Waste Management Review February 2021

FEBRUARY 2021

Remediating risk Ramboll’s Fiona Robinson on managing legacy environmental impacts

FEATURES Soil remediation Data architecture Local partnerships Next generation waste trucks

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COVER STORY

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REMEDIATING RISK

The management of legacy environmental impacts via risk-based analysis is driving a paradigm shift in sustainable remediation. Ramboll’s Fiona Robinson explains.

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ONE SCRAP AT A TIME From humble backyard beginnings, Hains Metal Recyclers has grown into a key player in Sydney’s scrap recovery market.

“IT’S ABOUT LOOKING MORE HOLISTICALLY AT RISK PROFILES AND BEING ABLE TO QUANTITATIVELY EVALUATE A WHOLE RANGE OF CRITERIA TO DETERMINE THE OPTIMAL REMEDIATION OUTCOME.” - Fiona Robinson, Ramboll Australia and New Zealand Regional Director.

In this issue

Features

24 ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION

With shifts in global dynamics forcing a rethink of deep-rooted environmental issues, Australia is poised to remodel its approach to remediation.

REMEDIATED 26 AEVOLUTION

28

DE’s contaminant removal C capabilities are expanding alongside a maturing soil remediation market. Australasia Regional Manager Daniel Webber explains.

CLOSING THE GAP

As the largest site of its kind in Queensland, Hi-Quality Group’s Yatala Waste Treatment Facility is playing a pivotal role in Australia’s growing environmental remediation sector.

30 COORDINATING CONTAMINATION

G REENER ROADS 40 WIN

CLOUDS OVER 36 SHOAL BAY

S POTLIGHT ON THE 44 SUNSHINE STATE

A leading environmental services sub-contractor in Australia shares how sustainable solutions are critical factors in delivering Australia’s major infrastructure projects.

With the introduction of Mandalay’s Intelligence Platform, Darwin is the latest metropolitan council to move its waste data into the cloud.

38

A LOCAL PARTNERSHIP

With the export ban on glass now if effect, ResourceCo is leading the charge in giving a second life to glass in South Australia.

Leading recycler, Alex Fraser, has won a Premier’s Sustainability Award for its Sustainable Supply Hub Victoria’s largest integrated recycling facility.

FWR is QLD’s only convention combining waste, secondary resources and primary producers.

Regulars

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PUBLISHER

Christine Clancy christine.clancy@primecreative.com.au

MANAGING EDITOR

Melanie Stark melanie.stark@primecreative.com.au

EDITOR

From the Editor

Building on 2020

Holly Keys holly.keys@primecreative.com.au

JOURNALIST

Brittany Coles brittany.coles@primecreative.com.au

DESIGN PRODUCTION MANAGER Michelle Weston michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au

ART DIRECTOR

On December 17 last year, Australia’s first ever national waste legislation, the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020, became law.

The unprecedented waste and recycling laws cement Australia’s waste export ban, with the first round of bans on waste glass coming into effect 1 January this year.

Exporters of waste glass now need to hold a licence to export their products and declare each consignment to the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, as well as the Australia Border Force’s Integrated Cargo System.

To be granted a licence, exporters need to show that their waste glass will be processed to an acceptable specification prior to export, and the specification they use is appropriate for the intended use in the importing country.

The landmark legislation builds off a massive year for the waste and resource recovery industry.

While the sector took a hit in some areas due to declining volumes from commercial and industrial, and construction and demolition customers, household and organic collections grew due to a larger number of people working from home.

Additional funding from the Federal Government was also committed, including the $190 million Recycling Modernisation Fund, $20 million Product Stewardship Investment Fund and $35 million to implement the National Waste Policy Action Plan.

While this funding will go a long way to meeting Australia’s ambitious resource recovery targets, what is needed now is domestic markets.

As highlighted in Infrastructure Victoria’s draft 30-year strategy, the public sector has a key role to play here.

By explicitly requiring the public sector to use recycled products where feasible, market development and demand will accelerate.

This will be critical to capitalising on the gains of 2020, because as we all know, funding and export bans alone won’t drive resource recovery.

6 / WMR / February 2021

Blake Storey blake.storey@primecreative.com.au

DESIGN

Kerry Pert, Madeline McCarty

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Chelsea Daniel-Young chelsea.daniel@primecreative.com.au p: +61 425 699 878

CLIENT SUCCESS MANAGER

Justine Nardone justine.nardone@primecreative.com.au

HEAD OFFICE

Prime Creative Pty Ltd 11-15 Buckhurst Street South Melbourne VIC 3205 Australia p: +61 3 9690 8766 f: +61 3 9682 0044 enquiries@primecreative.com.au www.wastemanagementreview.com.au

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ARTICLES

All articles submitted for publication become the property of the publisher. The Editor reserves the right to adjust any article to conform with the magazine format.

COPYRIGHT

Waste Management Review is owned by Prime Creative Media and published by John Murphy.

All material in Waste Management Review is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical including information and retrieval systems) without written permission of the publisher.

The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information, Prime Creative Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequences arising from reliance on information published. The opinions expressed in Waste Management Review are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by the publisher unless otherwise stated.

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News

National Waste Report 2020 highlights recycling progress Australia’s recycling rate has risen to 60 per cent, up two per cent, in the past two years, according to the latest National Waste Report.

The National Waste Report 2020 maps trends in recycling by source stream from 2014-15, with overall recycling rising by roughly 50 per cent on a tonnage basis and by 23 per cent per capita.

“C&D waste recycling rose markedly from 2014-15, partly due to larger amounts of material generated but also better recovery,” the report reads.

“Demolition waste recycling is a success story in most jurisdictions, providing an alternative source of materials for road base and construction aggregates.”

Long-term trends suggest waste quantities are likely to continue increasing slowly despite slight falls in the tonnes of waste per capita.

“As materials get lighter, we could see higher volumes even as the weight of waste levels off. Major projects and programs could stymie these trends with large quantities of soils

contaminated with asbestos, PFAS and other substances,” the report reads.

The long-term trend towards increasing levels of recycling is also likely to continue, helped by government policies, targets and infrastructure investment.

“Each additional percentage of recycling can be expected to be harder than the last, but better design linked to circular economy policies may change that equation,” the report reads.

Coles partners with Cleanaway to convert food waste into compost Coles and Cleanaway have launched a depackaging unit in Brisbane to convert food waste into nutrient-rich compost, the first of its kind in Queensland.

Capable of separating food from its packaging, the service will process inedible or out-of-date food from 111 Queensland Coles supermarkets,

creating compost for farms, gardens and parks.

The facility is capable of diverting up to 20,000 tonnes of waste each year.

If sent to landfill, the waste diverted would create 42,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Coles Chief Sustainability, Property

Coles diverted 65 per cent of its food waste from landfill in 2020.

8 / WMR / February 2021

and Export Officer Thinus Keevé said the new recycling facility will help Coles reduce food waste and provide Queensland businesses with a sustainable organics diversion solution.

“As one of Australia’s largest food retailers, we’re proud be a market leader in food waste reduction and circular economy investment that helps to close the loop,” he said.

Cleanaway Regional Manager QLD Hugo Parris acknowledged Coles for its focus on recovering as much food waste as possible.

“Food waste is a highly valuable resource and having the commitment from a business of Coles’ size means we can invest in this technology and recover material that would otherwise have been destined for landfill,” he said.

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News

NSW Audit Office recommends review of waste levy settings The NSW waste levy has a positive impact on diverting waste from landfill, however, aspects of the EPA’s administration of the levy could be improved, according to a report from the Audit Office of NSW. The report examines the effectiveness of the waste levy and grants for waste infrastructure, and while noting the positive effects of the levy, highlights that the list of levied local government areas has not been

reviewed since 2014.

“The current rationale for why particular local government areas pay the waste levy and others pay a lower levy or none at all is not as clear and objective as it could be,” the report reads.

Additionally, while levy rates increase each year in line with the consumer price index, the report notes that the EPA has not conducted a review to confirm whether they are set at the

optimal level since 2009.

The audit also found that grant administration procedures support the achievement of program objectives, but were not always applied consistently.

“We identified gaps in the application of grant administration procedures. For example, in four of the five programs we examined, there was no direct alignment between program objectives and the NSW Government’s overall waste target,” the audit reads.

UNSW to lead new Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub UNSW Professor Veena Sahajwalla will spearhead a new national research centre investigating technology for waste reduction and materials processing, as part of the Federal Government’s $149 million National Environmental Science Program.

The Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub consortium is comprised of six research institutions led by UNSW. It will coordinate research on reducing the impact of plastic and enhancing sustainable people-environment interactions, develop ways to minimise impacts of hazardous substances and pollutants, and deliver cutting-edge technical capabilities, particularly in the fields of waste and materials processing.

According to Sahajwalla, value needs to be placed on the materials from which a product is made, and it needs to be recognised that these materials can be recycled or reformed.

10 / WMR / February 2021

The Waste Hub consortium is comprised of six research institutions led by UNSW Sydney.

“At present, there is a focus on waste management at one end of the supply chain, with an emerging recycling and manufacturing industry at the other,” Sahajwalla said.

“New innovations and supply chains need to better link the two together to achieve the desired solution of recycling the materials so they can be reformed in

our manufacturing industries.

“Protecting the environment and our health from hazardous waste, substances and pollutants is an ongoing challenge and we are all excited to be helping to address this challenge through this new Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub consortium.”

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Recycling projects awarded $14.9M in latest CRC-P round The Federal Government is investing $14.9 million into nine recycling projects worth more than $40 million under Round 10 of the Cooperative Research Centre Projects (CRC-P) initiative.

Advanced Circular Polymers has been awarded $2 million to develop and commercialise an AI-enabled autonomous sorting system for plastic recycling, which could increase Australia’s recycling capacity by 42,000 tonnes each year.

Additional recipients include Bioelektra Australia, which has developed a novel MSW processing solution that aims to transform waste biomass into hydrogen fuel and char/ inorganic ash for potential exploitation

by Cement Australia and the Ash Development Association of Australia.

“By strategically investing in our waste management and recycling sector, we’re

Advanced Circular Polymers’ proposed sorting system will divert 16,800 tonnes of plastic residue from landfill each year.

supporting Australian manufacturers to develop and commercialise cutting-edge technology that creates opportunities for new jobs and exports,” Industry, Science and Technology Minister Karen Andrews said.

“We know strong collaboration between industry and researchers is key

to creating a resilient, competitive and highly skilled manufacturing sector and that’s exactly what these CRC-P grants are going to do.”

This round of funded projects will leverage a further $25.2 million of cash and in-kind contributions from 46 project partners.

Infrastructure Victoria strategy calls for zero-waste economy Victorians will need to continue embracing new ways of living and working in the face of significant technological and environmental disruption, according to Infrastructure Victoria’s draft 30-year strategy.

Infrastructure Victoria Chief Executive Michel Masson said the strategy takes an integrated, cross-sectoral view of infrastructure planning, making 95 draft recommendations to the Victorian Government across both metropolitan and regional Victoria.

12 / WMR / February 2021

“The infrastructure we plan now must provide for a net zero-emissions economy by 2050, support the transition to a circular, zero-waste economy and deliver innovative solutions to drive trade and investment in agriculture, tourism and manufacturing,” Masson said.

Of the 95 recommendations four directly address waste management.

“While processing facilities are owned by the private sector, the Victorian Government can assist by establishing objectives, identifying

emerging infrastructure gaps, facilitating investment, leveraging private investments and providing funding to the sector to achieve targets and improve environmental performance,” the strategy reads.

Infrastructure Victoria also recommends immediately accelerating market development for recycled materials by updating standards and specifications, and explicitly requiring the Victoria public sector to use recycled products where feasible.

SUSTAINABLE SITE REMEDIATION FOR COMPLEX CONTAMINANT CHALLENGES Ramboll is at the forefront of green and sustainable remediation. We apply innovative thinking and techniques to assist our clients with timely and costeffective solutions to complex remediation and emerging contaminant challenges. Contact our team at www.ramboll.com/anz

WORKING TOGETHER TO SOLVE THE MOST CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN HEALTH ISSUES, CREATE VALUE FOR OUR CLIENTS AND SUPPORT A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY.

COVER STORY

Remediating risk THE MANAGEMENT OF LEGACY ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS VIA RISK-BASED ANALYSIS IS DRIVING A PARADIGM SHIFT IN SUSTAINABLE REMEDIATION.

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t is estimated that Australia spends over $2 billion each year cleaning up contaminated land and water. At the same time, areas of potentially highvalue urban land lie unused.

While existing on opposite ends of the remediation spectrum, the convergence of these realities highlights issues with the historical approach to managing legacy environmental impacts.

On one hand, traditional ‘dig and dump’ methods resulted in costly and at times unnecessary attempts to remove or remediate contaminants.

While on the other, would-be productive land is left unused due to a perception that the contamination is too difficult to deal with – presenting a multitude of environmental, social and economic impacts.

According to Fiona Robinson, Ramboll’s Australia and New Zealand Regional Director, understanding those impacts is critical to shifting the dial on remediation and safeguarding a sustainable and healthy environment for future generations.

Robinson, who holds a Masters in Engineering and has over 25 years’ experience in environmental science, engineering and consulting, explains that remediation strategies are undergoing a significant paradigm shift.

Once the exclusive domain of energy-intensive, mechanically driven processes, passive strategies such as in situ bioremediation, chemical oxidation and chemical reduction are emerging as integral remediation tools.

Robinson’s specific areas of

14 / WMR / February 2021

expertise include hydrogeology, site evaluation and remediation design in the contaminated site field, as well as groundwater resource and impact evaluation through three-dimensional modelling.

“I have always had an interest in sustainability and felt that engineering was a good way to make a difference in terms of being able to solve problems and provide better solutions,” she says.

Robinson joined Ramboll in 2010 as a Manager at the company’s Hunter office in NSW. In 2017 she accepted her current role as Australia and New Zealand Managing Principal, working to further diversify Ramboll’s environmental services.

While Robinson’s personal focus is remediation and environmental management, she notes Ramboll’s work in new and emerging markets for a zero emissions future, including waste-to-energy and solar and wind farm engineering.

“I joined Ramboll to be part of a global company that is aligned with what I intended to do with my career, which is to help develop sustainable solutions for the future,” Robinson says.

“As a company, that’s our focus.

We’ve been working in this space for 75 years, and all of our engineering is driven by sustainability principals, which for me is great, because remediation historically has been very dig and dump. And that never seemed very sustainable.”

Ramboll engineers, geologists and scientists deliver value-added, site specific solutions that address all aspects of the remediation process.

NET ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFIT ANALYSIS 40

NET ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Increasing Impact Increasing Benefit

RISK-BASED FRAMEWORKS Headquartered in Denmark, Ramboll applies risk-based strategies throughout the investigation, remedial design and execution process to streamline site investigation and decision making, with a focus on effectively protecting human health and the environment. Underpinning this approach is the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

“From a remediation context, an often overlooked aspect is the Sustainable Development Goals of intergenerational equity, ensuring we don’t leave remediation for someone in the future,” Robinson says.

Ramboll engineers, geologists and scientists deliver value-added, site specific solutions that address all aspects of the remediation process – from site investigation, risk assessment and feasibility studies, to remedy selection, remedial design, environmental assessment, management and approvals “We differentiate ourselves by providing tools to evaluate remediation projects using multicriteria analysis that looks at environmental and social impacts and benefits,” Robinson says.

“It’s about looking more holistically at-risk profiles and being able to quantitatively evaluate a whole range of criteria to determine the optimal remediation outcome.”

Robinson explains that Ramboll’s approach is driven by a recognition that remediation in and of itself can have an impact. She adds that the sector has not historically looked at the impact of remediation, whereas now, the focus is shifting towards full lifecycle assessment.

When engineering a solution, Ramboll considers ultimate riskreduction goals, risk management during implementation, management

35

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25 GH G Ecology

20

Safe ty Hea lth 15

10

5

0 Option 2

Option 4

Do No thing

Option 7

Option 3

Option 5

Option 6*

Ramboll’s NEBA tool provides its consultants with the ability to effectively evaluate projects.

of long-term risk and future liabilities, and the short-and-long-term costs of various alternatives.

“Ramboll’s interdisciplinary approach to site remediation helps our clients manage the complex and interrelated issues that drive remedial decisions,” Robinson says.

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT In 2012, NSW’s Kurri Kurri Hydro Aluminium Smelter suspended operations, with closure announced in May 2014 following a two-year period of care and maintenance. When operational, the smelter produced 180,000 tonnes of aluminium metal each year.

Ramboll was engaged to prepare a Remedial Action Plan for the remediation of the smelter including remediation of a capped legacy landfill.

“The potential remediation options ranged from segregating and decontaminating all wastes for recycling by others, to relocating the wastes to waste repositories a significant distance from the site.”

Robinson says.

Following Ramboll’s review of remediation options, it determined that relocation of the mixed waste to

a new purpose-built containment cell within a more geologically suitable area of the Hydro land was the most appropriate remediation strategy.

According to the detailed quantitative studies completed, this strategy will have the least impact on the health, diversity and productivity of the environment.

Additionally, the containment cell will facilitate the needs of future generations, by making the Hydro land suitable for future use including employment land, residential land, rural land and a large area dedicated for biodiversity conservation, as well as providing financial support for the long term management of the containment cell.

These new land uses, combined with financial assurance, will provide long-term environmental, social and economic benefits, consistent with the principle of intergenerational equity.

The Hydro Aluminium Smelter remediation project is one of the first in Australia to use Ramboll’s newly developed net environmental benefit analysis (NEBA) tool, Robinson says. She adds that NEBA works to demonstrate the positive and negative impacts on natural resource services

www.wastemanagementreview.com.au / WMR / 15

COVER STORY

associated with a remedial action, relative to the change in risk profile.

“Risk underpins the need for remediation. All remediation is driven by risk,” Robinson says.

“You need to consider what is that risk? And when you are evaluating risk, are you evaluating all, or just part of the risk story?”

“In some cases, for example, a proposed remedial action or reuse activity may destroy or significantly degrade an ecological landscape, that outweighs the environmental or human health benefit achieved from the remediation.”

Robinson highlights communication of risk as a historical challenge for the remediation sector.

To mitigate that challenge, Ramboll’s NEBA tool provides its consultants with the ability to effectively evaluate a project under a range of potential options. And in turn, be able to communicate those options to various stakeholders in a way that can be understood.

“Effective communication requires one type of conversation with regulators and another type of communication with community members,” Robinson says.

She explains that often in situ

Chemical stabilisation is an area Ramboll is focused on developing.

16 / WMR / February 2021

solutions are not preferred by either the regulator or the community, despite potentially providing the most sustainable outcome.

“The purpose of the remediation assessment tools we’ve developed is to build transparency in the process and make it less subjective.

“It’s a more quantitative process, where you complete a quantitative analysis and understand what the risk or benefit profile is. And because you’re taking it all from first principles, it’s easier to communicate to both the regulator and the community.”

Chemical stabilisation is another area Ramboll is focused on developing.

Ramboll’s Dr Annette Nolan has over 25 years’ industry experience in environmental chemistry and research and is currently investigating the long term stability of PFAS in chemically stabilised soils.

“When properly evaluated, chemical stabilisation, particularly in-situ, represents a sustainable and safe long term remediation solution for some contaminants. It’s exciting to have this research underway at Ramboll,” Robinson says.

“Dr Nolan’s preliminary bench scale trials of PFAS stabilisation using a range of soil amendments are showing very promising results and indicate PFAS can be costeffectively stabilised in soil with >99 per cent reduction in leachable PFAS concentrations achieved using a multiple extraction procedure, which demonstrated good long term stability. Technologies such as these can provide great outcomes for these difficult sites.”

FIRST PRINCIPLES FUTURE Looking forward, Robinson predicts that brownfield development will continue, alongside the development

of more sensitive land uses on industrial sites. That said, she believes that remediation and contaminant levels will become progressively less severe with time.

“A lot of the heavily impacted sites are now being remediated. If you look at gasworks, we’re not creating any new sites – that’s not an emerging issue for the future,” Robinson says.

“Landfills are the area where we will have to really look at risk and clever solutions, because traditional remediation of those sites is not going to be practical. That’s already happening with urban sprawl encroaching on former landfills.”

Protection of groundwater resources will be another area of future focus, Robinson says.

“Groundwater has not historically been seen as a resource in urbanised areas,” she explains.

“We might be wanting to look at remediation solutions that afford a higher level of protection for the groundwater resource.

“And of course, PFAS contamination, which will be a whole of industry pursuit.”

At present, the problem of PFAS is dominating industry discussion, with the contentious fate of tunnel boring spoil from the West Gate Tunnel project prompting community concern and legal challenges.

While Robinson says industry has a long way to go before fully understanding the risk of PFAS, Ramboll is committed to working on viable solutions.

“We have two research projects at the moment looking at PFAS destruction in water streams. One is an ex-situ approach, and the other is looking at a potential in situ treatment process,” she says.

“We have a global team working on sustainable solutions for these and other emerging contaminants.”

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UPFRONT

Cycling towards targets WASTE MANAGEMENT REVIEW SPEAKS WITH FORMER AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF RECYCLING CEO PETE SCHMIGEL ABOUT HIS NEXT VENTURE – AUSTRALIA’S FIRST TOTAL SOLUTION FOR BICYCLES.

F

or the past three years Pete Schmigel has sat in the top job at the Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR). In that time, Schmigel’s can-do attitude and commitment to change has shined a light on recycling operations across Australia.

Schmigel announced that he would be stepping down as ACOR CEO late last year to pursue personal endeavours.

Cameron O’Reilly was announced as ACOR’s new CEO in December.

Schmigel started working with the waste sector as the NSW Environment Minister’s Chief of Staff around the time kerbside recycling began in the early 90s. He was attracted to the growth opportunities the sector presented, and has been committed to showing leadership in public policy ever since – giving consumers, councils, industry and manufacturers greater certainty going forward.

What’s next? Schmigel says he is finally saying yes to himself.

He is now transferring his knowledge and ambition into building his own recycling business in Australia.

“With a potential partner and dedicated investors, we’re looking to start Australia’s first total solution for bicycles, bikes, scooters and other personal transport vehicles,” Schmigel reveals.

18 / WMR / February 2021

Pete Schmigel says Australia is set to become the oceanic powerhouse of resource recovery.

Currently, there are only ad hoc systems for repurposing and recycling personal transport vehicles.

“We want to provide a genuine network solution for places including shopping centres, to riders, to major transport fleets, to retailers and to councils,” Schmigel says.

“There is always an opportunity to do some good and also have a sustainable business too.”

Schmigel is weary that as more personal transport vehicles turn to electric modes, they will end up in landfill.

More than one million bikes are sold in Australia annually and it has been predicted that in the next five years, 75 per cent of those bikes will have batteries.

“We know batteries are problematic in landfill and even a conventional recycling facility,” Schmigel says.

“So, providing a solution to batteries on bicycles will also be on our agenda.

We’re going to have some great sustainability fun.”

According to Schmigel, the recycling sector has seen incredible shifts in recent years.

“There are some really exciting signs in terms of funding from the Recycling Modernisation Fund,” he says.

“We’re going to see further innovation as engagement continues with the corporates.”

Schmigel notes that the trick will be getting the economics right.

How do we ensure recycled content made in Australia is competitive with virgin plastic?

“I think we have to go beyond APCO and go to the next level of initiatives,” he says.

“Things like creating plastic recycling credits for recycled content is something I’d love to see happen from the next set of promises from the Federal Government.”

Schmigel says ACOR is taking a positive and pragmatic focus by emphasising opportunities in the sector as opposed to what’s wrong with industry.

“It’s one thing to be a lobbyist or an advocate for the industry, but you need real work behind it,” he says.

“I’m happy that ACOR is in a position to go to the next level.”

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UPFRONT

What’s happening with the West Gate?

AS CONTROVERSY MOUNTS AROUND THE WEST GATE TUNNEL AND PROPOSED NEW LANDFILLS, WASTE MANAGEMENT REVIEW EXPLORES THE PROJECT.

I

n December last year, EPA Victoria revoked all three environmental approvals for landfills set to accept tunnel boring soil from the West Gate Tunnel project.

The EPA admitted that it had overstepped its powers in giving its environmental sign-off, as it had not waited to receive key information it had requested of the landfills before approving their environment management plans.

The revocation further delays construction on the project, which is already running a year behind and facing $3 billion in cost overruns.

The West Gate Tunnel project is expected to generate three million tonnes of waste soils from tunnel alignment over an 18-month period.

According to the EPA, landfills in Victoria cannot absorb an additional three million tonnes of waste soils within an 18-month period without exhausting existing capacity in the market.

The tunnel soil will also be wet and require a large area to aid dewatering prior to deposit in a cell.

This space and infrastructure is not available at most landfills.

The issue is further complicated by the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances in the West Gate’s soil.

“The level of PFAS contamination found in areas we know have been polluted by the past use of firefighting foams are several times higher than what we have found in the groundwater on the project,” the EPA said in a statement.

The EPA states that generic landfill

designs will not be used for sites approved to take tunnel boring soil.

“The designs are engineered, modelled and auditor approved based on everything that is known about PFAS, making them unique in Australia,” the EPA said.

New regulations under section 71

The West Gate Tunnel project is expected to generate three million tonnes of waste soils.

www.wastemanagementreview.com.au / WMR / 21

UPFRONT

of the Environment Protection Act 1970 allow for the management and disposal of tunnel boring machine spoil to protect human health and the environment.

“Sites approved under the regulations to receive this type of spoil are not areas engineered and licensed for landfilling of the various types of industrial and municipal waste, so spoil received and contained at these sites will not be subject to landfill levy,” the EPA said.

emerging contaminant by the global regulatory body, the Stockholm Convention.

While the ultimate fate of the West Gate’s soil is still uncertain, controversy surrounding the project highlights the need to rethink Australia’s traditional approach to soil remediation.

HEALTHY SOILS Soil Science Australia’s Queensland Branch President Maryam Esfandbod says soil is a complicated environment

Due to their chemical structures, PFAS can travel long distances in air and water currents.

PROBLEMATIC PFAS PFAS substances are manufactured chemicals used in products that resist heat, oil, stains and water and have been used in Australia and around the world in many common household products and specialty applications.

The release of PFAS into the environment has become a concern, as chemicals can persist in humans, animals and the environment.

Due to their chemical structures, PFAS can travel long distances in air and water currents.

Following evidence of their widespread detection in environmental samples, PFAS are considered an

22 / WMR / February 2021

due large variation in biology, taxonomy and physico-chemical properties.

“Soil scientists must work closely with geologists, chemical engineers, economists, environment sociologists and health scientists to assure the right application of remediation and prevention technologies on the basis of appropriate implemented risk assessment,” she says.

“It is so important to have a high knowledge of remediation processes which include assessment, treatment, containment, removal or management, and community engagement during remediation projects.”

Esfandbod adds that if any process

or assessment goes wrong, especially in terms of soil evaluation, there will be a high chance of soil pollution exposure to ground water and human health, “As a soil scientist who has been working on waste and organic waste over the past 10 years, I must say that with the right engineering technology we can turn our local waste material into a great resource for contaminant removal,” she says.

“To raise the profile of healthy soils, soil management and sustainability we need to encourage governments, universities, industries, organisations, communities and individuals around the world to proactively engage in improving soil health.

“Whatever happens on this planet, is the mirror and reflection of human activities. So please act wisely to keep our soil healthy.”

Contaminated soils are a key contributor to hazardous waste in Australia, yet the full extent of soil contamination is not yet fully known.

The Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment reports over 160,000 contaminated sites nationally.

Of these, it’s estimated less than 10 per cent have been remediated.

According to Ravi Naidu of CRC CARE, there is a growing awareness, worldwide, of two important remediation principles.

“First that remediation should be driven by the management of real risks, not presumed ones; and second, that not all contaminants require the same degree of intensive management,” he says.

“These principles and the technologies which surround them have been extensively tested around the world and especially here in Australia for almost 15 years – and it is time we had the confidence to fully adopt and apply them.”

› › ›

Asbestos soil management Contaminated material reuse & onsite recovery Innovative methods for achieving project sustainability targets

› › › ›

Temporary & permanent treatment plants Sludge & drill mud dewatering and management Environmental testing PFAS treatment

› › › ›

SOLVETM hazardous waste facility Competitive treatment & disposal options PASS / ASS treatment & management Reuse & recovery processes

FEATURED TOPIC – SOIL REMEDIATION

Ecological transformation WITH SHIFTS IN SOCIAL AND GLOBAL DYNAMICS FORCING A RETHINK OF DEEP-ROOTED ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES, AUSTRALIA IS POISED TO REMODEL ITS APPROACH TO REMEDIATION.

F

rom 1964 to 1973, the American military sprayed 80 million litres of Agent Orange on Vietnam. Still found in soil in the form of dioxin, the harmful herbicide represents a highly toxic element for Vietnam’s population and environment.

In 2012, the Vietnam Ministry of Defence and the United States Agency for International Development launched a project to treat 87,000 cubic metres of soils and sediments near Da Nang airport.

Veolia, who were tasked with carrying out the project, chose the only technology capable of meeting the set

target with the least environmental impact: in-pile thermal desorption.

The process involves heating the earth to 335 degrees Celsius for several months, forcing the dioxins to evaporate and be destroyed In concrete terms, a huge structure 100 meters long, 70 meters wide and eight meters high was built on airport land. Initially, 50 per cent of the earth was transported there by truck.

Once the container was filled, 1252 heating wells were sunk into the soil.

The structure was then covered in order to be able to treat the gaseous effluent in situ. Liquid effluent was Veolia employs a range of tested technologies to decontaminate soils and liquids.

24 / WMR / February 2021

also collected for treatment. After ten months, the earth could be used as filler material for Da Nang airport.

Matt Ead, Veolia Australia and New Zealand Remediation Service Manager, highlights the Agent Orange clean-up project as a key example of Veolia’s technical capabilities, as well as its commitment to using said capabilities to support the communities in which it operates.

Sustainability is critical to the future and health of the world’s cities and communities, he says, with shifts in social and global dynamics forcing a rethink of legacy environmental impacts.

“In the past, Australia’s approach to both soil remediation and waste management broadly, was to ignore the problem and bury it in landfill,” Matt says.

“Whereas overseas, they have had to be smarter about it because they don’t have the landfill space that Australia has been blessed with, so to speak.”

With Australia’s environmental mindset changing at both legislative and community awareness levels, Matt says a lot can be learned from international experience and best practice.

“Australia is moving into a more technological space when it comes to soil remediation, and Veolia is at the forefront of that ecological transformation,” he says.

Veolia uncovered 15,000 unexploded ordinances dating back to the Second World War at an air base in France.

“Our extensive experience overseas is a major point of difference. We have trialled and tested our processes and technological capability to deal with material in situ, rather than digging up the ground and shifting the problem.”

Matt adds that Veolia’s international footprint facilitates a knowledge transfer network.

“We’ve got people working on remediation projects in France, Taiwan, Denmark and all of Europe,” he says.

“We all talk regularly to share information and ideas. If there’s a difficult project here in Australia, chances are we’ve dealt with similar problems elsewhere and can apply those learnings here.”

With the move towards more ecologically sustainable solutions, paired with scarcer landfill space and rising levies, Matt says Australia is ready for a high-level technological approach to remediation.

Veolia offers cradle to grave remediation solutions – from facilitating regulatory approvals and community relations activities, to developing environmental management plans and arranging engineering design for onsite retention including civil works.

To decontaminate soils and liquids,

Veolia employs a range of tested technologies including containment, chemical and physical stabilisation, chemical hydrocarbon treatment, low temperature indirect thermal desorption, bioremediation and solvent extraction.

Several of Veolia’s technologies are based on a fast reaction time, usually measured in hours as opposed to weeks or months with conventional treatments – thereby minimising potential contamination and considerable time savings on critical projects.

“We’re one of the only companies that can offer that full cradle to grave service,” Matt says.

“We have experts in water treatment and the technology to deal with soil, as well as hazardous waste facilities that can process spent material for disposal or recovery.”

ENCROACHMENT DRIVERS As inner-city development progresses and populations continue to rise, Matt notes that industrial sites that were once situated on the outskirts of major cities are now surrounded by communities of people.

“If we look at Melbourne, areas like Footscray, Yarraville and Altona used to

be industrial areas but are now trendy suburbs with people living all around,” he says.

“Industry is moving on, but there are still a lot of contaminated sites. That’s a real driver to grow the remediation sector.”

While Melbourne’s Maribyrnong Defence Site sits on a picturesque bend of the inner-city suburb’s river, it has been abandoned for more than a decade – badly contaminated following years of explosives being manufactured and tested by the defence force.

The 128-hecatre site would represent prime real-estate for property or environmental development, Matt says.

However, it’s been left abandoned due to complex contamination issues.

Veolia has extensive experience dealing with unexploded ordinance, Matt adds. He notes a project at the former 217 air base in Bretigny-surOrge, France, which began in 2014 and concluded in late 2019.

The project involved Veolia scanning the 300 hectare site using specialist radars looking for grenades and bombs dating back to the Second World War. In total, this site uncovered over 15,000 “targets”, 40 or so which were still active.

Through treating extreme pollution and comprehending, managing and neutralising the risk of explosion, Veolia freed the land to host public facilities, light industry, housing and urban farming.

“Remediation technology, be it to deal with unexploded ordinance, PFAS or general industrial contamination is available,” Matt says.

“What’s needed is a rethink of current approaches and an understanding of social licence.

“We shouldn’t be ignoring problems because they are perceived to be too difficult, but rather using the technology that’s available and managing the problem now.”

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FEATURED TOPIC – SOIL REMEDIATION

A remediated evolution DANIEL WEBBER, CDE REGIONAL MANAGER AUSTRALASIA, OUTLINES HOW CDE’S CONTAMINANT REMOVAL CAPABILITIES ARE EXPANDING ALONGSIDE A MATURING SOIL REMEDIATION MARKET.

L

ong Island, an expansive, densely populated island in New York State’s south east, has for many years been troubled by pollution from toxic dumping and heavy industry.

Historically, contaminated soil would be transported off the island where it would be destined for landfill.

However, with the right technology this material can be processed to remove contaminants, extract value, and return land to good use to meet the growing demands of urbanisation.

Situation on the island is fourthgeneration family business Posillico Inc, who’s recycled sand, aggregate and clay unit, Posillico Materials, recognised the need to address mounting concerns over ground pollution and landfill capacity.

Together with global wet processing equipment specialists CDE, Posillico installed an innovative processing

solution, the first of its kind in North American, which effectively processes incoming contaminated material to produce high-quality washed construction sand and aggregates, while simultaneously removing contaminates.

The system incorporates a range of CDE equipment, including an AggMax portable logwasher, EvoWash, AquaCycle thickener and a Filter Press.

As one of the largest and most advanced contaminated soil washing facilities in the world, the wash plant boasts a high material recovery rate.

Posillico can now reduce unsuitable content in its raw material to approximately 10 per cent on average, with the remaining 90 per cent being diverted from landfill into saleable construction materials.

According to Daniel Webber, CDE’s Regional Manager Australasia, Posillico

Posillico Materials’ facility is one of the largest and most advanced contaminated soil washing plants in the world.

26 / WMR / February 2021

is a marque project for CDE, with over 30 per cent of its global C&D waste processing solutions now treating some form of contaminated feed material.

He explains that soil remediation and contaminant treatment is an evolving part of CDE’s extensive portfolio.

“We’ve been involved in targeted campaigns in the past, where we designed and installed plants to treat soils contaminated with heavy metals and hydrocarbons,” Webber says.

More recently, the company installed a treatment solution at an Australian Airforce base, which successfully treated PFAS contaminated soil.

Through materials handling, scrubbing and washing, CDE was able to move PFAS into the water phase, before matching it with filtration technology to remove contaminants and remediate the soil.

Webber adds that CDE’s mobile D:MAX dewatering system is currently in Melbourne treating PFAS contaminated soil from the city’s tunnelling projects.

At the other end of the spectrum, CDE’s C&D waste processing customers are increasingly looking to upgrade their plants to treat lightly contaminated soils at much higher throughput rates.

“This makes a lot of sense as they will often have much of the equipment required to treat contaminated soil, we just need to do some wrap around

engineering to close the water loop.”

Webber adds that treatment alternatives such as the heating of soils are incredibly energy intensive.

“As with anything in the waste space, the economies of that intensity are under a microscope. Is using huge amounts of electricity to heat soil and burn off hydrocarbons really that sustainable?

“We come under that microscope as well. There’s no point washing contaminated soil and making a toxic water stream, so we need to be responsible in how we handle that.”

While the soil remediation market is expanding, Webber says there are still learnings to be had around standards and flexibility.

“We can set a plant up that might be taking care of soils with hydrocarbon contamination, or maybe filtration

for arsenic, but at the next site the contaminant could be lead or mercury,” he explains.

“At each site the contaminants change and it’s difficult to build plants that can deal with everything.

“The next step in our evolution is to develop flexible plants that can respond to different feed material coming in from various contaminated sites.”

With the remediation market and CDE’s place within it maturing, Webber says the company is well placed to match its materials handling, scrubbing and washing solutions with the filtration technology needed for the market. Additionally, he notes CDE’s work developing solutions for non-destructive digging muds, highlighting the varied nature of the soil remediation sector and the

materials it is tasked with managing.

“For a while now there have been government set levies on these materials, which has been the catalyst for the owners for hydro-excavation businesses investing in small plants, such as our G:MAX, to received and dewater these materials,” Webber says.

This environment has fostered impressive innovation, he adds, such as CDE’s new HYDRO:TIPTM solution, which directly receives waste from vacuum trucks and preps it for processing.

“This is a process where previously trucks would have to tip material into a pit and then an excavator operator would have to scope it into the processing plant. Removing those steps facilitates a faster and safer process, while reducing the volume of material sent to landfill,” Webber says.

FEATURED TOPIC – SOIL REMEDIATION

Hi-Quality Group’s Yatala facility is licensed to treat 350,000 tonnes of contaminated soil and other controlled wastes each year.

Closing the gap AS THE LARGEST SITE OF ITS KIND IN QUEENSLAND, HI-QUALITY GROUP’S YATALA WASTE TREATMENT FACILITY IS PLAYING A PIVOTAL ROLE IN AUSTRALIA’S GROWING ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION SECTOR.

H

azardous waste generation trended strongly upwards in the eight years to 2017-18, increasing at a compound annual growth rate of nine per cent.

According to the Federal Government’s latest hazardous waste report, contaminated soils largely drove this trend, with nationally unprecedented increases in 2017-18.

As contaminated soils generally arise as a result of construction and development activities, one can assume this upward trend will continue alongside Australia’s booming infrastructure pipeline.

This is particularly pertinent for Queensland, which has 11 projects listed on Infrastructure Australia’s latest Infrastructure Priority List – the highest number of any state or territory.

Growing contaminated waste rates, combined with increasingly stringent environmental regulations, was a key driver behind Hi-Quality Group’s latest investment – a new state-ofthe-art waste treatment facility in Yatala, Queensland.

28 / WMR / February 2021

The group was established over 50 years ago, with its core business originally based around landfills and quarries. In recent years, a large percentage of the company’s capital investment has been directed at bestpractice initiatives.

As such, it grew to incorporate recycling facilities and transport services, with the new treatment facility rounding out the group’s endto-end waste management portfolio.

After 12 months of construction, Yatala opened 1 August 2020 – representing a strong strategic asset for a region with one of the fastest growing populations in Australia.

The facility is the largest of its kind in Queensland, with a licence to treat 350,000 tonnes of contaminated soil and other controlled wastes each year.

The purpose-built facility uses a combination of EPA approved treatment processes to achieve sound environmental outcomes.

Processes include chemical fixation or immobilisation, bioremediation, chemical oxidation and absorption.

Daniel Blair, Hi-Quality Group Waste Treatment Services General Manager, explains that these processes are applied to a wide-range of waste types, with Hi-Quality Group treating 200 litre drums, tanker loads of liquids, truckloads of contaminated soil and everything in-between.

The facility was designed to fill a significant gap in the market, Blair says, with existing treatment facilities built at a time when environmental regulations were less stringent and monitoring less comprehensive.

“The key difference between our facility and others in the market is the environmental outcomes we are delivering,” Blair says.

“We operate the facility to current best practice environmental management regulations – controlling for storm and wastewater discharges, air emissions – all the environmental aspects.

“Yes, treating hazardous waste is nasty, but it has to be done. So, by doing it in the best way we possibly can, we’re providing a better

solution for the market.”

By working with large infrastructure projects across the country, Yatala is playing a pivotal role in the treatment and recycling of contaminated soils and regulated wastes.

As a result, Hi-Quality Group is helping maximise landfill diversion, while providing its corporate customers with confidence in knowing their waste will be managed correctly.

“There’s stigma involve with waste, and what we’re doing is trying to erase that by showing both the market and the wider community that it can be done properly,” Blair says.

He adds that Yatala is a negative pressure site, meaning nothing can get out of the facility as air is drawn in.

“The only way air gets out of the facility is through our three-stage air scrubbing system that controls dust and odours,” he says.

“The air goes out post-treatment through two stacks, which are closely monitored and comply with low emissions targets from Queensland’s Department of Environment and Science.”

Another point of difference, Blair explains, is that no waste is stored within the yard of the facility, meaning any spills are contained inside.

The facility is also equipped with stormwater protection devices, which can be shut off to prevent wastewater leaking into the stormwater system.

“Our state-of-the-art treatment facility offers a safe and sustainable solution for the treatment of contaminated soils, hazardous wastes, chemicals, waste sludges and wastewater, under ongoing stringent environmental monitoring and controls,” Blair says.

By taking a forward-thinking approach to environmental remediation, Hi-Quality Group can undertake identification, removal and reinstatement work,

while also successfully processing contaminated waste.

Cory Menant, Hi-Quality Group Waste Treatment Services National Business Development Manager, explains that all the waste received at Yatala is treated in a fully enclosed environment, thereby eliminating the risk of vapours or fines re-entering the environment.

“The facility operates at the highest standards in the industry. We are working under the same constraints as every other large remediation company,

but the difference is we are taking the waste away from the site and controlling risk at our site,” Menant says.

He adds that brownfield developments and industrial areas are primarily located near high population areas, creating issues around social licence and encroachment.

“There is an inherent risk when treating contaminated waste close to populations, so what we’re doing is taking that risk away and treating the material in a highly controlled environment,” Menant says.

The upwards trend of hazardous waste generation is largely driven by contaminated soils.

Yatala uses a combination of EPA approved treatment processes to achieve sound environmental outcomes.

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FEATURED TOPIC – SOIL REMEDIATION

Coordinating contamination LEADING ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES PROVIDER ENVIROPACIFIC EXPLAINS HOW SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS ARE CRITICAL FACTORS IN DELIVERING AUSTRALIA’S MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.

“T

he pandemic put Australia’s infrastructure to the test.

However, compared to other OECD countries, our infrastructure networks are relatively resilient, our service providers are adaptable, and our communities are responsive to change,” Infrastructure Australia Chief Executive Romilly Madew said in December last year.

When it comes to major infrastructure projects, sustainable solutions are not only highly sought after, but also a critical factor to delivering projects that help prevent and reverse environmental damage.

This is a fact well understood by environmental services provider Enviropacific, which since 2001 has been providing beneficial contaminated land and water reuse solutions for clients across Australia.

Late last year, Enviropacific completed construction of an innovative water treatment facility at Melbourne

30 / WMR / February 2021

Enviropacific is assisting projects across the country with the on-site management of PFAS contaminated soil, groundwater and drill muds.

Airport to tackle PFAS contamination.

Powered by solar energy, the facility will allow PFAS-impacted soils generated from onsite projects to be safely managed and stored for future reuse.

Nick Cowman, Enviropacific National Business Development Manager, says completed projects such as this highlight the company’s broad range of solutions to unlocking contaminated land for future development.

As a company committed to environmental, social and economic sustainability, Enviropacific meets all the requirements of treating contaminated water and providing cost-effective remediation solutions.

“We are physically delivering an environmental solution for a client,” Cowman says.

“It’s all about creating, enhancing and enabling healthier communities in the most sustainable manner.”

From an environmental perspective, the team delivers a broad range of innovative, applied science and engineering solutions to unlock and treat contaminated water and soil for future major developments.

Fred Lunsmann, Enviropacific General Manager Environmental Services, explains that the company treats contaminated water to levels safe and suitable for reuse or discharge to local environments.

“We also rehabilitate contaminated land and water using an extensive range of technologies and equipment to remove, treat or dispose of complex solid and liquid contaminants,” he says.

Lunsmann highlights partnerships with head contractors to jointly develop innovative approaches to manage contamination risks through both on and off-site treatment and processing to reduce the volume and cost of contaminated materials.

Generally speaking, major infrastructure projects require large areas of land in and around cities for station boxes, interchanges and staging areas.

Often the only land available has been lying dormant due to historical land uses and contamination.

Lunsmann says this introduces a significant amount of uncertainty and risk to the projects.

“Through early engagement and investigation, we can provide a greater level of understanding of the contamination risks, assist with design development and develop cost effective and compliant contamination solutions to allow projects to proceed with certainty.”

Lunsmann adds that the value Enviropacific brings begins with early engagement, whether that be with

project owners or delivery contractors.

“For the past 20 years we have been delivering environmental solutions, including the delivery of PFAS solutions for the past 7 years. Combining our technical and delivery experience in early conversations means we can take project risks and convert them to opportunities,” he says.

At present, Enviropacific is assisting projects across the country with the on-site management of PFAS contaminated soil, groundwater and drill muds.

“We are also providing hazardous waste treatment to a number of large infrastructure projects through our Solve treatment facility,” Lunsmann says.

“Our engineered solutions team have delivered turnkey remediation and water treatment packages to a

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number of large infrastructure projects including WestConnex, Sydney Metro and Snowy Hydro.”

Cowman adds that Enviropacific is in current ECI arrangements with a number of head contractors on future projects, helping them develop innovative solutions to their contamination issues. The company also works closely with the EPA and other regulators to develop solutions that might not be otherwise available.

“Our services and knowledge on contaminated soil and groundwater management can assist in unlocking some of the roadblocks to these future projects,” Lunsmann says.

“The key here is that early engagement allows more time to evolve solutions, approvals or other treatment processes which we can undertake.”

WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ACTION – WASTE-TO-ENERGY

Energising the circular economy transition A COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN SOLO RESOURCE RECOVERY AND RECOVERED ENERGY AUSTRALIA IS SET TO ACCELERATE WASTE DIVERSION ACROSS METROPOLITAN MELBOURNE.

SOLO provides over 1.1 million domestic collections each week.

I

n February last year, the Victorian Government released its highly anticipated circular economy policy Recycling Victoria – the largest package of recycling reforms in the state’s history.

With over $300 million in investment, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the policy would “give new life to old rubbish” and drive positive environmental outcomes for the state.

The 10-year policy and action plan outlines a series of sweeping reforms,

32 / WMR / February 2021

including almost doubling the landfill levy and the introduction of a statewide four bin kerbside system.

The policy also highlights the state government’s intentions to encourage appropriate waste-to-energy (WtE) investment through its industry and infrastructure development package.

According to Greg Buckler, Solo Resource Recovery (SOLO) Contracts Manager, the converging effects of kerbside reform, rising levies and waste infrastructure investment will have a significant impact on local

governments in coming years.

To help its council and commercial customers manage those impacts and drive positive environmental change, SOLO has partnered with Recovered Energy Australia (REA) to facilitate delivery of their residual waste gasification to energy plant in Melbourne, which is expected to be operational in 2023.

“We recognised that in Metropolitan Melbourne there needs to be a range of investment in new and innovative waste and recovery

infrastructure to improve the resilience of the sector,” Buckler says.

“We see this partnership as an opportunity to work with municipal and commercial customers that want to demonstrate leadership and tangible progress towards Victoria’s circular economy transition.”

The REA facility will recover energy and divert 200,000 tonnes per annum of residual household and commercial waste from landfill.

Once fully operational, it will generate enough energy to power over 30,000 homes and will remove over 220,000 tonnes of CO2 from the environment each year.

Buckler explains that for SOLO’s council customers, landfill disposal has historically been the only option for residual waste, but with new innovative solutions like this now evolving, the time is right for change.

“The main feedback we get from councils is that everyone is looking to transition to a circular economy,” he says.

“There are a lot of diversion targets in our sector. This collaboration with REA represents a tangible and timely avenue to achieve our client’s targets and to progress those specified in the new Recycling Victoria policy.”

SOLO is a 100 per cent Australian owned and operated family company, established in its own right in 1990.

SOLO’s founding father commenced waste operations in 1932 in Murwillumbah – now part of the Tweed Shire – Northern New South Wales, where SOLO’s Head Office is located.

SOLO and its predecessors have held the now Tweed Shire waste collection contract continuously for 88 years since 1932.

SOLO provides over 1.1 million domestic collections each week and services over 10,000 commercial customers nationally.

In Melbourne, the company provides services to almost one third of the city’s Metropolitan councils.

Victoria currently disposes over four million tonnes of waste to landfill every year.

Sustainability Victoria forecast this to increase to over five million tonnes by 2030.

Therefore, meeting Recycling Victoria’s ambitious targets requires timely commitment to new and innovative alternatives that will reduce the city’s reliance on landfill and optimise value from waste.

“Landfill is not a viable longterm solution for MSW and commercial waste. Rising levies, environmental impacts and capacity constraints are necessitating new investment in a range of alternative waste recycling and recovery infrastructure,” Buckler says.

“By partnering with REA, we’re able to offer councils the opportunity to expedite their waste and resource recovery strategies, maximise their landfill diversion and support the circular economy at a cost that is competitive with landfill.

“This in turn will provide our council customers with more sustainable solutions for their residual waste in the long-term.”

SCALABLE SOLUTIONS In a 2017 Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning WtE Case Study for Melbourne’s West, the department noted that the region’s residents have made it clear that the burden and impacts of waste management should be shared across the community.

As such, the case study argues that ‘mega’ waste sites, landfill or otherwise, are not appropriate, and the concepts of environmental justice and shared responsibility should be embraced.

Buckler feels similarly, noting that while mega sites in Europe and Singapore are touted as WtE success stories, Australia’s population density and available feedstock call for unique, smaller scale solutions.

“Smaller scale WtE facilities such as REA’s are ideally suited to the relatively low density and distributed populations that characterise Melbourne and more generally, Australia,” he says.

“This relationship with REA also allows us to offer a solution for residual waste that will insulate our Melbourne customers from further price shocks due to rising landfill costs and capacity constraints.

“The Laverton North facility offers Melbourne’s Metropolitan communities a local solution to a local problem.”

Once operational, the facility will employ gasification technology, which unlike traditional WtE approaches, does not burn waste.

Rather, the facility will operate at extremely high temperatures in a low air environment that will convert waste into a gas that is used to produce high pressure steam and electricity.

The Victorian EPA has assessed the technology and found that the REA gasification process is well proven and reliably demonstrates compliance with the most stringent environmental guidelines.

They have now provided approval for its installation.

“SOLO recognises that waste services are changing dynamically with new directions in government legislation, community demand and council objectives,” Buckler says.

“SOLO’s partnership with REA will enable our valued customers to transition to a circular economy where the environment, consumers and industry all benefit.”

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WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ACTION – TRANSPORT

Are you responsible?

ANYONE WHO HAS INFLUENCE OVER TRANSPORT ACTIVITY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SAFETY ON THE ROAD. TRANSPORT & WASTE SOLUTIONS AUSTRALIA’S CHRIS COLEMAN EXPLAINS.

Axtec OnBoard provides drivers with real-time information on axle and gross vehicle loads.

W

hile heavy vehicles might not be ones first thought at mention of the waste and resource recovery sector, they are a significant link in the chain.

Recyclers work directly with collection companies, who liaise with councils to ensure waste is collected on time and reprocessed.

A vehicle is present at every stage in this process, and as such, understanding relevant transport safety regulations is critical to a high-functioning waste and resource recovery business.

First developed in 2005 as part of Australia’s National Road Transport Reform (Compliance and Enforcement) Act 2003, Chain of Responsibility (CoR) legislation underwent a revamp in late 2018.

The resulting laws recognise that multiple parties may be responsible for offences committed by the drivers and operators of heavy vehicles.

Chris Coleman, Transport & Waste Solutions Australia (TWS) Managing

34 / WMR / February 2021

Director, explains that the legislation operates under the guiding principal that anyone who has influence over transport activity is responsible for safety on the road.

To ensure workplace and community safety, Coleman says those involved in heavy vehicle logistics need to ask themselves a series of key questions, namely: are you responsible?

“Not the driver so therefore think you are not responsible if one of your vehicles is involved in an accident or breaks the law? Think again,” Coleman says.

“If you are responsible for packing, loading or receiving waste in your business, even if you are not driving a truck, you may be held legally responsible for breaches of the Heavy Vehicle National Law.” Corporate entities, directors, partners and managers are not immune to this legislation, Coleman adds, and must exercise due diligence to ensure the safety of their

businesses transport activities.

“You have a duty of care to the transport chain and will be held accountable for the actions of people under your control,” he says.

“You must proactively monitor and manage driver behaviour and all aspects of your logistics to ensure they meet both your company’s safety policies and regulations to the CoR and Heavy Vehicle National Law.” As such, operators across the transport chain have an interest in making sure every vehicle that leaves their depot is complaint with all legislation.

Failure to do so may result in a range of legally enforceable penalties – from vehicles being impounded to significant personal and company financial penalties and even prison sentences.

According to Coleman, there are five primary areas of focus in the CoR: fatigue management, seed compliance, loading, mass and dimensions and maintenance management.

“While each of the focus areas is critical, breaches to loading and mass compliance are most common and so easily missed by loaders, load managers, drivers and operators,” he says.

“While weighbridges will tell you the gross mass of your vehicle, and whether load limits specified in the Heavy Vehicle National Law are exceeded, they miss one vital statistic.”

To satisfy regulations, loads must be placed in the way that ensures the vehicle remains stable and safe.

Loads need to be distributed so

as not to overload axles; a common problem that until now has been often overlooked, largely because of the difficulty in monitoring load distribution.

Via a strategic alliance with UK company, Axtec, a world leader in axle weighing and load monitoring solutions, TWS can provide operators with peace of mind by ensuring their loads comply with all regulations.

“We’re helping Australian waste management companies and state utilities meet their CoR obligations, by providing accurate and reliable vehicle load information in real-time as vehicles perform their day-to-day operations,” Coleman says.

He adds that TWS’ OnBoard Axtec axle load indicators should be an integral part of any safety management system.

“By constantly measuring and displaying axle and gross weights, drivers know they are complying with mass load limits and are able to distribute their loads safely and legally at all times,” Coleman says.

Axtec OnBoard provides drivers with information on axle and gross vehicle loads via a simple, easy to read, colour coded bar graph display.

Visual and audible warnings prompt the driver when overloads are present, while load data can be simultaneously written to the built-in logger and transmitted to a tracker system.

The colour touch screen can automatically display images from rear-view or side-mounted cameras and can be set to dim when the vehicle is in motion.

“All of these functions take place with absolutely no input from the driver, so

they are not unnecessarily distracted,” Coleman says.

Axtec Onboard is used to provide real-time information to the drivers of thousands of vehicles from 3.5 tonne van-based derivatives through to 26 and 32 tonne rigids.

Dynamic weighbridges will automatically weigh road-going vehicles, including abnormal loads, as they drive over it, determining both individual axle and gross vehicle loads.

“This isn’t just about safety. The productivity gains are significant, for example, a six-axle articulated lorry can be weighed in under 40 seconds,” Coleman says.

“Whether you are an owner, driver or responsible for a national fleet, the CoR applies to you.”

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WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ACTION – SOFTWARE

As Darwin’s singular waste management facility, Shoal Bay provides unlimited access to the city’s 130,000 residents.

Clouds over Shoal Bay WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF MANDALAY TECHNOLOGIES’ NAUS INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM, THE CITY OF DARWIN IS THE LATEST AUSTRALIAN METROPOLITAN COUNCIL TO MOVE ITS WASTE DATA INTO THE CLOUD.

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ith the waste collection and management industry changing rapidly in the face of growing population pressure, increasing regulatory compliance and most recently the unique challenges of COVID-19, innovative data architecture is now an essential requirement for successful waste management facilities.

In turn, data and its integrity and accountability are becoming more crucial, with government legislation and community interest demanding answers. Recognising this trend, the City of Darwin engaged Mandalay Technologies – launching the company’s naus Intelligence Platform at Shoal Bay Waste Management Facility in October 2020.

As a result, Darwin is the latest metropolitan centre to move its waste data into the cloud.

36 / WMR / February 2021

Mandalay’s naus Intelligence Platform centralises data from multiple sites, providing self-managed, rolebased user access, multi-directional data synchronisation, data backup and disaster recovery.

In simple terms, cloud computing is computing based on the internet.

Where in the past, operators would run programs or applications from software downloaded on a server or physical computer in their office, cloud computing allows them to access the same kinds of applications via the internet.

As Shoal Bay is Darwin’s singular waste management facility – providing unlimited access to the city’s 130,000 residents – this effective and forwardthinking approach to data management is critical.

In addition to landfill services, Shoal Bay houses a transfer station,

independently-operated recycle shop and a green waste recovery facility.

Landfill gas is also harvested, producing renewable electricity to power approximately 1000 homes every year.

According to Nik Kleine, City of Darwin Executive Manager Program Management, transitioning to the cloud will help council minimise risks, while also enhancing customer experience. Furthermore, he highlights the system’s reporting capabilities, which will assist future planning at Shoal Bay. For leaders in local government, one of the most challenging responsibilities is planning, delivering, and maintaining infrastructure.

Without accurate and relevant data, the delivery of these services can fall short of community requirements.

“Our previous system had reporting

capabilities, but they were less intuitive and manipulative. With this new system, we can manipulate data very easily to get the information we need,” Kleine says.

Additional benefits of the cloudbased system include improvements to security, risk reduction, accessibility, deployment and management requirements. The naus Intelligence Platform will provide the City of Darwin with improved operational data, Kleine adds, facilitating the ability to predict future challenges and meet them before they arise.

“It will give us greater data input and the ability to look out for trends, which we can use to adapt our site to meet future needs,” he says.

The City of Darwin first began discussing the upgrade with Mandalay in 2019, with conversations progressing when council decided to construct a new weighbridge.

The new weighbridge forms part of council’s Masterplan for the Future, which aims to maximise land usage at Shoal Bay, while incorporating opportunities for new technological advancements in the future.

Future developments will be streamlined due to the adaptability of Mandalay’s intelligence platform, which is designed to seamlessly transition software upgrades.

“Those future upgrades will facilitate improvements in customer experience, particularly with our commercial customers, who will be able to look at their own accounts in real time,” Kleine explains.

Image capture of vehicles on the weighbridge on dockets will be an added benefit, he says. Kleine adds that as more commercial customers become aware of these capabilities, he predicts they will quickly begin to use them.

“Image capture will become especially important as a referencing tool for loads. If someone questions their account, the image will be there, which is a great tool for both us and our customers.”

The system’s quick and simple transaction search capability also provides the opportunity to give finance-teams access to accurate data, saving the waste-team time.

Additionally, the system’s remote access capabilities are particularly

critical for Kleine, who works off-site.

“With the naus Intelligence Platform, I don’t have to go to the site to get reports or have my team run reports for me. I can look at them anywhere, which adds an important layer of flexibility,” he says.

While the capabilities of Mandalay’s software were council’s main driver when partnering with the company, Kleine also notes Mandalay’s customer centric approach to the project.

“The customer support provided

by Rosemary Black from Mandalay was great. We also had their Senior Implementation Consultant Kumar Kannan come to the facility to provide training for our staff, which was very timely. He worked with our finance and IT team to manage any initial teething issues,” Kleine says.

He adds that Mandalay and Shoal Bay’s weighbridge operators have developed a strong working relationship.

“They were always responsive and the cut-over time was great. We shut the site in the evening and were operational again in the morning,” Kleine says.

For leaders in local government, one of the most challenging responsibilities is planning, delivering, and maintaining infrastructure.

www.wastemanagementreview.com.au / WMR / 37

WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ACTION – GLASS RECYCLING

Local partnership to give glass a second life WITH THE EXPORT BAN ON WASTE GLASS NOW IN EFFECT, RESOURCECO IS LEADING THE CHARGE IN GIVING A SECOND LIFE TO GLASS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

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ollowing a recent successful trial, ResourceCo is pitching a long-term agreement with the Northern Adelaide Waste Management Authority (NAWMA) to repurpose glass collected from the state’s household waste.

NAWMA provides best practice waste management and resource recovery services for its three constituent councils, as well as receiving and processing material for other clients including businesses, industry and regional councils.

The agreement with ResourceCo, should it be executed, will facilitate the recycling of 15,000 tonnes per annum of glass not suitable for returning to recycled glass bottles, which is then blended at a rate of greater than five per cent with a road base material, creating up to 300,000 tonnes of road construction product.

Adam Faulkner, NAWMA Chief Executive Officer, is excited at the opportunity to partner with ResourceCo in the trial and leading the

38 / WMR / February 2021

way for South Australia to repurpose its own waste glass.

“This partnership is even more significant with the export ban starting last month. We are ready to take this beyond a trial and make it a sustainable collaboration, providing broader environmental and social dividends,” Faulkner says.

“The safe and responsible uptake of recycled glass as a replacement for virgin aggregate is the most powerful illustration to householders that recycling right in their yellow top recycling bins, creates jobs, preserves the environment and builds roads right in their backyards.”

Both NAWMA and ResourceCo were early movers in committing to onshore sorting and processing.

Groundwork for the original trial began at ResourceCo’s Wingfield facility in late 2019.

Prior to its arrival at ResourceCo’s processing facility, the glass is separated from the paper, cardboard and plastics that join it in kerbside

recycling bins, before being broken down to cullet, small shards and pieces. After screening, the glass is crushed down into particles of seven millimetres and smaller.

According to Jim Fairweather, ResourceCo CEO, it is then blended with a 20-millimetre road base material.

“We have invested a significant amount of time and resources, working closely with the South Australian government to ensure the blend we are creating meets the Department of Infrastructure and Transport’s specifications for road construction,” he says.

“It’s performed well in construction, and so we’re now focused on making it a standard product offering for us going forward.”

Fairweather adds that finding alternative uses for South Australia’s waste streams such as glass is critical to the environmental sustainability of the state and achieving circularity.

“With the Federal Government making Australia more responsible

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for how waste is recovered and providing clear policy direction for the waste and resource recovery industry, the next critical element is in achieving strong procurement commitments for recycled materials,” he says.

“This a great example of industry partnering with government to deliver solutions that result in the repurposing of material that would have otherwise gone to landfill.

“With thought leadership in sustainability and partnerships with progressive and environmentally conscious governments, suppliers and customers, we can set new benchmarks in repurposing and recycling waste materials into products.”

The export ban on waste glass, which includes unprocessed glass in a whole or broken state, is the first in a series of waste export bans to be implemented. It will be followed by mixed plastics, whole used tyres, single resin/polymer plastics and finally mixed and unsorted paper and cardboard. All bans will be in effect by 1 July 2024.

“With the new laws providing an impetus to repurpose waste on shore, there is an urgent need for a strong and continued focus on growing sustainable domestic markets and this project provides a great example of what can be achieved with a united approach,” Fairweather says.

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The partnership will see 15,000 tonnes of glass recycled annually.

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Groundwork for the original trial began at ResourceCo’s Wingfield facility in late 2019.

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WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ACTION – GLASS RECYCLING

A win for greener roads LEADING RECYCLER, ALEX FRASER, HAS WON A PREMIER’S SUSTAINABILITY AWARD FOR ITS SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY HUB – VICTORIA’S LARGEST INTEGRATED RECYCLING FACILITY. The glass recycling plant produces 800 tonnes of construction sand per day.

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lmost every Victorian has driven on a green road, built from materials recycled by Alex Fraser. Each year, the company recycles three million tonnes of diverse, high volume waste into quality construction products needed for infrastructure development – providing the construction and civil works industry with sustainable alternatives to the earth’s depleting resources.

At the heart of this process is Alex Fraser’s Sustainable Supply Hub, which in December 2020 won the Large Business category at the annual Premier’s Sustainability Awards.

Now in its 18th year, the Premier’s Sustainability Awards recognises and

40 / WMR / February 2021

celebrates Victorians who are leading the way to a sustainable future, across 10 categories.

In 2020, the awards received a record number of entries, with Sustainability Victoria CEO, Claire Ferres Miles, commending the quality of regional and metropolitan submissions.

Miles congratulated Alex Fraser on its achievement, and said the Premier’s Award demonstrates the innovative approach Victorian companies like Alex Fraser are taking to create a more sustainable future.

“The continued year-on-year growth of the awards reflects optimism and momentum to achieve Victoria’s commitment to transition to a circular

and zero net emissions economy to reduce, re-use and recycle,” she said.

Officially opened in May 2019 by Victorian Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio, Alex Fraser’s Sustainable Supply Hub employs over 110 people.

The Hub exceeded all expectations in its first year of production, recycling and supplying Victoria’s road and rail projects with more than 200,000 tonnes of recycled glass sand, 390,000 tonnes of high recycled asphalt, and one million tonnes of recycled roadbase and aggregates.

“Our Sustainable Supply Hub is a prime example of how Victoria continues to lead the way in recycling and reusing valuable materials,”

Peter Murphy, Alex Fraser Managing Director, says.

“The Hub utilises a range of cuttingedge technologies to recycle on an unprecedented scale, and helps Victoria build greener roads and rail.

“It’s great to see the innovation of our team and customers recognised through this award. I’m very proud of our people and the innovative work they’re doing to support Victoria’s circular economy.”

The hub integrates three state-ofthe-art facilities – a construction and demolition waste recycling plant, glass recycling plant and a high technology asphalt plant.

“We take concrete, asphalt, brick, stone and glass waste, and process it into recycled high-quality materials for major infrastructure works, like roads, bridges and pavements,” Murphy explains.

“The construction materials we produce from waste that would otherwise go to landfill reduces the carbon footprint of major projects by up to 65 per cent.”

The Premier’s Sustainability Award is not the first for the Hub, with the facility awarded the Sustainable Environment Award at the Victorian Transport Association’s (VTA) 2019 Australian Freight Industry Awards.

In late November 2020, Alex Fraser took out the VTA’s Sustainable Environment Award once again, being recognised for the recent installation of an additive bin at its Clarinda Recycling facility. Clarinda, much like the Laverton Hub, supplies major road, rail and municipal projects with a range of high-spec, sustainable materials.

The facility has the capacity to recycle one million tonnes of recyclables each year – roughly 25 per cent of Melbourne’s glass and construction waste – and in early December 2020, was granted a 10-year operational extension following a lengthy challenge

from Kingston City Council.

Following the extension, Alex Fraser teamed up with Greenfleet, a leading environmental not for profit and Australia’s first carbon offset provider, to take practical climate action.

For every tonne of carbon created at the Clarinda Recycling Facility, Alex Fraser has committed to funding Greenfleet to plant enough native trees to directly offset its carbon emissions and help restore Victoria’s native forests and ecosystems. The initiative will see Alex Fraser offset 100 per cent of the 2500 tonnes of carbon emission generated at Clarinda.

“Our recycling facilities are determined to achieve the best possible outcomes for their communities and the environment,” Murphy says.

The Premier’s Sustainability and VTA awards highlight the critical role Alex Fraser’s network of facilities play in Victoria’s resource recovery and infrastructure ecosystem, with the company’s four sites annually supplying more than three million tonnes of sustainable construction material to the state’s big build.

In the two years since its launch, for instance, Alex Fraser’s Green Roads PolyPave Asphalt product has been successfully implemented across nine municipal councils across Victoria.

The company’s recycled asphalt has also been utilised on a number of Victoria’s level crossing removal projects, as well as the state’s Mordialloc Freeway, Monash Freeway and Western Roads upgrades – a group of projects worth over $2 billion.

“I’m really proud of what we do.

We’re preserving natural resources.

We’re keeping things out of landfill,” Murphy says.

“Our customers are very focused on building projects on time, on-spec and on-budget. And we help them do that and get a better outcome for the environment.”

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WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ACTION – CABLE RECYCLING

Eldan’s granulation line ensures at least 99.5 per cent metal purity in the output fraction.

Output fraction purity WASTE MANAGEMENT REVIEW SPEAKS WITH NORTHEAST METAL TRADERS’ JEFF FISHER ABOUT HIS LONG-STANDING RELATIONSHIP WITH ELDAN RECYCLING AND THE CRITICAL ROLE OF ROBUST MACHINERY.

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ldan Recycling’s roots date back to 1956, with the company producing various scrap shears for Denmark’s burgeoning scrap metal market. Since then, Eldan’s portfolio has grown, now manufacturing a wide range of recycling systems and equipment.

While its capabilities are expansive, Eldan has a particular interest in cable recycling. Given copper and aluminium are 100 per cent recyclable without a loss of quality, the cable recycling sector is noncyclical – consistently producing sound economic and environmental outcomes.

Throughout its 64-year history, Eldan has supplied equipment to some of the world’s largest recycling

42 / WMR / February 2021

companies, successfully installing more than 830 complete systems and 7100 single machines.

While Eldan has forged longterm collaborative partnerships with recovery companies’ world-over, one of its most significant relationships is with Northeast Metal Traders – a familyowned nonferrous scrap processing firm based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Focused on the United States’ Northeast, the company primarily acts as a wholesaler, buying from dealers that don’t have the volumes or cash flow to accumulate full truckloads of any given commodity.

Northeast Metal Traders consolidate material and guarantee quality, before shipping full trucks loads of processed

copper brass, aluminium and steel to its customers.

The relationship between the two companies began when Northeast Metal Traders’ Jeff Fisher purchased an Eldan granulation line in 2013.

Fisher has been in the chopping business for over 40 years.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Fisher started working at 14, with his hand-on experience spanning multiple roles as a metal trader at some of the largest wire processors in the United States.

Fisher, who is based in Georgia, spoke with Waste Management Review while on a business trip to Northeast Metal Traders’ Philadelphia base in late December last year.

“I’ve been in this business for a long time. And I’ve run a lot of different pieces of equipment,” he says.

“Everyone uses different equipment, and while Eldan was not all that well know at the time, I really gravitated to them because of the robustness of their machines. I’ve seen so many horrible things happen to a machine, so that robustness and the ability of Eldan machines to be repaired without major issues is a big deal.”

Fisher explains that Northeast Metal Traders decided to purchase Eldan’s granulation line because they were selling 20 truckloads of material to another processor every month.

“That’s enough to start your own line. Now we run 1500 tonnes in a month,” he says.

“I was lucky that the owners of the company, the Grellers and the Goldbergs, gave me a lot of leeway to look around at our options and research the market.”

Eldan and Northeast Metal Traders worked together to install a system configured to the company’s existing facility in Philadelphia. The cornerstone of the system, an Eldan E2500C, quickly began to exceed expected output levels.

Eldan designs its machines to be as robust as possible.

“The Eldan team come to our facility twice a year to service the machines and they are always spot on and professional.”

Jeff Fisher Northeast Metal Traders

“Elan were quite conservative in their guarantees of output,” Fisher says.

“This was significant, because the cost of their equipment vs some other manufacturers was less, and the output greater than what was guaranteed – so we had a double win on that one.”

The E2500C features a multipurpose rasper, overband magnet, fine granulator and separation table, which work to ensure a minimum loss of metals and at least 99.5 per cent metal purity in the output fraction.

The granulation line has been expanded since its 2013 installation, with Northeast Metal Traders also purchasing specialised electrostatic separation equipment from Eldan to ensure it wasn’t giving any of its metal or plastic away.

“It’s been great. Our plastic is basically metal free,” Fisher says.

“I’ve used a lot of other brands in

the chopping business over the years and have found Eldan equipment to be thoughtfully designed. They know their business and how to operate it.”

Despite the sophistication of the machines, Fisher, who helped with the installation due to his love on tinkering, says the assembly process was simple.

“Eldan machines are like when you buy something online and it comes in a box and you take all the pieces out and it fits together perfectly,” he says.

“You don’t have any left-over screws and you don’t have parts that you need to adjust to make it fit.”

In addition to the quality of the machines, Fisher highlights the Eldan team’s commitment to its customers, specifically mentioning Area Sales Manager Carsten Nielsen.

“Carsten is a great guy, he’s been to my home, he knows my wife and children,” Fisher says.

“The Eldan team come to our facility twice a year to service the machines and they are spot on and professional.”

With a spare parts distribution centre in Buffalo, New York, Northeast Metal Traders can quickly access parts when the need arises.

“We exclusively use Eldan parts even though we could probably buy them from someone else and maybe even save some money, but we’ve stayed with all the OEM equipment because of our relationship with the company,” Fisher says.

For more information, contact Carsten Nielsen at cn@eldan-recycling.com or visit https://www.eldan-recycling.com/

www.wastemanagementreview.com.au / WMR / 43

EVENTS

Spotlight on sunshine state QUEENSLAND PREPARES TO HOST THE STATE’S ONLY CONVENTION COMBINING THE WASTE AND SECONDARY RESOURCES SECTOR AND QUEENSLAND’S PRIMARY PRODUCERS.

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ueensland is experiencing an economy and population boom, largely driven by interstate migration. In order to manage this increased economic activity, Queensland’s waste and resource recovery sector must expand and diversify.

The state’s recovery rate sat at 48.7 per cent in 2018/19, with projections to dramatically increase through government and industry led initiatives including the 2020–21 Local Government Levy Ready Grants Program. Government policies over the last four-years feature a number of substantial waste and resource recovery initiatives, with reforms commencing including the landfill levy and container exchange scheme.

FWR 2021 will showcase Queensland’s resource recovery achievements.

44 / WMR / February 2021

2021 will be another massive year for the industry, with a range of major reforms scheduled to start this year.

To support the industry and provide a forum for discussion, networking, policy development and showcasing the industry’s success, the Waste Recycling Industry Association Queensland (WRIQ) is collaborating with Queensland Farmers Federation (QFF) and the Australian Industrial Ecology Network (AIEN) to present the Future Waste Resources (FWR) Convention 2021 from March 1-3 at the Sea World Conference Centre, Gold Coast.

The event is Queensland’s only convention combining the waste and secondary resources sector and Queensland’s primary producers.

It is also regarded as Queensland’s largest dedicated waste and resource recovery event.

The 2021 Convention, themed Optimism and Collaboration for Resource Recovery in Queensland, will bring into sharp focus the key challenges and opportunities ahead for the state.

It will also showcase real and practical solutions for managing secondary resources and value adding these important materials, as Australia begins to rethink its own sovereign capabilities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and incoming

waste export bans.

WRIQ CEO, Mark Smith says Future Waste Resources is Queensland’s largest event of its kind.

“The 1-3 March timeframe works perfectly and will include Federal Government updates including the waste export ban and recently announced stewardship programs,” he says.

The program will also offer insights into organics, recycling, sustainable finance and energy, a trade exhibition and networking and social events.

The 2021 draft program includes keynote speakers, panel discussions by business leaders and experts, workshops, consultation opportunities, social events and will also be the stage for the launch of a number of programs and initiatives.

The conference will include specialist presenters and suppliers outlining real challenges, successes and case studies, as well as present technologies currently in use.

“It will provide insights into what industry and the farming community are already achieving in terms of waste diversion and value-adding to secondary resources,” Smith says.

“The program will ensure investment decisions made by industry, government and waste generators, including primary producers, are informed as to the options available,

Presentations and sessions will provide information about how businesses can continue to deliver recovery solutions.

supporting business confidence.”

The convention will also feature networking, social events and activities, and will be a forum to launch key programs and initiatives by industry, Local, State and Federal Governments.

Presentations and sessions will provide information about how

businesses are and can continue to deliver improvements and solutions in terms of secondary resource recovery with a strong focus on sovereign capabilities.

Commencing on Monday 1 March at 3pm, the convention will feature an opening address and Q&A on the Federal Waste Agenda, with sessions on the 2nd and 3rd featuring a focus state priority including planning, energy, regulation, education and industry PR and branding.

“FWR provides the ideal setting for all organisations, governments and businesses to come together to discuss challenges and opportunities, as Australia and world communities respond to the impacts of a modern health pandemic on our economic, environment and social wellbeing,” Smith says.

“FWR 2021 will also showcase resource recovery achievements across the waste management, manufacturing and agricultural sectors, and offer networking opportunities across these critical pillar industry sectors.

“This in turn will facilitate further collaboration and discussion, with optimism opportunities for managing our wastes locally whilst generating new jobs and investments.”

Smith adds that the trade exhibition and equipment display will complement the program by providing an opportunity for delegates, to meet with suppliers and discuss the latest industry developments and innovations.

Mark Smith, Georgina Davis, CEO QFF and Colin Barker, Chair AIEN welcome attendees to register their interest at fwrconvention.com.au.

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PRODUCT SHOWCASE – WHEEL LOADERS AND EXCAVATORS

KOMATSU’S HIGH-POWERED HYDRAULIC EXCAVATOR Now powered by a new technology Komatsu engine, the PC210LC-11 excavator is a perfect workhorse for waste, resource recovery, civil construction and related industries.

Capable of a range of earthmoving, excavating and general waste applications, key components are designed and manufactured by Komatsu to work together in an integrated package.

The machine comes standard with the KOMTRAX remote monitoring and location system, backed by the company’s Australia-wide service and support network.

Using the latest wireless technology, KOMTRAX transmits valuable information such as location, utilisation, and maintenance records to a PC or smartphone app.

New engine and hydraulics control technology improve operational efficiency, while lowering fuel consumption by up to seven per cent. Large displacement high efficiency pumps also provide high flow output at low engine speed to improve efficiency.

Komatsu’s SAA6D107E-3 engine is EPA Tier 4 Final emissions certified and provides exceptional performance, while its variable geometry turbocharge uses a hydraulic actuator to provide optimum air flow under all speed and load conditions.

Komatsu’s engine is EPA Tier 4 Final emissions certified.

The PC210/LC-11 uses viscous mounts for the cab that incorporate a longer stroke and the addition of a spring. The cab damper mounting combined with a high rigidity deck also reduces vibration at the operator’s seat.

Contact - Komatsu

P 1300 566 287 W www.komatsu.com.au/

JCB CEA’S NEW 455 ZX WHEEL LOADER The new JCB 455 ZX wheel loader is designed to offer power and productivity in some of the most challenging waste and resource recovery environments.

Finite element analysis and rig testing ensures superior structural strength and durability, while JCB’s extreme hot and cold climate testing guarantees that the 455 ZX performs in any condition. Recessed rear lights are protected within the solid counterweight, with the counterweight and cast quarter pillars also protecting the cooling pack and back end of the machine from damage.

The 455 ZX features a JCB DIESELMAX engine with an advanced cylinder head design offering impressive fuel efficiency. The engine is constructed in a heavy-duty cast iron cylinder block, bedplate & forged crankshaft to provide high strength and long life specifically designed for off highway applications. Precision machining also provides high tolerances and accurate location of the 455 ZX’s pins and bushes.

The articulation joint has a heavy-duty box section, a heavy-duty centre pin and oversized bush, as well as twin taper roller bearings on the bottom box joints. This setup can tolerate both vertical and horizontal loadings for durability and rigidity.

The 455 ZX’s proven Z-bar loader geometry is capable

The 455 ZX’s proven Z-bar loader geometry is capable of exceptional productivity.

of exceptional productivity, courtesy of comprehensive penetration into the pile, high breakout forces, good roll-back angles and faster cycle times.

Contact - JCB CEA P 1300 522 232 W www.jcbcea.com.au/

www.wastemanagementreview.com.au / WMR / 47

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

GROUND UP COMMITMENT WITH THE CAT MH3022 When it comes to material handling machines, Cat knows success depends on productivity and low operating costs.

The MH3022 is a purpose-built material handling excavator designed for waste recycling and industrial use applications that require safe and reliable high-quality products.

The excavator comes equip with a material handling narrow undercarriage, specifically designed for limited space applications. Thanks to smaller undercarriage width, length and its symmetrical design, this MH narrow undercarriage enhances manoeuvrability and flexibility in tight areas, it shapes the manoeuvrable solution for all areas with limited space, while still offering good reach.

Cat C7.1 engine with ACERT technology produces up to 126 kW/169 hp (171 metric hp/PS). A high capacity cooling system featuring an axial on-demand fan keeps operating temperatures low, resulting in longer component life, higher efficiency and lower repair cost.

The hydraulic system has been carefully redesigned to provide the work needed without wasting fuel, while providing increased precision and speed. The new engine and redesigned hydraulic systems combine to reduce fuel consumption by up to 10 per cent with no impact on efficiency.

The new engine reduces fuel consumption by up to 10 per cent.

A closed hydraulic circuit is dedicated to the swing only.

Having two separate pumps, one for the swing and the other for other functions allows faster and smoother combined movements.

A dedicated Waste Handler Package with advanced cabin filtration system eliminates dust and polluted air ingression.

The MH also has improved visibility with enlarged glass areas and standard LED lighting for all work lights and cameras.

Contact - Caterpillar

W https://www.cat.com/en_AU.html

THE BANDIT BY STG GLOBAL STG Global’s Bandit Side-loader is a purpose-built vehicle specialising in domestic waste collection, with its modernised design ensuring safety and minimising potential hazards.

Reducing the time that it takes to conduct a collection run was one of STG Global’s focal points when developing the Bandit. And, with fully automated bin scanning technology for pick-ups, the Bandit ensures no bins are missed in the pick-up cycle.

With the longest collection arm reach in the industry, the Bandit makes negotiating obstacles a breeze.

Optional safety sensors that automatically shut down equipment when a hazard is detected can be installed, highlighting the Bandits’ commitment to safety and efficiency of operations.

The Bandits’ iPad operator interface includes GPS navigation and built-in pre-start electronic daily checklists.

Its intelligent PLC smart control system simplifies operator control for more comfortable operations, while providing intelligent system health feedback.

Available in three models – general refuse, recyclables and green waste – the Bandit’s patented modular design enables a high-degree of flexibility and easy maintenance.

All Bandit models are manufactured with high-tensile steel

48 / WMR / February 2021

The Bandit has comes equip with fully automated bin scanning technology.

and a clean-skin body.

Compactors can be easily removed with a standard forklift for repair or replacement due to wear and tear, thereby minimising downtime.

Contact - STG Global

P 1300 998 784 W https://www.stgglobal.net/

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PRODUCT SHOWCASE - TRUCKS AND VEHICLES

One scrap at a time FROM HUMBLE BACKYARD BEGINNINGS, HAINS METAL RECYCLERS HAS GROWN INTO A KEY PLAYER IN SYDNEY’S SCRAP RECOVERY MARKET.

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ecycling is an integral part of the waste cycle, and while the process isn’t pretty, it’s hard to imagine what the world would look like without it.

Brad Johnson of Hains Metal Recyclers in Saint Marys in Sydney’s west has played an important role in waste management for over a decade, with Isuzu Trucks supporting

the operation at every step.

It all started after Johnson was made redundant from his management position at one of Australia’s major scrap metal yards during the Global Financial Crisis.

During that tough financial climate, work was hard to come by, so Johnson took it upon himself to create his own future and set out

building a business.

He started out with a secondhand Isuzu truck and a backyard workshop as the processing plant.

“In the beginning, I’d drive my Isuzu truck to manufacturing companies and deliver bins out the front,” Johnson says.

“Once the bins were full, I would go and pick them up, sort through

Brad Johnson has been using Isuzu trucks for over a decade.

50 / WMR / February 2021

“From the get-go I was set on owning an Isuzu because I knew I could trust the brand. I could trust it down the highway, turning into tight city streets, to get me to my customers and back to the yard with no issues.”

Brad Johnson Hains Metal Recyclers

the scrap, value-add it and then resell the refurbished scrap to bigger operators.

“Those companies range from car manufacturers, all the way to the businesses that make coat hangers.”

Value-adding, as the name suggests, means adding value to the product being handled.

In Johnson’s line of work, that includes processes such as removing screws from scrapped aluminium sheets, increasing the value of the material.

Over the last eleven years, Hains Metal Recyclers has grown steadily, allowing Johnson to invest in a larger scrap yard, employ his own team and upgrade his old Isuzu truck to a newer model; and the opportunity to add another secondhand, mediumduty truck to his fleet.

His client base now consists of several multi-national automotive companies and other major brands in food and retail industries, amongst his other smaller customers.

Speaking of the position the business now enjoys, Johnson says he cannot ignore the enormous contribution that first Isuzu truck made to the business’ rapid growth.

“The first Isuzu truck I bought was 20 years old and it did not skip a

beat,” he says.

“Everyone who starts a business should look to buy a little Isuzu truck, just because of the guaranteed reliability and how easy they are to use.

“It will do what you need it to do, and you won’t need to spend a lot of money on it.

“From the get-go I was set on owning an Isuzu because I knew I could trust the brand. I could trust it down the highway, turning into tight city streets, to get me to my customers and back to the yard with no issues.”

“Obviously, the value of an Isuzu is pretty well known, because it actually got stolen from me! A 20-year-old truck! It just goes to show the solid reputation these trucks have as an asset,” Johnson added ruefully.

Staying true to the brand, Johnson recently purchased a new Isuzu NNR 45-150, installing a caged tray and an in-built light crane on the truck with the help of local Isuzu dealership, Gilbert and Roach Huntingwood.

Sporting a 4500-kilogram GVM and 8000-kilogram GCM, Johnson finds confidence in the NNR 45-150s capability to safely load waste loads onto the tray and move those loads

all over the regions he services – all while being driven on a standard car license.

“The NNR 45-150 is a great model to continue to grow the business,” Johnson says.

“I can put my staff into it and send them into those less accessible areas of this city, and feel confident it’s going to make its way back to the yard at the end of the day.”

Complimenting Hains’ demanding line of work is the NNR’s compact size, combined with a power rating of 110 kW at 2800 rpm and 375 Nm of torque at 1600 – 2,800 rpm.

This means they can transport full skips of aluminium, plastics, timber and other metals for processing and resale through Sydney’s hectic traffic with ease.

Johnson is also passionate about sustainability and appreciates that a positive by-product of his work is driving waste out of landfill, and into the processing plant to be repurposed.

“A large percentage of the stuff I see get dumped into landfill could be recycled,” he says.

“We’re seeing some positive steps being taken now towards a more sustainable future, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.

“I’m conscious of doing as much as I can for the environment, while still putting food on the table for my family.”

Johnson next step is to buy himself an eight-wheeler to replace the other medium-duty truck in his fleet; with the aim of making metal transport from Hains’ bigger contracts easier to manage.

“I’ve already looked into it. And it’s always going to be Isuzu.”

Contact - Isuzu

P 1800 035 640 W: www.isuzu.com.au

www.wastemanagementreview.com.au / WMR / 51

PRODUCT SHOWCASE – TRUCKS AND VEHICLES

STG Global recently extended its ingenuity to the waste management sector.

Waste trucks of the future WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW LINE OF TECH-SAVVY WASTE TRUCKS, STG GLOBAL IS POISED TO MODERNISE AN ESSENTIAL SERVICE.

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s the world was coming to grips with the COVID-19 pandemic in late March 2020, the United Nations called on governments to recognise waste management as an essential service.

The call highlighted the way in which waste management, notably waste collection, touches every segment of society.

As Australia’s population and waste generation rates continue to rise,

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demand of collection services will increase – suggesting a need to rethink and revamp current processes and technology.

It’s this line of thinking that inspired specialised equipment manufacturer STG Global’s recent market entry.

With a 30-year history in the construction industry via water, vacuum, service and tilt tray trucks, STG Global has extended its ingenuity to the waste management sector –

introducing a new range of waste trucks to market in late 2020.

The Bandit side loader, Claw rear loader and Tusks front loader designs bring added safety, automation and efficiency to waste collection, and are already being trialled by one of Australia’s largest municipal waste collection services.

Managing Director Ross Yendle explains that STG’s entry into the waste market follows a long tradition

of entrepreneurship and innovation for the company.

“We are always looking for opportunities in growing markets where this is room for innovation,” he says.

“We started looking into the waste industry, which we believe is a noncyclical market. And after talking with industry and understanding what their pain point were, came to the conclusion that the sector was looking for a new player that could modernise and innovate.”

Despite functioning as the industry’s workhorse, the humble waste truck has undergone little innovation in recent decades. This, Yendle says, inspired STG to work with a team of robotics and automation engineers to develop solutions that would streamline industry processes.

A key frustration for major waste players and local governments is missing bins during pickup runs, Yendle says. He adds that one council STG spoke with misses roughly 20 bins each day.

To mitigate the issue, STG has equipped its trucks with an automated radar system that sounds off an alarm to tell operators they’ve missed a bin.

The radar also automates the pickup process, scanning bins and unloading them without operators having to manually input via a hand control.

The trucks also feature an integrated control system, which provides operational and performance insights across a fleet – enabling city councils, waste operators and collection companies to increase their productivity.

One of the system’s key features is the ability for fleet managers to upload their own software and applications, meaning less screens in the cabin to reduce operator clutter.

“In the cab of a waste truck at the moment, there will generally be

three to four screens. But what we’ve done is work with engineers and put everything into one screen with the iPad pro,” Yendle says.

“Apple has spent billions of dollars developing this beautiful iPad. So, we thought rather than go out to market and put three or four screens in, let’s put some work into the software and put it all into one interface.”

The control system app is suitable for ‘split screen’ operation, so a second app can run in parallel on the same screen. The interface also features night and day modes, thereby alleviating operator eye strain and incabin distraction.

The trucks also benefit from STG’s patented modular design, which allows operators to attach and detach multiple hooper and packer systems and configure the trucks to individual collection requirements.

“Current manufactures generally build one body, so if something goes wrong the whole truck has to be pulled off the road, which means downtime and lost revenue,” Yendle says.

“With our modulated design the compactor and arms both separate from the body, so if the compactor wears out halfway through the life of the machine, the operator can bring the truck in and swap the compactor out.”

STG facilitates a reman service, meaning parts can be swapped out within four hours and trucks can return to the road.

“We put a lot of work into modernising the shape and design of the vehicles, which are manufactured with a non-corrosive, hard ox material,” Yendle says.

“Steel on the floor of waste trucks tends to rust out, so we found a company in Europe that are making this hard ox material. It’s specifically built for the waste industry to stop rust and prolong the life of the

machine.

“I believe we’re the first in Australia to use it.”

To support the roll out of its trucks, STG has set up an Australia wide dealer network.

“We’ve partnered with truck dealers across the country, teaching them about the machines and the backup,” Yendle says.

“We’ve also got a full online parts presence that allows customers to go online, click on their machine, explode the drawing out and order any needed parts.”

STG also has service centres in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne, with centres opening in South Australia and Tasmania later this year.

“Since we launched the range the response has been amazing. A lot of the big players are reaching out, right through to the smaller players, which I believe highlights that the market was looking for something new,” Yendle says.

In addition to the new waste truck range, STG recently won exclusive rights to distribute the Aebi Schmidt Group’s latest technology for airport equipment and special sweeping technology for road cleaning, the Street King 660 and Airport Sweeper 990.

“When we started looking into the waste industry, we decided we needed a sweeper range to complement the waste trucks,” Yendle says.

“We went over to Europe and found one of the best manufactures in the world.

“The great thing about the Aebi Schmidt sweepers is they’ve been trailed and tested internationally, so we can be sure we’re offering the best sweeper technology to our customers.”

Contact - STG Global

P 1300 998 784 W https://www.stgglobal.net/

www.wastemanagementreview.com.au / WMR / 53

PRODUCT SHOWCASE - TRUCKS AND VEHICLES

Driving data DRIVERISK’S DRIVECAM SAFETY PROGRAM COMMONLY ACHIEVES A 50 – 80 PER CENT REDUCTION IN AT-FAULT VEHICLE INCIDENTS. RISK CONSULTANT SCOTT CLAYTON EXPLAINS.

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very day, there are thousands of heavy vehicles delivering essential waste and resource recovery services on Australia roads. In turn, that level of movement highlights the pitfalls of using ineffective tools to try and understand the root cause of heavy vehicle collisions and near misses.

“If you do not know the root cause of a vehicle incident, you are completely powerless to do anything at all that will improve on road safety for your field staff and business,” Scott Clayton, a Risk Consultant at DriveRisk Australasia says.

“Until we get to fully autonomous vehicles, humans will remain in control of and responsible for the operation of the vehicle.

“One of the key promises of autonomous vehicles is to prevent the 1.3 million road fatalities the world has each year. That is 3561 every day.”

Towards this end goal of removing humans from the driving task, more and more heavy vehicle manufactures are including Automated Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS).

Their aim is to help ensure the safety of road users, however, these are designed to kick in as a reactive last resort, when the driver has failed to maintain the safe operation of a vehicle.

“Being able to understand how a driver performs on the road, i.e. how attentive they are to the driving task is key to advancing on road safety,” Scott says.

DriveRisk Australia is the exclusive agent for Lytx telematics systems in

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On average, 10 per cent of drivers have bad driving habits and contribute 60 per cent of the risk to their employer.

Australia and New Zealand.

“The Lytx DriveCam Safety Program has been monitoring and correcting driving behaviours for more than 20 years,” Scott says.

The program clearly identifies the root cause of poor driving decisions that are likely to cause a collision. In addition, it provides a platform to coach and supports any risky drivers to change bad driving habits, thereby reducing the likelihood of a collision.

“When we say “likely” to cause a collision, we know better than anyone exactly what we are talking about,” Scott says.

“Today the Lytx DriveCam Safety Program monitors more than 1.3 million drivers every day, 1.1 billion kilometres of driving every week and risk assesses more than 1 million trips every week.”

Scott explains that DriveRisk use this “mind-boggling” amount of data

relating to driving behaviours and habits to accurately profile every single driver amongst its clients.

This includes risky behaviours, collision likelihood, risk and trend and just how safe they are for their employer.

“We also use the information to fine-tune our technology so that noise is filtered out, leaving our clients to focus solely on the drivers who have some bad habits out on the road,” Scott says.

On average, 10 per cent of drivers have bad driving habits and contribute 60 per cent of the risk to their employer.

“Our risk profiling and data allows businesses to focus on the particular drivers that need extra attention and support, specifically with what issues they need coaching for,” Scott says.

“Using the data to be more targeted with your activities dramatically improves your effectiveness and

efficiency of training and coaching.

“This is how a well-run DriveCam Safety program achieves the amazing results of a 50 – 80 per cent reduction in at-fault vehicle incidents and a positive return on investment.”

Because of DriveRisk’s massive library of driving analysis, it has unique insights into a wide variety of trends that impact businesses.

Trends by industry, vehicle type, geography, time of day, depot, business unit, driving behaviours, as well as highly accurate records of the improvements to safety outcomes.

Scott says these insights help DriveRisk’s customers improve their business in a wide variety of ways.

From a people perspective, the insights improve driver retention rates, driver trainer effectiveness, effective HR policy and union and EBA negotiations.

Operationally, they lead to safer route planning, fuel savings and extended tyre, brake and suspension life.

This in turn helps businesses win new contracts, streamline workshop operations and facilitate insurance negotiations.

“DriveRisk’s data insights reduce

Lytx DriveCam Safety Program monitors more than 1.3 million drivers every day.

collision frequency, lower the severity of incidents and improved incident management,” Scott says.

“The most important benefit of all is safe and happy employees who are more productive and loyal because of the safety culture within the business.

“It is all of the above which has made the Lytx DriveCam Safety Program the largest and most successful driver safety system in the world.”

MACHINE VISION AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE The incredible amount of driving analysis and curated video Lytx has in its library has led to its most recent innovation – machine vision and artificial intelligence (MV+AI).

MV+AI refers to a technology’s ability to recognise behaviour or a pattern.

In order for this recognition to be accurate, the algorithm must be taught with large volumes of verified examples of the pattern or behaviour.

“Lytx have billions of verified and curated examples of video outlining poor driving behaviours, which led to an MV+AI algorithm that is amazingly accurate,” Scott says.

Traditionally, harsh driving was used

as a trigger to capture an event on video. The Lytx Driving Risk Analyst team (over 400 trained and certified analysts) watch the event video, detail the risk assessment and look for collision leading behaviours. This analysis is presented back to clients via reports and dashboards and BI tables for them to coach and support the risky driver to change any bad habits.

“Our vast library of curated video with over 60 behaviour classifications “teaches” our MV+AI technology to accurately recognise high-risk driving behaviours directly from the video without any harsh driving triggers,” Scott says.

“This means that DriveCam is uncovering significant amounts of previously hidden risk, e.g. drivers using cruise control on the freeway while texting or losing focus on the driving task will now be identified.

“This incredible technology has seen a quadrupling in the number of risk assessments we now perform.”

Having the right technology means users get detailed and accurate data.

Using a system that automatically analyses the data to add richer layers of information saves time and money.

Getting insights from this data to make decisions then turns data into a business tool.

“Using these insights to improve efficiency and reduce risks makes your business more productive and safer,” Scott says.

“The Lytx DriveCam Technology is a complete system that provides you all this so you can change your business to be a safer and more profitable one.

“DriveRisk Australia and Lytx are 100 per cent focused on bringing every one of their customers’ drivers home safely every day.”

Contact - Driverisk

P 1800 837 433 E info.australia@driverisk.com W www.driverisk.com.au

www.wastemanagementreview.com.au / WMR / 55

PRODUCT SHOWCASE – SHREDDERS AND CRUSHERS

Servicing greater Sydney TO PROVIDE HIGH-QUALITY RECYCLED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, BENEDICT GROUP UTILISES THE BEST AVAILABLE PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES, WITH HELP FROM KOMPTECH CEA.

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stablished in 1966, Benedict Group is a family owned and operated company that has grown from a small haulage contractor into one of the largest producers and resellers of quarried, recycled and landscape products in New South Wales.

According to Brett Jarvis, Benedict Group Operations Manager, the company takes pride in its high rates of resource recovery, production and supply, and delivery of quality quarried and recycled materials to the community through innovative and environmentally responsible solutions.

To provide its high-quality products and services, Benedict is committed to utilising the best available processing technologies.

As such, the company owns and operates a Komptech Crambo shredder, purchased through Australia’s exclusive Komptech distributor CEA. Benedict’s Crambo shredder operates at its Menangle facility south of Sydney, where it is used to facilitate the recycling of timber pallets into mulch.

“We purchased the Crambo new in 2010 and it’s been a wonderful machine,” Jarvis says.

“It hasn’t had an easy life. It’s has had a lot thrown at it, but it has endured incredibly well. It’s a well-

56 / WMR / February 2021

The design of the Crambo enables easy adjustment of the output particle size.

built, good, strong, reliable machine.”

Komptech Crambo dual-shaft shredders are designed for shredding all types of wood and green waste.

The machines feature two slowrunning drums with shredding tools to minimise fine particle and noise and dust emissions.

The design of the Crambo enables easy adjustment of the output particle size, with operators able to exchange the screen basket to suit specifications.

When shredding wood waste, the Crambo’s wear-resistant surface hardened teeth provide a high-level of resistance to contraries.

In addition to the Crambo, Benedict operates a Komptech Terminator – a slow, single-shaft shredder for all types of waste.

Robust teeth on the shredding drum and the opposing counter comb give coarse pre-crushing to a defined shredding size.

Jarvis explains that the Terminator runs at Benedict’s Chipping Norton

Recycling Centre, where it is used for C&D waste shredding.

The shredder’s continuous cutting gap adjustment allows precise setting of the particle size for subsequent process steps.

Additionally, the hydraulic drive with load-dependent speed control ensures maximum utilisation of the engine output, which is critical when managing heavy duty C&D. Jarvis says the decision to purchase the Terminator was based on his experience with the Crambo, and the high level of support offered

by Komptech CEA’s National Sales Manager Craig Cosgrove.

“I’ve been working with Craig for years, and no matter what the issue is, he’s just a phone call away,” Jarvis says.

“He really cares about his customers.”

Contact - Komptech CEA

P 1300 352 378 W http://www.komptechcea.com.au/

www.wastemanagementreview.com.au / WMR / 57

PRODUCT SHOWCASE – SHREDDERS AND CRUSHERS

THE PETERSON 2710D HORIZONTAL GRINDER The Peterson 2710D horizontal grinder is designed for operations requiring high production and frequent moves between jobs.

Available in Australia through Komatsu Forest, the grinder’s large feed opening can reduce a wide range of materials, including wood and green waste.

When boosted by Peterson’s high lift feed roll, the feed opening’s maximum lift of 112 centimetres is among the largest in its class.

The machine’s powerful up-turn three-stage grinding process provides better fracturing of material than previous models, and as a heavy duty, mobile grinder, the 2710D offers high throughputs in a reduced size.

The 2710D features a large grate area that enables it to produce materials to exact specifications, while the quickchange multiple grate system makes it easy to customise grate configurations to produce a wide variety of finished materials.

The grinder’s patented impact release system airbags also provide uniform grinding and protection from contaminated feedstock.

Urethane cushions and shear pins aim to protect the mill from catastrophic damage in the event of contaminated

The 2710D features a large grate area that enables it to produce materials to exact specifications.

feedstock.

The 2710D is powered by a Cat C18 Tier II engine and is rated at 765 horsepower for both the Australian and New Zealand markets.

Contact - Komatsu Forest P 02 9647 3600 E info.au@komatsuforest.com W www.komatsuforest.com.au/

WEIMA SINGLE-SHAFT SHREDDERS – FROM SMALL TO BIG Weima single shaft shredders are for all kind of commercial and industrial recyclables and waste applications e.g. plastics, paper and cardboard, wood, MDF, waste to energy and more.

Typical features of the robust German build machines are: • Guided and wear protected wing or pusher ram, can be controlled by frequency converter • Segmented ram and floor increasing lifetime of all machine parts • Innovative F or V rotor suitable for flexible or hard materials • Depending on machine model and size, lifetable screen basket and inspection flap provides easy access into shredding area • 4x usable cutting tools, with segmented counter-knife, optionally adjustable from outside.

The shredders feature various drive options: Power belt drive and gearbox: • Based on well proven WEIMA in-house gear box for shredder applications • Hydrodynamic clutch for power saving • Overload protection Hydraulic Drive which offers: • More responsive and less susceptible to shocks from foreign matters • High Torque – with low connected power

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The German shredders are available in Australia through CEMAC Technologies.

• High starting torque, • Rotor speed can be continuously controlled and optimally adjusted depending on the infeed material • Stopping, starting and reversing rotor possible at any time and even under full load • No inverter, gearbox or clutch Torque drive with a safety clutch, delivering high torque at medium speed.

Contact - CEMAC Technologies P +61 (0) 3 8400 6066 E info@cemactech.com W www.cemactech.com/

PRODUCT SHOWCASE – SHREDDERS AND CRUSHERS

One pass shredding GCM ENVIRO’S TANA SHARK SHREDDER IS PROVIDING OPERATORS WITH HIGH-POWERED VERSATILITY, AS THE RESOURCE RECOVERY SECTOR GEARS UP FOR AN INFLUX ON NEW MATERIAL STREAMS.

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ith the passing of its first ever national waste legislation in December 2020, Australia entered into a new generation of product stewardship.

The new laws will improve existing regulatory frameworks by encouraging companies to take greater responsibility for the waste they generate through the products they design, manufacture and distribute.

While this new approach will produce untold environmental benefits, it will also increase demand on waste and resource recovery operators – tasked with processing materials not previously seen in such high volumes.

The Australian Bedding Stewardship Council received funding to launch a national scheme for mattresses and bedding, for example, suggesting an influx of notoriously difficult to manage bulky mattresses is on the horizon.

Mattresses have traditionally presented challenges for recycling facilities as they do not compact easily and contain multiple waste streams including wood, textiles, foam and metals.

As such, to process the material in an environmentally and economically efficient manner, resource recovery facilities require high-powered and versatile equipment, such as the Tana Shark 440DT waste shredder.

Available in Australia through equipment distributor GCM Enviro, the Tana Shark enables full control of particle size from 50 to 500 millimetres.

According to GCM’s Adam

Krajewski, this facilitates time and cost savings, as the machine can perform shredding in just one pass.

“The high torque and half-cutting effect of the Tana Shark can easily destroy 160 mattresses an hour, making the shredder perfectly suited to operators looking to capitalise on the upcoming product stewardship scheme,” he says.

Through the magnetic separation of metals, the Tana Shark can facilitate an additional revenue stream for operators, as the valuable metals can be sold for further recycling.

In optimum conditions, the Tana Shark Shredder 440DT is capable of processing and removing all steel from mattresses at a rate of 160 to180 units an hour. Engineered to be robust and reliable, they are designed to minimise dust and ensure user safety when operational.

The Tana Shark is suited to variety of waste streams in addition to mattress, including tyres, green waste, plastics and construction and demolition waste.

They have the added ability of not only pre-shredding products, but also outputting a single end product with one pass.

“While shredders were historically designed for narrow, specific applications, as requirements and processes are constantly changing, Tana designed its Shark shredders to be as multi-purpose as possible,” Krajewski says.

“It really is one of the most versatile shredders on the market.”

The Tana Shark enables full control of particle size from 50 to 500 millimetres.

For better control of shredding operations, the TANA Shark weighs shredded materials on the conveyor in real time. The shredder’s control system then monitors and controls all machine functions, with 12 pre-programmed operating programs available for different material types and processes.

For volume reduction and preshredding purposes, up to two thirds of the counter knives can be replaced with half knives, which result in bigger end product size and higher capacity.

The end product size and quality can be determined and finalised by using a rotor screen with suitable mesh size out of the five available. The suitable size is defined by the characteristics of the material and the wanted end product size.

The shredder also benefits from adjustable rotor to screen clearance, which can be narrowed down to one millimetre.

Contact - GCM Enviro P 02 9457 9399 E sales@gcmenviro.com.au W www.gcmenviro.com

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PRODUCT SHOWCASE – SHREDDERS AND CRUSHERS

GCM’S TANA SHARK 440DT Suitable for even the most challenging waste streams, the Tana Shark 440DT can shred a wide variety of materials including tyres, C&I and C&D waste, solid recovered fuel, plastics, MSW, waste wood, railway sleepers, mattresses and furniture.

Available in Australia through GCM Enviro, one Tana Shark can replace three different machines, with the shredder performing the role of a pre-shredder, primary shredder and screen.

With a removable rotor screen, the shredder facilitates full control over particle size from 50 to 500 millimetres with low operational cost.

This enables time and cost savings as it is possible to perform shredding in just one pass.

With the Tana Shark, it takes only 10 minutes to add or remove screen sizes.

The shredder also comes equip with an easy to use interface, with the Tana Control System monitoring and controlling all machine function.

While shredders were historically designed for narrow, specific applications, as requirements and processes are constantly changing, Tana designed its Shark shredders to be as multi-purpose as possible.

The Tana Shark shredder comes equip with an easy to use interface.

The 440DT features 12 pre-programmed operating programs for different materials and shredding purposes.

Customer-specified programs can also be added.

The Tana Shark operates on a hydrostatic power transmission identical to those using in Tana landfill compactors, including a patented swing frame system which protects the gears.

The shredder has a robust steel structure, with the wearing parts material tailor made for Tana following years of testing, analysis and customer trials.

Contact - GCM Enviro P 02 9457 9399 E sales@gcmenviro.com.au W www.gcmenviro.com

KOMPTECH TERMINATOR SINGLE-SHAFT SHREDDER Komptech’s Terminator 6000S is a low-speed, high-torque single-shaft industrial shredder designed to process nearly all types of difficult waste including heavy construction and demolition waste, debris, white goods, mattresses, tyres and municipal solid waste.

The heavy-duty, mobile shredder is powered by a choice of modern CAT engines Tier 3 – Tier 5, which deliver 600 horsepower to the drum.

The direct drive drum, with load dependent speed control, creates maximum shredding force that can reverse at any time to prevent blockages, redistribute material or clean the drum.

The intelligent drum design features robust teeth in a spiral arrangement for maximum cutting and tearing, while keeping shredded material consistent.

Overload protection prevents unshreddable contraries from ruining the tool elements.

Continuous cutting gap adjustment also allows for the precise setting of desired particle size.

Operators benefit from adjustable cutting gaps, counter combs and swap shredding units, which can be configured from coarse pre-shredding to defined shredding.

The hydraulic drive with load-dependent speed control

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The Terminator’s intelligent drum design features robust teeth.

ensures maximum utilisation of the engine output.

The hook lift platform, three-axle chassis and steel tracks with hydraulic drive options also provide excellent mobility.

Available in Australia through Komptech CEA, the shredder features a remote-controlled hopper with a 3.4 metre feed opening into one of the larges shredding units on the market, facilitating fast and efficient operations.

Contact - Komptech CEA

P 1300 352 378 W http://www.komptechcea.com.au/

LAST WORD

The circular economy for organics – are we there yet?

IS THERE A FUNCTIONING CIRCULAR ECONOMY FOR ORGANICS IN AUSTRALIA? THE ANSWER DEPENDS ON HOW YOU DEFINE THE CONCEPT, WRITES UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND CENTRE FOR RECYCLING OF ORGANIC WASTE & NUTRIENTS DIRECTOR, JOHANNES BIALA.

Johannes Biala says the circular economy concept is scandalously ambiguous.

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n many sectors, including waste management and resource recovery the concept of ‘sustainability’ has lost meaning and credibility, with the very concept of sustainability sometimes having become a major roadblock to achieving better environmental outcomes. At some point everything was sustainable, even landfills, yet at the same time, nobody wanted to foot the bill for bringing about real change, or maybe nobody really wanted a system that was truly sustainable, i.e. where meeting our needs does

not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs. I reckon that we have to admit that we as a society are miles away from meeting this goal, and the same is true for most of us as individuals.

Consequently, the waste management and resource recovery world replaced the ‘sustainability’ concept with the circular economy model, possibly subconsciously realising that reaching sustainability is mission impossible.

While I wholeheartedly welcome this shift to a more honest and attainable conceptual construct, this is happening too fast for my liking.

We are at grave risk of merely exchanging one buzzword for another without conceptualising and defining what we mean and what we want to achieve.

Admittedly, the circular economy concept is still scandalously ambiguous.

Analysis of 114 different definitions of the circular economy concluded that often they simply equate it with recycling, and only one third of definitions expound a “waste hierarchy”, whereas it ought to

entail fundamental systemic change in business and industry operations, which only 40 per cent of the definitions included. The authors presume that significantly varying circular economy definitions may eventually result in the collapse of the concept.

Wikepedia provides a very simple definition, stating that a circular economy is an economic system aimed at eliminating waste and ensuring the continual use of resources .

The notion of the economic system emphasises that (i) somebody has to pay if the outcomes we want to achieve are to be superior to current low-cost, low benefit options, and (ii) that a functioning economic system requires cooperation of a number of supply chain partners, each of which needs to be able to derive adequate benefits from being involved.

Accordingly, without wanting to provide a full-blown definition, I would describe the circular economy for organics as a self-sustaining organics recycling supply chain driven by demand and economic advantage where additional benefits

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LAST WORD

and costs are shared in an equitable and mutually acceptable way.

Compared to other recovered materials that are much more complex to process and integrate into production and value adding processes, processing of organic residues and production / use of recycled organic products is relatively simple and already wide-spread in Australia.

Hence, if we have any chance of realising the circular economy for recovered resources in the near future, it is the circular economy for organics.

Does this mean that organics recycling in Australia is close to reaching the goal of representing a circular economy?

The answer depends on how you define the circular economy for organics, and what goals you associate with it.

At first glance, the Australian organics recycling sector, which processes about 7.5 Mt of organic residues annually, seems close to having conquered and internalised the circular economy.

However, what systemic changes occurred in this sector since the circular economy arrived on our shores only a few years ago?

Probably not many!

Local governments still supply unpasteurised mulch, disregarding the grief weeds and physical contaminants cause to users, i.e. their supply chain partners.

The vast majority (approx. 85 – 90 per cent) of urban derived recycled organic products (not including biosolids) is supplied into the urban amenity market, and this situation has not changed for the past 20 years.

Provided all supply chain partners are happy with current arrangements and their share in the value chain, this could be a successful example of the

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circular economy for organics, being in existence long before the concept was even born.

However, there is the longstanding ambition and call to supply agricultural and horticultural industries with urban-derived recycled organic products in order to ‘close the loop’.

This is contrasted by the low proportion of urban derived recycled organic products supplied into agricultural markets, which accounted for merely around 10 per cent in 2012 (more recent market information is lacking).

Conversely, agricultural enterprises in many European countries utilise more than half of all generated recycled organic products, amounting to 62 per cent in Germany for example.

Of course there are reasons for these differences, namely higher purchase and higher transport costs in Australia, resulting in a situation where a farmer in Australia has to pay, say $60 - $100 per tonne of compost landed at the farm, while his counterpart in Europe has to pay only $20 - $30 for a similar product.

Does this mean that Australian farmers derive three times more value from compost than their European colleagues?

Probably not, and that is the main reason why the organics recycling supply chain for agricultural markets is slow in growing, despite significant industry efforts and financial support from government agencies.

Many agricultural enterprises fail to see adequate benefit in utilising urban derived compost to justify paying current prices, and therefore refuse to join the organics recycling supply chain.

In fact, it can even be argued that, by paying inflated prices that do not reflect the value farmers can derive

of compost products, they subsidise urban organics recycling schemes.

How can that be, and how can it be rectified, you might ask.

Well, this is where the circular economy for organics and opportunities for systematic change come into play.

Remember that we are aiming for a self-sustaining organics recycling supply chain driven by demand and economic advantage for all supply chain partners.

Fundamentally, there are two sources for covering costs associated with urban kerbside organics recycling schemes, i.e. gate fees paid by waste generators, and sales revenue paid by product users.

Given that the supply of urban derived recycled organic products into urban amenity markets has been running successfully for the past 20 years, one can assume that the cost recovery balance is about right and that the supply chain is functioning satisfactorily, with all supply chain partners being able to derive adequate benefit.

However, the cost recovery balance has to be shifted for the agricultural supply chain so that waste generators cover more and farmers less of the overall cost burden.

In answering the question if there is already a functioning circular economy for organics in Australia, I would say ‘of sorts’ when it comes to the urban amenity supply chain, and certainly not when considering the agricultural supply chain.

If Australia wants to establish a functioning circular economy for the supply of recycled organic products into agricultural markets that is driven by demand and economic advantage for all supply chain partners, now is the time to establish the framework and structural changes necessary to achieve this goal.

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