www.insidewaste.com.au
ISSUE 105 | DEC/JAN 2022
INSIDE 28 Automotive recycling 34 Queensland waste policy 40 Residual waste
Consultants Review 2021 – And the winners are…
Is Australia ready for the tyre export ban? What are the implications for the industry? How will the ban work in a practical sense? Is the industry prepared? And what is going to happen with all the extra tyres? Inside Waste spoke with Tyre Stewardship Australia CEO, Lina Goodman, the Australian Tyre Recycling Association chair Jim Fairweather and the federal Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management Trevor Evans. All three are happy with the ban, but with the odd caveat. Fairweather is bullish about most of the industry being ready to take on the challenge of adhering to the ban and he feels most are ready. There will be some that will struggle though, more due to their lack of preparedness as opposed to government bureaucracy. “It would be true to say there are
sectors of the industry, such as some in the baling industry who are the ones most affected by the ban, who haven’t transitioned,” he said. “They haven’t heeded the warnings, haven’t looked at the legislation, and haven’t prepared their businesses.” Fairweather reasons balers will suffer the most because many don’t have anything outside their business model other than throwing tyres into bales, putting them in containers and sending them overseas. It costs about $20,000 to get a secondhand baling machine, while the infrastructure to buy plant that has shredding and crumbing capacities – which is what is needed if you are to on-sell the tyres in a different form, or reuse them locally – can cost anywhere between $1.5 million to $12 million. (Continued on page 20)
PP: 100024538
ISSN 1837-5618
DECEMBER 1 is D-Day for the tyre industry as the tyre export ban comes into effect. No longer will Australian companies be able to export whole or baled tyres as a means of getting them out of the country. They must either find markets locally, or if they do want to export them, they have to meet a series of strict criteria set out by government. Due to the numbers produced, and how they are made, tyres have the potential to be a serious environmental hazard. In Third World countries, there are horror stories of exported tyres being unloaded and then burned because there is no other use for them. The ban is the latest implementation by the Australian government to stop exporting troublesome waste streams overseas, with mixed plastics and glass being banned earlier this year.
ANOTHER year has gone by, and despite difficulties in most industries around the country, the waste sector has come out smelling like roses. To be fair, the waste industry is one that is necessary, however that doesn’t negate the disruption COVID-19 has caused in Australia for the best part of two years. Through it all, waste consultants have been at the coal face offering advice, setting plans in motion and doing a lot of the dirty work (bin audits anyone?) to help industry as it navigates its way through legislation, export bans and making sure waste reduction targets are met. With different pieces of legislation coming into effect, such as the ban of single-use plastics and export ban on whole-baled tyres, consultants need to be on top of their game when it comes to knowing the law. These laws can be complicated and the industry relies on the knowledge, advice and strategies that consultancies offer so they can navigate the intricacies set out in legislation. Some companies have principals who know their specialty of the industry well but most rely on consultants who know the industry inside out for a broader picture. A lot of local government councils rely on consultants to keep them on track, whether it is auditing, advice on landfills, or to keep abreast of the latest technologies. (Continued on page 22)
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