5 million tonnes of hazardous waste in a two-year period, which was a 34 per cent uptick on the previous generation and represented 11 per cent of all waste generated nationwide. This number is only rising: • 2 90,000 tonnes of e-waste material have been diverted to landfills to date; and • a n additional 100,000 tonnes of solar panel waste are forecast to enter the waste stream by 2035.

In these environments, the steel in

truck and tipper bodies, and other equipment can come under attack from different types of acids. This acidity oxidises the steel’s surface, making it more prone to wear.

Therefore, Australian businesses require tougher equipment to protect profitability, equipment condition, service life, and the environment.

“Australia’s harsh climate and growing volumes of hazardous waste have created the perfect storm for corrosive wear. Hardox HiAce is a true wear fighter for organisations looking to protect their equipment, especially in the acidic or corrosive environments that threaten waste management,” said Matthew Spiteri, country manager for Australia and New Zealand.

Hardox HiAce’s corrosion-resistant steel plate slows down the oxidation process, allowing the full hardness of the material to counteract wear. It performs the same as 450 HBW steel in pH-neutral environments. In low pH levels, it can extend equipment service life up to three times longer compared to 400 HBW steel.

The Hardox HiAce range of steel is designed for harsh environments like the waste industry.

Its increased wear resistance also allows for the use of thinner plates without jeopardising service life – translating to more payload when fully loaded and, when traveling empty, more fuel savings and fewer CO2 emissions. This steel has been embraced by businesses across the country. One example is Bruce Rock Engineering (BRE), which implemented it into its new Super Quad mining trailer combination for iron ore transport.

BRE used Hardox HiAce in the Super Quad’s floor plate and the trailer sides, which has effectively extended the life of trailer bodies –

even in tough climates like Western Australia’s Pilbara Region. Hardox HiAce has also lightened the load – the 60m Super Quad road trains have a payload up to 141t in order to maximise capacity.

“We never hesitated for a minute before introducing Hardox HiAce into a Super Quad mining trailer combination for iron ore transport.

Changing from Hardox 450 to Hardox HiAce hasn’t caused any challenges in the workshop. All that has changed is the higher resistance towards corrosive material,” said Brenton Verhoogt, operations manager at BRE. iw

Beach Bin engineered for the Australian coastline HOT sand between your toes, wild salty hair, sunburnt noses…the Australian beach can be a uniquely fun, but hostile, environment. That’s why, between way too many trips to the beach for “site assessments”, the team at Source Separation Systems has leveraged its unique expertise in waste diversion, to design a new public place bin designed specifically for the Australian coastline.

The Beach Bin builds upon the National Park Range, with several new features.

While still manufactured in their factory in Newcastle NSW by the Source Separation team, this unit is built from aluminium, making it a robust solution for coastal environments.

Housing standard 240 Litre Wheelie Bins, the wall panels of the enclosure are fixed to the ground, with the

longer panels bolted and reinforced with silicone during installation. This feature minimises litter in coastal areas, which are typically associated with high winds, as smaller waste items are unable to escape from the base. It also reduces the build-up of sand from within the unit, ensuring the internal bins remain easily accessible.

The limited air flow created by the sealed base also minimises the risk of fire, by reducing the amount of oxygen feeding any potential flames from the base.

The Beach Bin is available in a standard Landfill and Recycling design, with other streams including Organics available on order.

The Landfill unit is available with an optional ashtray, which allows cigarette butts to be extinguished and then deposited into a separate compartment

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

within the frame. Butts are then transferred to the Landfill MGB on collection.

Source Separation Systems is known for its high-quality outdoor units, which are uniquely engineered and manufactured for durability. The panels are constructed with a dual sheet design for strength, with the powder-coated outer panel individually replaceable if damage does occur, which adds to the longevity of the solution. These interchangeable panels can also be vinyl wrapped, transforming the bins into information hubs for the promotion of community events and messages.

An effective and durable solution, the Beach Bin is sure to be another popular option in the Source Separation Systems’ range of waste diversion products. iw

The Beach Bin has been specifically designed for harsh coastal conditions.

APRIL/MAY 2022 INSIDEWASTE

51

Equipment News //

Sticker price not only reason to buy truck range

By Inside Waste ISUZU’S recently compiled Future of Trucking Report (FoT) surveyed over 1,000 truck owners and fleets across Australia. It revealed that highest on the list of priorities for Australian fleet owners was the issue of profitability.

An increasingly competitive market environment in combination with the global pandemic and escalating operational costs, is working to drive down margins.

In for life In tackling the issue of profitability, fleets are increasingly looking at the ‘lifetime’ costs of capital equipment, alongside many other operating costs.

Isuzu’s FoT report found that 64 per cent of businesses believe the total lifetime cost of ownership was far more important than the sticker price.

In the less populated states, this figure was higher, such as in Western Australia (71 per cent) and the Northern Territory, where 79 per cent of truck businesses held this view.

Warranty A key aspect of the lifetime cost of a piece of capital equipment is its warranty, and despite appearances, not all warranties are created equal.

Isuzu Australia national service manager, Brett Stewart, said warranty was an area often overlooked at the time of sale, and mis-managed, can carry huge implications for owners and have a long-term effect on the overall operations of a company that relies on trucks in their day-to-day working environment.

“Some warranty products may match the manufactures’ warranty provisions, although the product itself may be handled by a third party outside of the OEM, especially in regard to extended warranties,” he said.

“You need to ensure that your warranty (factory or extended) is ‘like for like’ with your expectations.

They are sometimes hard to identify, but there can be tricks and traps. A common complaint is that there are sometimes limits applied dependent on the cost of the repairs over a given time frame.

It is important to check out the warranty conditions when investing in a new truck.

“Another hurdle customers face with their warranty is rejected claims.

This often occurs when a claim is adjudicated by parties outside of the OEM, where substandard product understanding can lead to frustrations and challenges.”

Best in field With this in mind, and following the recent release of the N Series, Isuzu trucks has delivered a robust factory warranty offering that includes: • All N Series 4x2 cab chassis trucks

are now backed by a factory warranty of six years (or 250,000 kilometres) and six years of Isuzu’s 24-hour roadside assist.

• Regarding Isuzu’s pre-built Ready-toWork range, all 4x2 models also come covered with a six-year (or 250,000 km) factory warranty for the cabchassis, six years roadside assist and a comprehensive three-year warranty on pre-built bodies.

“What we’re signalling with this offering is the confidence we have in the N Series product. iw

Shredding? Think Diamond Z

By Inside Waste THE Diamond Z is a high-speed grinder that processes green and timber waste, reducing the particle size of material.

Diamond Z offers a range of tub, horizontal, and solid waste grinder models designed to suit any application from composting to construction and demolition, land clearing to tyre disposal, municipal solid waste to asphalt shingle grinding.

The unit comes standard with a fluid coupling drive system, eliminating friction elements prone to wear, tear and failure.

In addition, the coupling unit eliminates any shock that may be caused to the engine in the event of contaminants entering the grinding chamber, the coupler is electronically monitored for more interface management.

The Diamond Z range feature the ‘down cut’ combined with the heavy52

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The Diamond Z allows for the processing of contaminated waste.

duty pin and plate style hammer mill designed to reduce down time.

All cutting and wear edges are bolt on replaceable.

The breakaway mill bearing mount features an impact reduction system to allow for the processing of contaminated waste

Diamond Z set the bench mark when it comes to high-speed designs, including the patented hydraulic rod puller and break away mill bearing mounts.

The Diamond Z 3000 unit is designed for the Australian market, has a smaller frame for easier freight, as well as 800

horse power engine.

The DZH3000 is ready to make an impact in the industrial grinding segment. The smaller, lighter, more cost-efficient model is infused with all of Diamond Z’s proven performance.

It has 580 horsepower and comes in at 28 tonnes. iw

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Research

Circular economy not gaining as much traction as needed The environmental issues shaping voter concerns A survey conducted by C|T Group on behalf of Veolia

3/4

We support environmental investment.

We’re concerned about the environment.

Outside of the economy and cost of living, voters are most concerned about the environment.

Less supportive voters view the economy, job creation and support of new industries as more important than environmental issues.

Three out of four voters say waste management issues concern them (75%).

While 79% agree, 35% of voters strongly want waste recycling companies to have a greater advisory role in Government.

79%

Methodology Results are based on an online survey conducted on 7 17 October 2021 in NSW

strongly agree

By Inside Waste

Low awareness

We’re unaware of waste policy.

n=1,251 random sample online (inclusive of a n=326 marginal seat boost); effective sample size after weighting is n = 971 (78%).

At a 95% confidence level, there is a maximum margin of error of approximately +/ 3%.

Take caution when interpreting subsamples, as they will be subject to a higher margin of error than the overall sample.

The data is weighted by Age Sex interlocking and Education.

Figures may not sum to 100% due to rounding. Statistically significant differences are represented using arrows.

RESEARCH commissioned by Veolia reveals that outside of the economy and cost of living, NSW voters are most concerned about the environment. In a post-pandemic world, voters say environmental sustainability is a priority, and that they support investment in recycling and waste initiatives to help prevent climate change – even if it means diverting funds from elsewhere.

Research shows: • 7 5 percent of people say waste management issues – such as reducing waste, increasing recycling and minimising emissions – are of concern • 6 7 per cent of people support diverting funds away from other key areas to increase investment in waste management initiatives and infrastructure.

The NSW Government has set the roadmap for a sustainable future, with commitments to halve emissions, drive greater recycling and adopt technology, such as

Energy from Waste (EfW), to reduce the reliance on landfills, all by 2030. This aligns with the Federal Government’s targets to recover 80 per cent of materials and reach net zero by 2050.

Despite this, Veolia’s research reveals that voters are not aware of the Government’s environmental agenda.

Only 3 per cent of people say they are ‘definitely aware’ of NSW climate policies and only 4 per cent say they are aware of the transition to a circular economy.

When asked about globally proven technologies that allow for the shift away from landfilling, voters strongly supported it. Up to 82 per cent of voters say that NSW should invest in Energy from Waste technology to reduce landfilling. Voters also want recycling and waste companies to play a greater advisory role on waste management initiatives (79 per cent agree).

“The NSW public have a sophisticated understanding of climate issues. Numbers show that people want change and they

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

High concern

There’s high concern about waste management despite low awareness of the issues.

We support Waste to Energy technology.

When told about the transition to the Circular Economy, most voters support it.

• • • • •

27%

NSW should invest in waste to energy technology to reduce landfill (82%).

35%

agree

60%

Almost all voters agree

Marginal Seat Boost Sample

Lib/LNP Marginals East Hills (0.5%) Penrith (1.3%) Dubbo (2%) Upper Hunter (2.5%) Holsworthy (3.2%)

Two in three

voters (67%) support the state government diverting funds from key areas to waste management initiatives.

aware of waste export bans

27%

aware of contribution of landfill to climate change

26%

aware of lack of recycling and recovery infrastructure

!

Very few are familiar with NSW climate change policies and the circular economy transition.

Nearly Half

of NSW voters (45%) are unaware of State Government’s waste policies.

Goulburn (3.7%) Heathcote (4.9%) Tweed (4.9%) Wollondilly (5.5%)

support the investment needed to make it happen,” said Richard Kirkman, CEO and managing director for Veolia Australia and New Zealand.

“This is fantastic news because their priorities already align with policies that preserve resources and protect biodiversity.

“Interestingly, those voters who were less supportive of the green agenda were motivated by economic matters. These voters overwhelmingly support initiatives that focus on creating jobs, driving new industries, and stimulating growth. This means that investments that deliver financial gain and employment – like the development of Energy from Waste facilities – also align with public motivation.

“Australia is one of the highest producers of waste in the world, and landfills all of its non-recyclable waste, which emits greenhouse gas emissions, and remains in the ground for generations. We need to move away from this – the voters want it, the government wants it, and we are ready to deliver it.”

Veolia says there has never been

3% aware of climate policy

4% aware of circular economy transition

Lab Marginals Lismore (1.3%) The Entrance (5.2%) Coogee (1.6%) Port Stephens (5.8%) Kogarah (1.7%) Strathfield (5%) The Entrance (5.2%) Port Stephens (5.8%)

better time for the NSW Government to drive forward their climate policies for voters by: • Investing in infrastructure – through more recycling facilities, and the quick adoption of energy recovery technologies to extract value from food organics in the form of biogas, and energy from non-recyclable waste, which helps to decarbonise.

• Work closer with the waste management industry – recycling and waste management.

• Companies welcome continued engagement with the NSW Government on the steps required to generate a more sustainable state.

• Re-engaging the public – closing the knowledge gap on existing policies will help everyone to play their part in moving up the waste hierarchy toward recycling and away from landfilling.

Kirkman said voters can also do their bit by ensuring they avoid waste where possible, reuse where they can and recycle everything that can be recycled. iw APRIL/MAY 2022 INSIDEWASTE

53

Young Professional //

Results makes job worth doing, and doing well AFTER graduating with a Bachelor of Economics from Western Sydney University, it didn’t take Maria Juchkov long to realise that maybe finance and its peripheral line of work wasn’t for her. Instead, she dipped her toe in the world of retail, then decided to head to Macquarie University and complete a degree in sustainable development.

“It tied up my loose ends of my first degree because the first degree was the economy and how it is based around profits,” said Juchkov. “With the sustainability degree, I learned how it focusses on equalising people, the planet and profit. It really stuck with me. And I really enjoyed it.”

After graduating two years ago, Juchkov landed a role as a resource recovery officer – solid waste services, for Cleanaway. It is a busy job that although it has 5am starts, is diverse enough to make it an attractive career option for Juchkov.

A typical day starts with municipal bin audits whereby she enables behaviour changes in recycled by using educational tags on bins based on contamination levels.

“I check bins for two to three hours – on average about 200 bins per day,” she said. “Each day it is a different suburb, a different area. Once the bins are checked and tagged, I return to the office to analyse the data, write reports for council and research impactful communication styles to drive better recycling in residents.

Maria has developed her experience across two council contracts in Sydney. Her work on the first contract saw strong improvements in recycling with contamination being reduced by 50-70 per cent. This was achieved through social incentives, immediate rewards and progress monitoring – all important factors supported by behaviour change science.

“For one contract, if any residents repeat contamination we send out letters reminding them that certain items must be kept out,” she said.

This is one example of progressive monitoring. When there is gross contamination present in recycling bins, Cleanaway can refuse a service.

“If you’re going to treat the recycling bin as a garbage bin, then 54

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Some audits and feedback to residents resulted in up to 70 per cent less contamination.

you might as well use a garbage bin,” she said. “If you say you are not going to collect the bin once, that is usually enough of a motivation for residents to get their act together. It generally tends to fix the problem.”

The biggest issue out there in recycling bins is plastic bags and soft plastics. Over the past two years of bin audits, these materials were contributed to about 50 per cent of the contamination found.

Juchkov is upbeat about her job and what it entails. She likes the early morning starts and that she gets to go to different areas every day as it allows her to see greater Sydney. She also likes seeing the results that they collect from the bin tagging program because usually by the end of the checking period, contamination has been noticeably reduced. And how does she see the future? What are some of the issues she sees in the industry and what would she like to see actioned?

“It would be great to see similar programs roll out across various councils and even more collaboration

between the councils and the private sector,” she said. “I know what I am doing is also occurring internally at some councils. Having more opportunities to collaborate and to share our results and practices would be great. A lot of what I do does tie into behavioural science, so to be able to connect the practicality with the science and the research that goes on there would be ideal.”

Having worked in the industry for more than two years, Juchkov was surprised at how much she didn’t know when she first joined the company because what she thought she knew, and the reality, were not the same thing.

“The industry is definitely not what I expected,” she said. I thought I was good at recycling and knew what was recyclable and what wasn’t. But six months into the job I learnt not all plastics are accepted in the kerbside recycling, such as buckets, and plastic cutlery because they don’t get picked up by the MRFs. There are also sizing and material issues, which means it gets complicated.

And although Juchkov’s time in the industry has been brief, she sees the bigger picture and starts talking about aspects that makes it seem like she’s a veteran.

“We need to make the industry more streamlined,” she said. “It’s not just the responsibility of consumers, or waste companies or manufacturers. Good, sustainable product and packaging design make it easier for households to understand and recycle correctly, which makes it easier for waste companies to collect and sort without contamination, which means more can be reused in remanufacturing. There is a great opportunity there.”

Working for Cleanaway has been a good experience so far. Juchkov said everyone is motivated with the work that they do, and it helps that her team is really into sustainability.

They also devour all into the latest information about what is going on in the industry – trends, what councils are doing, the latest innovations and where the government is headed with its policies.

They do a lot of troubleshooting, and also look externally for answers.

She said it is a really supportive environment – from management to those on the ground doing the physical work.

“The drivers are really easy to work with, and they understand why I do it,” she said. “When I first started, because the role is relatively new, the drivers didn’t understand what I was doing. They were like ‘why should I leave the bins for you?

All I want to do is pick up the bins and go home.’ Once I explained my role, and they were able to see a reduction in contamination during their shifts, they were ready to get onboard. They are really good to work with. The drivers for one of the contracts are really proactive about getting the feedback to the residents as well.

Overall, Juchkov loves what she does and can see a future in such a career.

“Seeing the results is really rewarding. It is telling us what is really working and that is a nice part of the job and a great change to witness,” she said. iw

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Capabilities Statements //

CAPS Australia Company Overview:

the complete end-to-end solution.

CAPS Australia is a privately owned and proud Australian company intent on remaining at the forefront of compressed air, critical power generation solutions.

CAPS offers capital sales, rental equipment, engineering & manufacturing, service and parts.

CAPS has over 40 years of experience in the Australian market with nine branches across Australia and over 170 employees, including 60 service technicians covering the full national footprint with a 24/7 service offering.

CAPS is an independent company with the flexibility to search globally for the best products and technologies that best serve the Australian market’s needs and unique conditions.

CAPS has world-renowned partner brands such as Ingersoll-Rand, KOHLER/ SDMO, AIRMAN, Sauer, Pedro Gil and many more.

CAPS has in-house engineering capabilities, able to customer engineer any equipment to your needs and specifications. Back this with our Australian ISO 9001 accredited manufacturing facilities, CAPS can provide

Products & Services: • • • • • • • •

Power Generators Air Compressors Dryers Blowers Spare Parts 24/7 Servicing Engineering services Rental / Hire

Products & Services: • • • • • • •

KOHLER/SDMO AIRMAN INGERSOLL-RAND TEKSAN SAUER BEKO DEEPSEA

Core Capabilities: CAPS Diesel Generators; together with KOHLER are tailored designed to meet onsite limited real estate; featuring superior transient performance; maximum reliability; low specific fuel consumption

& market leader with high power density for various segments.

Our portfolio covers high speed diesel generators up to 4600kVA (50 Hz); available with different voltage configurations; packaged either in a purpose-built acoustic enclosure or plant room install.

Standby Diesel Generators guarantee energy security for waste to energy facilities; to prevent critical process sudden shutdowns; which are termed detrimental to both equipment & revenue generation.

The CAPS Diesel Generators are engineered; tailored built to deliver superior performance but also meet stringent requirements related to real estate; load acceptance & noise

performance; together with in-house engineering & local partners.

Contact Details: CAPS Australia 185 Planet Street Welshpool WA 6106 Phone: 1800 800 878 Email: info@caps.com.au Website: www.caps.com.au Key Contacts: Nestor DeNiese National Sales Manager – Power Generation Number: +61 8 6250 9871 Email: nestor.deniese@caps.com.au

Ecocycle Company Overview: Ecocycle Industries has built a reputation of renown for the handling and processing of Mercury based waste in Australia.

With some 20 years of experience, we have the National network with facilities in each State to support and look after our valued clients.

We deal with most of the larger waste company’s, councils, and industry direct.

Mercury is seen in lighting waste, dental amalgam, button cell batteries, TV’s – computer monitors, and lap tops, and other waste catalyst, soils etc and we are able to handle and recycle all these various types of waste.

We have a range of specialised stillages, smaller bins, Hook Bins, cabinets, boxes and DG approved containers, with DG registered trucks and DG licenced drivers.

This unique processing ability with the National footprint has allowed us to move into Battery Recycling “EcoBatt” and E Waste recycling “Eco E Waste” and 56

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links nicely into what we do with metal recycling at Recycal.

We have our foundries “Castings Tasmania” melting down our steel and making quality castings for industry in Australia and “ACL Metal Powders” using scrap copper, lead and tin to make Copper based powders for our export markets.

This vertical integration allows to use most of the recover metals in house and have the highest recycling rates while making green products from recycled metals and solar power.

You can be confident when using our group you will have your materials recycled safely and efficiently, with a first class service back up with quality equipment and containers that will give you the confidence and comfort needed.

Contact Details: Ecocycle Industries 5-11 Reo Crescent Campbellfield Melbourne Victoria 3061 Phone 613 93089415

Key Contacts: E Waste/Mercury Tyson Ord 0433205840 tyson.ord@ecocycle.com.au

Batteries Peter Cage 0428722144 peter.cage@ecobatt.net Metals Jarrod Munday 0431319087 jarrod.munday@recycal.net Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Capabilities Statements

Davis Earthmoving & Quarrying Pty Ltd Company Overview: Davis is an industry leader in mobile waste processing in NSW. The company has a range of over 100 pieces of Plant & Equipment on offer for hire or contract in our privately owned fleet. All equipment is modern, portable and efficient.

We offer services in Green Waste Recycling, Glass & Concrete Recycling, C&D Shredding, Crushing, Screening, Land Clearing, Mulching, Haulage, Recycled Products & Landscape Supplies.

Established in 1975, we are proudly Australian, family-owned and operated, contracting state-wide in NSW. Davis has a reliable reputation and extensive experience gained over 45 years. We are regular contractors for Councils in NSW and have completed tens of thousands of government, civil and commercial projects.

For decades we have been delivering high rates of resource recovery. We process, supply and deliver quality materials using innovative and environmentally responsible solutions. We process over a quarter of a million tonnes of material per annum. CEO Eric Davis has in-depth knowledge and experience in

sustainable recycling. The company’s focus is recycling and repurposing materials that would otherwise end up in landfill using our high-powered equipment.

Our aim is to transform the way the world views and values waste, striving forward towards a circular economy.

Products and Services: • • • • • • • • • •

Green Waste Recycling Low Speed, High Speed, C&D Shredding Crushing & Concrete Recycling Glass Recycling Screening Forest Mulching, Timber & Stump Grinding Land Clearing, Road Widening & Forestry Quality Recycled Landscaping Supplies Plant & Equipment Hire Bulk & Heavy Haulage

Brands: For hire • Low Speed Shredders; Komptech, Pronar • Horizontal Grinders; Diamond Z, Peterson

• Mobile Crushers; Rubblemaster, Metso, Kleemann • Soil & Trommel Screens; Pronar, Metso • Picking Stations; Kiverco • Forestry Mulchers; FAE • Excavators 1.8 to 46 tonne; CAT, Komatsu • Dozers • Rollers, Compactors & Drotts • Wheel & Track Loaders; CAT Posi-Track Core Capabilities: Davis offers high-powered, mobile waste processing equipment for hire or contract in NSW. Our Low Speed Shredders process bulky C&D, logs, palms, carpet, tyres & mattresses with ease. Our Horizontal Grinders process green waste, C&D, timber, stumps & logs. Our mobile Crushers recycle concrete, brick, rock and glass.

Mobile and Trommel Screens process

soil, timber & green waste. We have equipment available for forestry mulching, subdivisions, road constructions, grubbing, firebreaks. We operate our own service centre for scheduled maintenance and field repairs, this guarantees safety, quality and maximum efficiency for our machinery with minimum down time for our customers. We are dedicated to maximizing productivity and efficiently recovering environmentally sustainable and quality recycled products for beneficial reuse.

Contact Details: Davis Earthmoving & Quarrying Pty Ltd PO BOX 19 TERREY HILLS NSW 2084 Phone: (02) 9450 2288 Email: davisem@davisem.com.au Web: davisem.com.au

Eriez Magnetics Company Overview:

Core Capabilities:

Leading specialists in metal separation, resource recovery technologies, and developing new recycling strategies and processes.

Eriez designs and manufactures equipment to successfully recover and beneficiate ferrous and nonferrous metals. Identify and remove unwanted metal contaminates to minimise product rejection and maximise product purity. We can help you achieve greater recovery at a higher-grade product delivered at a lower cost per ton.

Recover valuable resources from: • MRF, MSW, C & I and C & D, • E-waste, • Tyre recycling and Scrap metal yards, • Energy from waste feed and bottom & fly ash, • Green waste processing, composting and road sweepings

Products and Services: • • • • • • • •

Magnetic Pulleys & Scrap Drums Ballistic Metal Separators Suspended Electromagnets Eddy Current Separators Stainless Steel Separators Fines Metal Recovery Systems Airless Metal Recovery Systems Technical Service, Repairs and On-site Inspections

Brands:

Contact Details:

• • • •

Eriez-Australia 21 Shirley Way, Epping, Victoria 3076 Phone: 61-3-8401-7400 Email: sales.au@eriez.com Web: www.eriez.com.au

P-Rex® Scrap Drum Shred1™ Ballistic Separator FinesSort® Metal Recovery System RevX-E Eddy Current Separator

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

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Capabilities Statements //

ResourceCo Contact Details:

Recent Projects/Installations:

ResourceCo Head Office Level 1, 162 Fullarton Road Rose Park, SA 5067 Phone: (08) 8406 0300 Email: enquiries@resourceco.com.au Web: www.resourceco.com.au

ERSKINE PARK PLANT Operations commenced at Tyrecycle’s (RC’s tyre recycling division) new multi-million-dollar plant at Erskine Park in Sydney, producing in excess of 10,000 tonnes of rubber crumb for the construction industry, generating 40,000 tonnes of TDF, and providing a local circular economy solution to rubber waste.

Company Overview: ResourceCo (RC) is a global leader in the recovery and re-manufacture of primary resources, extracting maximum value from materials otherwise destined for landfill.

Products and Services:

Brands:

• C&D & C&I Recycling • Disposal, Treatment & Management of Contaminated Soils • Renewable Energy & Alternative Fuels • Tyre & Waste Rubber Recycling • Recycled Construction Material

• • • • •

• • • • • • •

Contact Details:

ResourceCo Pty Ltd Southern Waste ResourceCo Cleanaway-ResourceCo SUEZ-ResourceCo Tyrecycle Pty Ltd

Tricon Mining Company Overview: Tricon Mining Equipment Pty Ltd was founded in 2001. Years later; now recognised as one of Australia’s leading materials handling solutions suppliers within Australasia. Continually meeting client expectation and demand for supply, maintenance, servicing, inspection, training, and repair services has made Tricon Equipment what it is today, 20 years on.

Tricon Equipment is one of Australia’s leading suppliers of mobile crushing, screening, recycling, conveyor and associated equipment components since operations began.

Tricon has a well-established customer base and have dedicated ourselves to deliver on customer service, support and satisfaction.

In understanding the importance of the productivity and reliability of our products to your business, we appreciate the value of minimising downtime and place great emphasis on after sales support.

Our attention to the details that help your business on a practical level 58

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flows into individualised after-sales programmes, and a commitment to customer care.

With Tricon, you get our knowhow and insider information over the long-term. Our trained service engineers have experience with a wide range of crushing, conveyor and screening equipment - and have access to a huge range of OEM & aftermarket spares.

Tricon is here to ensure our customers receive the right equipment, at the right price and delivered on time to meet project schedules.

Our products and services meet, and in most instances exceed Australian quality, safety, and environmental standards. Tricon works in alignment to AS/NZS ISO 9001-2016 and management systems comply with Commonwealth and State Legislation.

Our suppliers, fabricators, and designers work safely and efficiently all using industry best practices and Australia OHS & Workplace Practices.

• Recycling Trommel’s • TeleStackers • Mobile Conveyors

Impact Crushers Cone Crushers Conveyor Pulleys Dewatering Plants Blending Plants Conveyor Components Spare Parts

Tricon Mining Equipment 11 Lucca Road, Wyong NSW2259 1300 859 885 sales@ticoneequipment.com.au triconeequipment.com.au Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Capabilities Statements

Komatsu Forest Company Overview: Komatsu Forest is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of forest machines. We are represented on six world continents by a network of dealers and our own sales companies.

Komatsu Forest’s head office is in Umeå, Sweden, and we have two manufacturing units, in Sweden and the USA. Our own sales companies are located in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, Austria, France, United Kingdom, Russia, USA, Australia and Brazil, and our network of dealers represent us on all other important forestry markets.

Our extensive service organisation takes care of the machines, ensuring that they perform their best throughout their service lives. We have workshops throughout the world, service vehicles for quick assistance, in-house machine and methodology instructors to help maximise productivity, and support functions for everything related to our machines and services.

Products and Services: We offer products and services that

increase productivity while simplifying the working day for you as a machine owner.

We combine all our services under our Customer Care concept. This is our promise that you will enjoy the benefits of Komatsu Forest’s investments in research, development, servicing, support, logistics and innovative services. These combined resources are at the very heart of Komatsu Forest’s offer.

Our goal is to make your working day as safe, problem-free and profitable as possible, no matter where in the world you operate. Let us show you that by choosing Komatsu, peace of mind and accessibility can become a natural part of your working day.

Brands • Komatsu • Peterson • TimberPro Core Capabilities: Our world-wide network of highly trained service professionals is ready for you.

We know how important it is to be

close to service and maintenance when help is needed. Therefore, we have a market-wide network of highly trained service professionals that knows your Komatsu, Peterson & Timberpro machine in every detail. They are, in turn, in constant contact with the Komatsu Forest head office so your voice or needs are never more than a call away from our collective expertise. Furthermore, we are constantly developing new services that will help you in your everyday work.

We offer:

machine • Support and maintenance throughout your machine’s service life • Maintenance agreements with fixed maintenance prices and other benefits Contact Details: AUSTRALIA Komatsu Forest Pty Ltd 4/11 Ave of Americas Newington, NSW 2127 T : +61 2 9647 3600 E : info.au@komatsuforest.com

• Workshops and field services throughout Australia & New Zealand • Well qualified personnel with expert knowledge of Komatsu & affiliated machines • Field Service that enables us to remain close to you and your

NEW ZEALAND Komatsu Forest Pty Ltd 15C Hyland Cres Rotorua, New Zealand M: John Kosar + 64 274 865 844 M: Paul Roche + 64 21 350 747

Melbourne 109 Merola Way Campbellfield, VIC 3061 1300 788 757 www.komptechcea.com.au

Perth 230-232 Welshpool Rd Welshpool, WA 6106 1300 788 757 www.komptechcea.com.au

Brisbane 11 Kiln St, Darra 4076 1300 788 757 www.komptechcea.com.au

Auckland 96 Gavin Street Mt Wellington 1060 0800 435 269 www.komptechcea.com.au

Adelaide 260 Cormack Rd Wingfield, SA 5013 1300 788 757 www.komptechcea.com.au

Key Contacts:

Komptech CEA Company Overview: Komptech CEA is the Australasian distributor of Komptech machinery and systems for the treatment and processing of solid waste and organics waste materials for recovery and recycling. Our product range includes over 30 different types of both mobile and stationary machines that cover all key processes in modern waste processing including: • Single-shaft and dual-shaft industrial shredders • Compost windrow turners for commercial operations • Star screen and trommel screen machines • Material separation equipment including windsifters, ballistic separators and stone contaminant separators • Stationary recycling system solutions including shredders, separators and screening machines Brands: • Diamond Z • Screenpod • Trackstack

• Rowan • Komptech Core Capabilities: With a specialized product portfolio that includes over thirty different types of machines covering all key processes in modern waste handling, a consultative guiding approach to solution development for customers, and full service aftersales support and parts, Komptech CEA has become a leading supplier to the recycling and waste processing industry.

Providing customer value is our focus as we strive to be the industry’s technological leader through continual innovation. Komptech CEA is dedicated to working with you to help you solve your waste problems and identify opportunities with comprehensive, detailed solutions driven by world-class technology.

Contact Details: Sydney 50 Skyline Crescent Horningsea Park, NSW 2171 1300 788 757 www.komptechcea.com.au

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

Craig Cosgrove Product Manager 0417 320 082 c.cosgrove@cea.net.au APRIL/MAY 2022 INSIDEWASTE

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Capabilities Statements //

Hitachi Zosen Inova Company Overview: Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI) is a global leader in energy from waste (EfW), anaerobic digestion (AD) and Powerto-Gas, acting as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor delivering complete turnkey plants and system solutions for energy recovery from waste.

Since 2015, HZI Australia, a 100% subsidiary of HZI, is developing new projects in Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific. Its first project, the 300,000 tpy East Rockingham WtE is now in construction and will start commercial operation in Dec 2022.

Products/Services: • Thermal treatment of residual waste, energy recovery, flue gas treatment, and residue recycling • Dry anaerobic digestion of food & green resources, renewable power production, biogas upgrading to biomethane and bio-CNG • Power-to-Gas for volatile electricity into renewable synthetic gas for

a carbon-neutral economy • Development, Design, Build, Finance, Own, Operation & Maintenance Brands: • Hitachi Zosen • Aquaroll, DYNOR, Kompogas, • HZI Etogas, HZI DryMining Core Capabilities: Energy from Waste, Renewable Gas, Project Development, EPC, O&M, Asset Management Recent Projects/Installations: NORTH LONDON ENERGY RECOVERY FACILITY (ERF) – START OF OPERATIONS IN 2026 London, UK On the 24 January 2022, the UK’s second largest waste authority signed a landmark Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract. HZI will deliver the newest and most advanced technology in the ERF on behalf of North London Waste Authority.

The project’s scope incorporates building a two-line ‘chute to stack’ ERF facility, which will use proven technology to treat up to 700,000 tonnes of non-recyclable residual waste each year. The plant will generate reliable baseload electricity to power up to 127,000 homes, including heat and hot water for up to 50,000 local homes.

HZI will provide core ‘chute to stack’ technologies, advice on plant erection and commissioning support services, with the role starting on the 1 February 2022.

The new ERF facility will prevent residual waste from ending up in landfill, where it generates methane, a greenhouse gas which has a warming impact 80 times greater than CO2. The new ERF will also save the equivalent of 215,000 tonnes of CO2 each year

Applied Machinery

Contact Details: 55-61 Nissan Drive Dandenong VIC 3175 Phone: 03 9706 8066 Email: sales@appliedmachinery.com.au Web: www.appliedmachinery.com.au Company Overview: Applied Machinery is one of Australia’s largest suppliers of quality recycling machinery. Over 30 years industry experience enables us to deliver turnkey solutions for all manner of recycling applications across Australia.

Products and Services: • Shredders and granulators • Plastic washing, tyre, and e-waste recycling plants • Repelletising systems/screen changers • Polystyrene recycling machines

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Genox Polystar Fimic Greenmax

Core Capabilities: Applied Machinery has the capability to service the smallest single machine requirement, through to the largest of multi-site, staged installations and complete recycling line, turn-key projects. We supply some of Australia’s largest recycling organisations.

A wide range of shredders and granulators are always in stock for quick delivery.

Recent Projects/Installations: PORT PLASTICS Port Macquarie Polystar Repelletising system and Genox large format shredder to drive recycling operations in the Port Macquarie region and reduce the need for transport of recyclables to metropolitan centres.

Contact Details: Hitachi Zosen Inova Australia Pty Ltd Level 17, 40 Mount Street North Sydney, NSW 2060 Phone: 02-8003 4110 Email: info@hz-inova.com Web site: www.inova.com Key Contacts: Dr Marc Stammbach 02 – 8003 4110 info@hz-inova.com

Diverseco • Truck wheel washes for EPA and road safety compliance.

• Automated waste sortation systems: comprehensive and completely automated robotic sortation systems for MRFs.

Brands: • • • •

– the equivalent of taking 110,000 cars off the roads.

Visit: https://www.hz-inova.com/ hitachi-zosen-inova-to-delivertechnology-for-north-london-energyrecovery-facility/

Company Overview: As one of Australia’s leading measurement and automation solutions providers, we at Diverseco pride ourselves on the sheer scope of our problem-solving expertise and supply of industry leading innovative technologies. We are heavily involved across a wide range of industries, with a comprehensive solutions portfolio specific for the waste management industry that includes both driver-specific solutions and robotic automation solutions for material recovery facilities.

Products and Services: • Waste vehicle on-board payload optimisation and overload monitoring (Chain of Responsibility and legal-fortrade operations).

• Weighbridges and portable truck scales for accurate vehicle weighing and accountability.

Brands: • Waste Robotics • BinWeigh Core Capabilities: At Diverseco, our core capabilities reside in our ongoing ability to meet and exceed customer requirements through our extensive problem-solving resources: we are ideal partners for any organisation looking to turn their operational problems into new, profitable capabilities.

Contact Details: 3309 Logan Road Underwood, QLD, 4119 M: 1300 069 970 E: onboardsolutions@diverseco.com.au W: diverseco.com.au

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Capabilities Statements

Australasian Specialty Coatings

Spartel Pty Ltd

Products and Services:

Company Overview: Australasian Specialty Coatings – ASC – is an experienced coatings company located in Blacktown. We work in Construction and Maintenance and provide a range of Protective Coatings and Treatments for Concrete & Steel.

We have been established since 2003 and we have a strong track record in achieving outstanding results for our customers. ASC successfully works with a wide variety of customers including Sydney Water, Ericsson, Veolia Environmental and Water Services, Suez Water and Waste Services, Unilever, Coca Cola Australia, General Mills, Bega Foodservice, George Weston Foods, Diageo, etc.

ASC is an experienced organisation with ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 Certified Management Systems as well as the NSW Government 5th Edition.

We are also members of the Master Builders Association.

Flooring (Epoxy and polyurethane) – Commercial & Industrial Floor Resurfacing, Concrete Remediation, Concrete Repair, Anti-Slip Flooring, Anti-Static Flooring, AGV Flooring, Self-Levellers, Demarcation & Line marking Coatings for Concrete Densifiers, Waterproofing Membranes, Sealers, Concrete Resurfacing, Epoxy and Polyurethane Flooring, Chemical Bund Linings, Acid-Resistant Coatings Protective Painting Services Abrasive Blasting, Vapour Blasting, Shot-Blasting, Corrosion Control Coatings, Chemical Resistant Coatings Contact Details: ASC Head Office 1/14 Chicago Avenue Blacktown, NSW 2148 Phone: 02 8840 8888 Email: enquiries@acoatings.com.au Web: ascoatings.com.au

FABCOM® Organics Under Control© www.FAB-COM.com.au

Contact Details: Harrie - 0414 37 66 99 E: info@spartel.com.au W: www.FAB-COM.com.au Company Overview: Spartel Pty Ltd was founded in 1995

by Dr Harrie Hofstede, specialist waste management scientist in waste composting and pollution control.

The company has a consulting arm, Hofstede & Associates, and waste technology R&D programme under the umbrella. The R&D has resulted in six patents in international markets. We have designed and developed two main large-scale composting systems under the FABCOM® Brand. FABCOM® Tunnels and the FABCOM® MAF system.

Core Capabilities: The overall core capability is all

aspects organic waste processing from waste generation to soil beneficiation products, technology, process data processing and control, odour prevention and control Products and Services: • FABCOM® Tunnel compost plants • FABCOM® MAF composting system • Wireless data transmission and processing over a 2 km radius • Aeration controlled by process data • Remote access process control • Design and construct of compost plants • Development and optimisation of compost process and products • ODOROV™ effective odour control agent for organic waste • High nitrogen composts (4% N) Recent Projects/Installations: : FABCOM® MAF SUEZ Newcastle Raymond Terrace NSW Dedicated FABCOM® MAF aeration system for post Bedminster compost maturation & drying; Capacity 10,000 tpa

Garwood International Core Capabilities:

Company Overview: Garwood International a 100% Australian owned & family operated business. All equipment purchased from Garwood International is supported via our comprehensive aftermarket services. With our head office located in Sydney, we also have Service and Sales in Melbourne and Brisbane. We can partner with any of your existing service providers Australia wide.

Products and Services: GARWOOD Garbage COMPACTORS Rear, Side, Dualpact & Front Loaders.

• Footpath Sweepers • Tow Behind Trailer Brooms • Bin Weighing Systems • Enviroweigh, LoadWeigh and VOPS™ 2 bin weighing equipment

Garwood International has grown to become a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of specialised waste and recycling collection and compaction equipment. The company’s reputation for high quality, innovative products, together with its enviable record of outstanding customer service and after-sales support, has delivered strong and consistent growth over the past three decades both in Australia and Internationally.

Clients: Our Clients range from City Councils, National and International Airports, Department of Defence to Local Government Sectors and Private Contractors.

Contact Details: Garwood International Ph: 02 9756 3756 3 Hexham Place, Wetherill Park, NSW, 2164, Australia Website: www.garwoodinternational.com.au

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

GET YOUR CAPABILITY STATEMENT IN NOW! Capability statements are a popular medium in Inside Waste that give the industry an insight into your business – how it can help potential clients, the services you offer, and products you sell.

If you want access to all the major stakeholders in the waste industry then a Capability Statement is a great introduction to those decisionmakers, allowing your business to get a crucial foothold in a competitive market.

If you want to know more about Capability Statements and how they can help your business Contact Chelsea Daniel-Young: Email: Chelsea.daniel@primecreative.com.au | Ph: 0425 699 878

APRIL/MAY 2022 INSIDEWASTE

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DIAMOND Z DZH 4000TK HORIZONTAL GRINDER FOR HIRE

Application: Mobile Concrete Crushing, Rock Crushing, Glass Recycling, Landfill Management Suitable material: For processing glass, concrete, brick, tile, asphalt and rock.

Features: Track mounted, remote control, closed material circuit, mesh screen with integrated refeeding belt, 3 rotor speeds Unit Dimensions: Screen Area 5,5 m² Weight: 35 tonne Motor: John Deere Throughput: Up to 350 tonnes per hour Finished product size: Graded high quality final aggregate in a single pass Price: FOR HIRE OR CONTRACT. Rates available.

Contact for more information: Davis Earthmoving & Quarrying Pty Ltd Phone: 02 9450 2288 Email: davisem@davisem.com.au Web: www.davisem.com.au

Application: Mobile Timber Grinding, Land Clearing, Green Waste Mulching, Landfill Management Suitable material: For processing trees, palms, logs, stumps, vegetation, green waste, brush, land clearing debris, mixed woody feedstocks Features: Track mounted, remote control, quick screen change, reversing fan Screen Area: 3,800 square metres Weight: 38.5 tonne Drive Type: Fluid Coupling Drive Motor: CAT C18 Speed: High speed Throughput: Up to 120 tonnes per hour Finished product size: superior particle size control, fine products, mulch Price: FOR HIRE OR CONTRACT. Rates available.

Contact for more information: Davis Earthmoving & Quarrying Pty Ltd Phone: 02 9450 2288 Email: davisem@davisem.com.au Web: www.davisem.com.au

Davis Earthmoving & Quarrying Pty Ltd FOR HIRE

RUBBLEMASTER IMPACT CRUSHER RM120GO! FOR HIRE

PETERSON 5710C HORIZONTAL GRINDER FOR HIRE

PRONAR MRW 2.85G TWIN SHAFT LOW SPEED SHREDDER FOR HIRE

Application: Timber Grinding, Land Clearing, Green Waste Mulching, Landfill Management Suitable material: For processing trees, palms, logs, stumps, vegetation, green waste, brush, land clearing debris, mixed woody feedstocks Features: Track mounted, remote control, high lift feed roll, magnetic head pulley Unit Dimensions: Feed opening 152 x 102 cm Weight: 43 tonne Drive Type: PT Clutch Motor: CAT C27 Speed: High speed 1,050 HP Finished product size: Superior particle size control, fine products, mulch Price: FOR HIRE OR CONTRACT. Rates available.

Contact for more information: Davis Earthmoving & Quarrying Pty Ltd Phone: 02 9450 2288 Email: davisem@davisem.com.au Web: www.davisem.com.au

Application: C&D Shredding, Timber Grinding, Land Clearing, Green Waste Mulching, Landfill Management Suitable material: Mattresses, C&D, tyres, carpet, green waste, municipal industrial waste, bulky materials, pallets, tree stumps, light scrap Features: Track mounted, remote control Weight: 26 tonne Drive Type: Hydraulic Motor: CAT C9.3B Price: FOR HIRE OR CONTRACT. Rates available Contact for more information: Davis Earthmoving & Quarrying Pty Ltd Phone: 02 9450 2288 Email: davisem@davisem.com.au Web: www.davisem.com.au

INSIDEWASTE APRIL/MAY 2022

Davis Earthmoving & Quarrying Pty Ltd FOR HIRE

Davis Earthmoving & Quarrying Pty Ltd FOR HIRE

Davis Earthmoving & Quarrying Pty Ltd FOR HIRE

Product Profiles //

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Product Profiles

HSR-RC Range of Rear Load Refuge Compactors

HSR, SX Range of Skip Loaders Unit Dimensions: 3600mm to 5800mm deck length Weight: 1200kg to 3750kg Capacity (in weight): 4,000kg to 16,000kg payload No. of units in range: 5x plus multiple combinations Finished product size: Options/Extras: remote controls, hydraulic tower tarp, auto greasing systems, lighting, hand wash, toolboxes, tarp and mesh storage, shovel and broom holders.

Price: please call 0488 333 260 or contact HSRSX.COM.AU for more information.

More: Certified Australian Made and Owned Name: Jake Henderson Phone Number: 02 9725 3347 or 0488 333 260 Webpage: www.hsrsx.com.au Email: admin@hsrsx.com.au

HSR Southern Cross

HSR Southern Cross

Unit Dimensions: from 2080mm high – 3450mm high, 2095mm – 2490mm wide Weight: 2,000kg – 5960kg Capacity (in weight): 5m³ -32m³ No. of units in range: 26 Finished product size: 5m³ -32m³ Options/Extras: bin lifter, auto greasing systems, tool boxes, hand wash, lighting and customised control systems, pressure washers and bin cleaning systems, hard waste and green waste specifications, automatic bin capture and more Price: contact Nick on 0499 944 969 More: certified Australian Made and Owned Name: Nick Phone Number: 0499 944 969 Webpage: www.hsrsx.com.au Email: admin@hsrsx.com.au

PS122 Picking Station Unit Dimensions: PS122 Weight: 19,000kg OPERATING LENGTH 16.1m 52.9ft Capacity (in weight): No. of units in range: OPERATING WIDTH 3.4m 11.2ft Finished product size: OPERATING HEIGHT 5.6m 18.2ft Options/Extras: • Dual Power/Mains Changeover WEIGHT 19,000kg 41,888lbs • Fan Blower Module • Overband Magnet Module • Clean Fix Fan • Site Axle • Trap Door Bins • Cabin Air Conditioning • Feeder With Impact Protection Price: TBA More: The Modular PS Picking Station offers unrivalled set-up simplicity (no cranes are required), operator comfort, safety, and environmental protection. It combines air separation, magnetic separation and manual sorting - all in one compact unit.

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

Applications: Mobile shredding for C&D, mattresses, tyres, carpet, bulky goods, greenwaste Features: On tracks, remote control, over-band magnet Unit Dimensions: 11371 x 3327 x 3635 working unit position Weight: 26.50 tonne Drive Type: Hydraulic Motor: CAT C18 Rotor diameter/lengths/speed: 3m Speed (slow/high): 38 rpm max Throughput: Up to 100 tonne per hour Price: FOR HIRE OR CONTRACT. Rates available More: Contact Davis Earthmoving & Quarrying Pty Ltd for further information: Phone: 02-9450 2288 Email: davisem@davisem.com.au Web: www.davisem.com.au

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

Kiverco

Davis Earthmoving & Quarrying Pty Ltd FOR HIRE

KOMPTECH TERMINATOR 6000S LOW SPEED SHREDDER FOR HIRE

APRIL/MAY 2022 INSIDEWASTE

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Product Profiles //

FSR 140/120-260 Dual Control

Unit Dimensions: Varies depending on volume requirements Capacity (in weight): 10,000 + Tonne pa Options/Extras: Expandable Systems - increased demand Price: POA More: Spartel has specialised in compost system engineering for 30 years and invented the patented aerated composting systems. This system utilises a VSD aeration system with temperature and oxygen feedback to control the process and a purposely designed Biofilter to treat captured process air. This leading technology meets all requirements in the area of organic waste recovery and composting standards.

Name: Dr Harrie Hofstede Phone Number: 0414 376 699 Webpage: www.fab-com.com.au Email: Harrie@spartel.com.au

Unit Dimensions: 6,555/ 2,240/ 2,665 Weight: 14,000 kg (GCM) No. of units in range: 1 Options/Extras: • Roof mounted amber warning beacon with light bar • Fire extinguisher • Airbag compatible bullbar • Air deflector Price: See your local Isuzu dealer More: The FVY 240-300 Dual Control features identical twin steering for maximum operator ease; the left-hand steering input is transferred through a gear driven cross shaft mounted inside the cab, meaning the steering columns adjust in unison for the optimum position.

Name: Isuzu Trucks Phone Number: 1800 035 640 Webpage: www.isuzu.com.au Email: www.isuzu.com.au/contact-us/

Isuzu Trucks

SPARTEL PTY LTD

FOGO / Organic Tunnel System

Model types: 50/50, 60/40 and 70/30 splits Configuration: Fitted to any 4x2, 6x4 and 8x4 cab chassis Capacity: 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 22, 24m3 Payload: From 2.5t to 10t Length: 2800mm to 8200mm Construction material: High tensile steels Weight: 3000kg-7800kg Max load on arms: 300kg single lift and 800kg WCL Lift cycle time: Variable – single lift 6-12 secs, WCL 8-14 secs Compaction system: Rear loading with individual hoppers sweep and pack action More: www.garwoodinternational.com.au or (02) 9756 3756

The Boschung Urban-Sweeper S2.0. A Compact Sweeper that is fully electric powered and re¬leases ZERO emissions.

Company: Garwood International Product/model name: Boschung Urban Sweeper S2.0 Unit Dimensions: Length 4300 mm (With standard broom) Width: 1150 mm Height: 1990 mm Gross Vehicle Weight: 3500 kg Hopper Capacity: 2.0 m3 with 1200 kgs payload Water Tank: Clean water tank 190L with 400 litres recycling water tank Sweeping Width: 2300 mm (standard broom) Features: Ability to deliver entire 8-hour shift at a charging rate of two hours with the supercharger, or eight hours with standard charger, LED Lights Two 20kw electric motors for a maximum speed of 45km/h Options/Extras: Automatic central lubrication system, Spray gun with high pressure water pump, 3rd front broom, Articulated hand suction hose More: info@garwoodinternational.com.au or (02) 9756 3756

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INSIDEWASTE APRIL/MAY 2022

Garwood International

Boschung Urban-Sweeper S2.0

Garwood International

Garwood Dualpact

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

// Product Profiles

Garwood Rearloader

Model types: Litterpact GII and GIII Configuration: Fitted to any 4x2 and 6x4 cab chassis Capacity: From six through to 29m3 Payload: From 2t to 10t Length: 2400mm-7400mm Construction material: High tensile steels Weight: 1800kg-6200kg Maximum load on arms: 180kg Lift cycle time: Variable – about 6 sec Compaction system: Paddle and push panel type More: www.garwoodinternational.com.au or (02) 9756 3756

Model types: Miner, Bantam, Compact, Powapact, Maxipact Configuration: Fitted to any 4x2, 6x4 and 8x4 cab chassis Capacity: 4,5,6,8,10,12,15,20,22,24,28m3 Payload: From 2.5t-10t Length: 2600mm to 8200mm Construction material: High-tensile steels Weight: 2200kg-7800kg Maximum load on arms: WCL 800kg Lift cycle time: Variable – single lift 6-12 sec, WCL 8-14 sec Compaction system: Rear loading with sweep and pack action More: www.garwoodinternational.com.au or (02) 9756 3756

Garwood International

Garwood International

Garwood Sideloader

Garwood Frontloader

Garwood International

Model types: EV026, EV031 and EV033.5 Configuration: Fitted to any 6x4 & 8x4 cab chassis Capacity: 26-31-33.5 Payload: dependent on chassis selection Construction material: Bisalloy and Hardox Maximum load on arms: 2800kg Lift cycle time: 18 secs Compaction system: Twin telescopic pack cylinders.

Half and full pack ejector.

Base price: P.O.A More: Daniel McHugh - (02) 9756 3756, www.garwoodinternational.com.au or info@garwoodinternational.com.au

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

GET YOUR PRODUCT PROFILE IN NOW! If you wish to let our readers know your latest machinery and its capabilities, then you should be in Inside Waste’s Product Profile section.

For more information on how to make the most of this opportunity contact Chelsea Daniel-Young:

Email: Chelsea.daniel@primecreative.com.au Ph: 0425 699 878 APRIL/MAY 2022 INSIDEWASTE

65

Wasted Space //

How hard is it to sing Kumbaya?

EVENING SIR, This land offers dichotomies for the ages. It doesn’t know what it’s doing – fire, flood, hot, cold, plagues of locusts, infestations of mice. It’s enough to test the mettle of even the most hardened Double-0 – I’d rather have Scaramanga, Blofeld or Drax to deal with any day of the week than the topsy turvy spell of weather we’ve had over the past two years, and its associated disruptions.

As any good member of our service knows, a good foundation is to be had spending our formative years in the boy Scouts. The merit badges, jamborees, obstacle courses, and helping others to help themselves. And let’s not forget sitting around the campfire singing Kumbaya. Great moments indeed.

So where is this verbal outpouring

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INSIDEWASTE APRIL/MAY 2022

of reminiscing about inclement weather patterns and rodent invasions and the halcyon days of rubbing two sticks together to garner campfire joviality, leading you may ask? The former acknowledges how the ravages of inconsistency can lead to an unbalance in nature, while the latter seeks to bring stability to those around you.

I know it is a long-winded metaphor, but my point is this; the former is what I am seeing in the waste industry at the moment, through no fault of those at the coalface. Almost anybody who has anything to do with the sector would love it to have the consistency of a good spotted dick at the Elephant and Castle at Kensington – outer crunch with some smooth custard.

Harmonisation, sir, that is what they want. And they’re not getting

it. Whether it be with landfill levies, FOGO bins, or kerbside collections, the cities, towns and states are all over the place. ‘Each jurisdiction to its own’, I hear you say. Well, sure. But how hard is it to get on the same page with something as simple as, say, landfill levies? If you speak to the various councils, state agencies, state governments and even the blessed Federal lawmakers, they all want to be at one – like Akela strumming the guitar around the bonfire. But the devil is in the details. Or maybe it’s egos? I’m unsure. All I know is industry is hitting its collective head against a brick wall.

What to do, what to do, eh?

That Evans man is a good chap – well-liked by the industry, as is his counterpart in the opposition, Wilson. They keep each other honest.

However, there is only a certain amount they can do – bit like trying to get Q to explain all those gadgets in precise, clear English.

And if the governments don’t come to the party, then what?

Looks like industry might just have to do it on its own. Anyway, here’s hoping El Nina, El Nino – why not throw in the Pinta and Santa Maria for good measure – or whatever quirk of nature is bearing down on Terra Australis, heads off into the sunset so things around here can return to normal – hot summers, mid-afternoon thunder storms, mosquitoes, flies the size of a Harrier Jump Jet, and Prime Ministers lasting longer than two years in the job. Not much to ask for, eh, Sir? Regards JB

Daily news updates at www.insidewaste.com.au

HZI_Anze

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

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

Waste is our Energy www.hz-inova.com

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14.07.20 09:51

DELIVERING A GREENER FUTURE Komptech CEA is a leading supplier of machinery and systems for the treatment of solid waste through mechanical and mechanical biological treatments, as well as the treatment of biomass as a renewable energy source. Komptech CEA is proud to provide innovative solutions for handling waste and biomass.

Komptech CEA’s extensive range of products cover all key processing steps in modern waste handling. At Komptech CEA the focus is always on innovative technology and solutions ensuring maximum benefit to the customer. Like to know more? why not speak to one of our team today?

SHREDDERS

TROMMEL SCREENS

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

CRAMBO Less Fuel, More Power

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komptechcea.com.au

STAR SCREENS

WINDROW TURNERS

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

NEMUS Robust and Reliable

Ideal for shredding all types of wood and green cuttings.

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

TOPTURN X

AXTOR

The Ideal Combination of Performance and Design

Shredding and Chipping Made Easy

With a sturdy frame, powerful hydraulics and large drum, the Topturn X is ready to handle any work situation.

One of the most versatile machines around for processing wood and green cuttings.