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
INSIDEWASTE APRIL/MAY 2022
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
