9 minute read
THE PRIVATE SECTOR’S HIP POCKET
WRIQ, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH STATE AND NATIONAL AFFILIATES, IS TAKING A DEEP DIVE INTO LEVY COLLECTION & EXPENDITURE AND IS CALLING FOR TRANSPARENCY AND BETTER EQUITY IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF LEVIES.
Mark Smith, CEO of Waste Recycling Industry Association Queensland (WRIQ) says a series of compounding factors has Australia on the cusp of greatness. He is optimistic about the industry’s ability to create collective opportunities that support Australia’s sovereign capabilities and local job growth.
“To tap into an economic opportunity worth billions to state and national economies, we need to seize the opportunity ahead of us and this includes recasting our traditional market intervention strategies.”
There has been a lot of change in community expectations, international trade and regulation for the sector in recent years.
Governments on all levels have now carved out a role in waste and
WRIQ is undertaking a research project, with the support of its affiliates, to investigate government expenditure through sector grants. resource recovery, but it is usually always the private sector that are running services, owning and managing assets. Smith says the private sector is by far the largest investor, employer, owner and operator of the waste, resource recovery and circular economy network.
“The businesses my affiliate partners and I represent are the businesses across Australia that contribute billions of dollars annually to the economy, employing tens and thousands of Australians,” he says.
The sector manages fleets of vehicles, thousands of pieces of machinery and equipment and invests in infrastructure and other assets.
“Our function is to service Australian households and businesses managing the environmental impacts of our economy and upskill, train and employ Australians in the process,” Smith says.
“We do a lot more than just sort recycling at material recovery facilities.”
He highlights that Australia’s waste and resource recovery network comprises millions of bins across homes, construction sites, workplaces, hospitals, schools and public spaces.
“By investing in and supporting our waste and recycling system, we are indirectly investing in every aspect
WRIQ CEO Mark Smith says the project’s intent is to streamline funding distribution across the sector to promote harmonisation.
of the broader economy. But what should investment and support look like?” Smith says.
The government intervenes in the market at various points in the supply chain in order to ensure safety, environmental protection and market fairness through regulation.
“Government seeks to drive change through policies, regulation and levies. This is a good thing as it helps creates the certainty business require to invest the billions of dollars Australia needs to establish a more efficient and effective waste and resource recovery network,” Smith notes.
“The waste and resource recovery sector is complex and dynamic, and is vital to Australia’s long term success. We, like the rest of the country, are also in a state of transition as we see an increased focus by the states and the commonwealth to build Australia’s sovereign capabilities on a number of fronts including managing our own wastes better.”
Smith is keen to create more transparency around government intervention to better inform future spending such as recovery or support packages that may be announced in coming months as Australia prepares for the COVID-19 rebuild.
“What we’ve seen over the last few years is a range of market interventions by governments which has included the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars to offset market failures, build infrastructure and bailout failed business models,” he says.
This has raised questions with Smith and his affiliate partners to understand where grant investments are being distributed.
“No one wants there to be reduced funding to the sector or for grants to stop. But no one currently is collecting information about what is being funded, where it is being funded and if the process to access that funding is fit for purpose and what business needs,” Smith says.
“Industry should also highlight inequities with regard to market intervention and put forward ideas on how things can be done better where those ideas exist.”
WRIQ has committed to undertake a research project, with the support of its affiliates, to investigate government expenditure through sector grants.
In August, the Association began the process of reviewing landfill levies from the 2017-18 financial year to the end of the 19-20 financial year.
Smith importantly notes that the purpose of the research project is to not criticise government funding or intervention in any way, but to enhance private and public collaboration that will enable further industry growth and be essential in the post-COVID-19 rebuild.
The iniative follows the National Waste and Recycling Industry Council’s (NWRIC) 2019 policy roadmap, which aimed to harmonise levies across Australia and make levy liability portable across state borders.
“We want to use the findings to put forward ideas and solutions around creating better equity in the distribution of money that the sector is primarily collecting on government’s behalf,” Smith says.
“We want to unpack how much levy has been collected across the country and how much of that levy has then gone back into the sector through the distribution of grants and other programs.”
WRIQ will also investigate how much grant funding has gone into waste education, and on the opposite end, how much has been diverted away from the sector into other environmental programs.
“It’s important to know who the beneficiaries of these grants are in the waste and recovery sector. Is it small to medium businesses? Maybe it’s large operators or perhaps local councils,” Smith says.
WRIQ is eager to understand which regions are receiving the most and least grant funding.
“Our team is interested in finding out what regions are actually seeing the funds being distributed back to them as we know community benefit is a major driver to build support for waste and recycling services and contributes to the sector’s social licence.”
Smith highlights that the project’s intent is to streamline funding distribution across the sector to promote harmonisation.
WRIQ, with support of state affiliates, will be carrying out a grant user experience survey in September.
“I encourage anyone that has an opinion on this issue, whether it be small or big to get involved,” Smith says.
“Please reach out as we’d love to hear about your experiences.”
Road pavement applications including asphalt account for 25 per cent of the Australian recycled rubber market.
Recycling Precinct delivering for the road network
SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S NEW $5 MILLION ASPHALT MANUFACTURING PLANT WILL SUBSTANTIALLY INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE RECYCLED MATERIALS IN LOCAL ROAD CONSTRUCTION.
The development of a new Asphalt Plant in Adelaide’s southern suburbs at Lonsdale, is a collaboration between leading companies Topcoat Asphalt, ResourceCo, Tyrecycle and McMahon Services.
ResourceCo and Tyrecycle Chief Executive Officer Jim Fairweather says it’s a significant and exciting initiative to progress the use of high recycled content mixes including recycled asphalt and crumb rubber for road surfacing in South Australia.
Topcoat has secured a long-term lease with ResourceCo on the 12,000 square metre site, establishing its asphalt operations on land adjacent to Tyrecycle’s processing plant and ResourceCo’s purpose-built resource recovery facility, to create an innovative Recycling Precinct.
“It’s a commitment, whereby working together in such close proximity, we can create better efficiencies in recycling technology and sustainable solutions – in this case for Adelaide’s southern suburbs,” Fairweather says. “The Topcoat Plant will lead to a major improvement to the recycling rate of used tyres on our roads which is vital in creating a longlasting, environmentally sustainable and better road network for all drivers and vehicles.
“At Tyrecycle, we collect approximately 4200 tonnes of truck tyres in South Australia annually, but only six per cent of the rubber crumb material we process is reused in the state, with the resource instead being supplied at other major destinations Australia-wide.
“It’s about repurposing more waste tyres by increasing the local usage of crumb rubber asphalt specifically for the surfacing of local roads.”
As a leading Australian tyre recycler, Tyrecycle is at the forefront of helping the road construction and maintenance sector build better roads and significantly reduce their environmental footprint.
The company shreds end-of-life tyres in Australia, turning them into granules and powders to manufacture crumb rubber for road surfacing.
Tyrecycle is part of the highly regarded integrated resource recovery group, ResourceCo, which collects and processes construction and demolition waste materials in all states of Australia, consisting of asphalt, concrete, bricks and rubble.
“ResourceCo’s recycled asphalt waste will play an important role in Topcoat’s Manufacturing Plant and aligns with our objectives for the Recycling Precinct to divert waste from landfill, extract its maximum vale and ensure that it’s never wasted,” Fairweather says.
Topcoat has partnered with Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA), who has funded the nation’s largest crumb rubber asphalt trial to resurface roads across six Adelaide council areas using recycled tyres. 20,000 kilograms of crumb rubber was used to resurface local roads– the equivalent of 3400 passenger vehicles.
Topcoat General Manager Kelly Manning says the trial is an important link to the operation of the Recycling Precinct and supporting a circular economy, major investment and local jobs.
“The use of crumb rubber asphalt for road surfacing will not only result in significant environmental benefits, but also has the potential in the long-term to reduce costs for ratepayers,” Manning says.
Road pavement applications including asphalt account for 25 per cent of the Australian recycled rubber market.
Recycled rubber for use in road surfaces such as crumb rubber asphalt enhances performance, significantly reduces road noise and dramatically extends their life by making the surface more durable.
It is also more resistant to structural damage such as fatigue cracking and offers improved waterproofing qualities.
“In the face of COVID-19, never has there been a more important time for Australian manufacturers to seize on homegrown solutions to boost the local economy,” Fairweather says.
“The Recycling Precinct provides a great example of a joint effort for a long-term sustainable solution to have an improved road network and better quality surfacing for all vehicles while driving local investment and jobs.”
Tyrecycle continues to work with government and industry to increase awareness of the importance of tyre recycling and why it should be mandatory for Australian recovered tyres to be used in the construction of roads. AUTOSORT ® With all the latest features: FLYING BEAM®, Sharp Eye, DEEP LAISER, Intelligent Object Recognition and GAIN, the Artificial Intelligence.
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