ISSUE 120 | JUNE/JULY 2024
28 Stewardship scorecard 36 Recyclables from landfill 42 Going full Sircel
Boyes bouyed by industry trajectory
Image: SergeiShimanovich/shutterstock.com
‘Forever chemicals’ still an enigma By Inside Waste
PP: 100024538
ISSN 1837-5618
AUSTRALIA’S waste and recycling industry needs clarity on the environmental and human health concerns of forever chemicals. There are fears that conflicting messaging about per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is stifling investment and threatening the viability of some sectors. While PFAS are still being used in the manufacture of hundreds of everyday items globally, the waste industry is grappling with regulations and product specifications that one expert says are unreachable. Describing the waste sector as a “passive receiver” of PFAS, David Burns, Chief Technical Officer at EPOC Enviro, said landfills and wastewater treatment facilities have become the new front line to prevent dispersion of PFAS risk. “Our landfills are already a dumping ground for PFAS,” Burns said. “Upstream is trade waste treatment, but there’s
also so much PFAS in people’s homes, businesses, and factories that haven’t even become waste yet. “We’re going to be having PFAS coming into landfill and sewage treatment plants for the next 50 years, and there’s a massive disparity between our regulators applying a set of criteria on one group versus another.” Burns was one of three industry experts who led a workshop on the prevalence and persistence of PFAS chemicals in everyday products and the environment during the recent Waste 2024 conference in Coffs Harbour. The workshop looked at various sources and management strategies for contamination in water and soil, including geosynthetic materials, active feedback, and natural vegetation. They also highlighted the challenges and opportunities related to waste management in Australia, including the potential for technologies to accelerate the removal of waste and environmental impact.
PFAS are a complex group of chemicals that have been used in consumer products globally since the 1950s. Because they’re effective at resisting heat, stains, grease, and water, PFAS have been used to keep food from sticking to packaging or cookware, make clothes, and create firefighting foam. Because of their persistence in the environment, PFAS are often referred to as forever chemicals. According to PFAS Free, a project run by Fidra, an environmental charity group working to reduce chemical and plastic pollution, some forms of PFAS can take more than 1000 years to degrade. PFAS can be released into the environment at every stage of a product’s lifecycle, including during chemical manufacture or transferring from packaging into food. Even after disposal, the chemicals can leak from landfills and contaminate recycling. (Continued on page 18)
IT’S a long way from doing audits on behalf of an accounting firm to being one of two segment executive general managers of resource recovery heavyweight Cleanaway. And in her spare time, Tracey Boyes, whose roles is as stated, is also chair of the board for CDS operator TOMRA Cleanaway. To say she is busy is an understatement. But Boyes wouldn’t have it any other way. Before joining Cleanaway, Boyes worked in multiple industries, with the most recent being energy for 13 years – first with Contact Energy in New Zealand, then with Origin Energy. Over time, her titles have included chief risk officer, breakeven transformation lead, and general manager future fuels and future growth. When she joined the energy industry, she didn’t think it would be overly exciting. “I worked in the energy industry and loved it,” she said. “I remember when I joined that industry thinking ‘Energy? Boring.’ But it turned out to be absolutely fascinating because it was going through this big transition. And when I was thinking about making the leap into Cleanaway, part of the attraction was it was another industry that was going through a big transition.” Boyes made the leap after being asked by her former boss at Origin, Mark Schubert, to come onboard after he joined Cleanaway as its CEO. Unlike most of the executive team who reside in Melbourne, Boyes is Brisbane based. Something that didn’t faze Schubert when he offered her the role. “He said I’d be in an aeroplane most of the time anyway,” she said. “He wasn’t wrong.” (Continued on page 24)
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