FEATURED TOPIC – ORGANICS
Technical know-how and experience count in organics management.
Organics overhaul AS LANDFILL BECOMES AN OPTION OF LAST RESORT FOR AUSTRALIA’S ORGANICS, GHD IS HELPING ITS CLIENTS NAVIGATE NEW POLICIES, ENGINEERING CONTROLS AND MONITORING REQUIREMENTS.
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odern organic waste management is changing. Resource conservation and energy recovery are gaining importance as Australia transitions to a more circular economy, says Martin Gravett, Resource Recovery and Waste Management Technical Director with global professional services company GHD. He says the renewed focus on organics diversion from landfill and emissions reduction is being driven by policy change, including the National Waste Policy, and state waste strategies. Australia is aiming to halve its food waste by 2030, with most major councils progressively rolling out kerbside collection of household food organics and garden organics (FOGO) over the next few years. Landfill costs are also rising as new sites become more challenging to establish and levies increase.
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While a move toward more sustainable, responsible and circular waste management practices is welcome, it brings a new set of challenges, says Martin. “Technical know-how and experience count in organics management and inform the selection of the right approach for a given situation,” he says. “There is no one-size-fits-all solution for organic waste management and practical, data-driven insights are crucial if we are to create adaptive and resilient communities. “Australian organics recycling has historically not required a lot of multi-disciplinary technical support but the landscape is becoming more complex in terms of regulation setting and environmental performance expectations. “In the past, mostly garden organics processed from municipal sources and other streams were quite manageable
but adding food organics into the mix with municipal kerbside collection does add new challenges.” Martin says GHD has diverse global experience in the design, construction, operation, maintenance, and redevelopment of organics management facilities, including composting, anaerobic digestion, and biofuels plants. The GHD team works on every aspect of organics facilities, including initial planning activities to establish organics collection programs, feasibility assessments to provide an appraisal of value-added products and local markets, obtaining approvals, business cases, procurement, commissioning and operational support, as well as process optimisation. “GHD’s role depends on when we’re brought into the process but we always take a partnership approach with our clients to discover and implement circular solutions for
