BUSINESS SOUTH-EAST
Plant set to recycle soil By CASEY NEILL A Dandenong South company could reduce landfill waste thanks to a new licence to recycle soil. The Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) issued RENEX Group with the permits to recycle contaminated soil. EPA’s Tim Faragher said the Ordish Road business could now operate a state-of-the-art soil thermal treatment and recycling facility. “Under its EPA licence, RENEX Group will be able to treat about 70,000 tonnes of contaminated soil per year and store up to 20,000 tonnes of contaminated soil and 22,000 litres of prescribed industrial waste liquids and convert it into re-useable material,” he said. “Depending on the soil, after treatment it could be categorised as fill material and be used for any soil purpose such as in gardens, parks, landscaping or construction. “The facility will use the liquid waste as an alternative fuel.” Mr Faragher said granting the company an EPA licence would also reduce the amount of hazardous waste being disposed of at landfills. “The company has produced technology that allows hydrocarbons to be removed from soil, which means many thousands of tonnes of contaminated soil can be put to good use rather than buried in the ground,” he said. Mr Faragher said that before its licence was issued, RENEX Group had already gone through the EPA works approval process. “A works approval is a document issued by EPA permitting, subject to certain conditions, the construction of a plant, the installation of equipment or the modification of a process,” he said. “A works approval is required for industrial and waste management activities that have the potential for significant environmental impact. “After numerous works and commissioning
RENEX CEO Marinos Angelodemou. 156696 approvals, the facility in Dandenong South is now licensed to accept, store and treat this prescribed industrial waste.” RENEX CEO Marinos Angelodemou said the company was established in 2008 and following a lengthy planning permit and EPA process, started building on its four-hectare site in mid-2012. Greater Dandenong Council rejected a permit for the plant but the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal overturned the decision. “Successful commissioning of the treatment
Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS plant was completed in January 2016,” Mr Angelodemou said. It’s Australia’s first large-scale integrated waste treatment and resource recovery facility and will use technology developed in Germany. He said RENEX was considering expansion plans as market demand for its services was expected to increase in the medium term. “We have approximately two hectares of vacant land available at the facility for future expansion,” he said.
Pokemon tenants are the latest home sales pitch
Scrooge cut Christmas pay Dandenong restaurant workers were among almost 250 who were underpaid their Christmas Day entitlements. The operator of a dozen restaurants across Melbourne will have to pay staff $21,700 following Fair Work Ombudsman intervention. The largest individual underpayment was $181. Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said the restaurant operator mistakenly believed they could declare Christmas Day a shut-down rather than pay permanent employees for a day off for a public holiday. She said Fair Work inspectors believed the employer made a genuine error and co-operated with the agency so avoided enforcement action. But Ms James said the case highlighted the importance of employers taking the necessary steps to ensure they understood the wage rates applicable to their employees, including penalty rates. “Our website can assist employers and workers alike understand and comply with their rights and obligations so there aren’t any issues arising around public holidays,” she said. Ms James said most underpayments were inadvertent and the result of employers failing to check their minimum obligations under workplace laws. “When we find errors, our preference is to educate employers about their obligations and assist them to put processes in place to ensure the mistakes are not repeated,” she said. Visit www.fairwork.gov.au or call 13 13 94 for advice. A free interpreter service is available on 13 14 50.
In Brief Skills grant for a top teacher
The Pokemon home for sale at 26 Merrick Street, Keysborough. “How do you get more buyers through your home? You Pokemon.” Barry Plant Keysborough real estate agent Ben Nguyen is hoping to cash in on the Pokemon Go craze for a Keysborough home-owner. In what he thinks could be a world-first for a real estate pitch, he’ll list 26 Merrick Street with a Pokemon-themed script he said was packed with 10 Pokemon references in an attempt to stand out from the crowd. “I hope that with the references of current interest we can generate more inquiry and inter-
est, which will ultimately lead to a higher selling price,” he said. The listing started: “For the first time in almost 35 years, this family home full of fond memories and has so much quality that is truly onyxpected.” “As you enter the front door, on the Raichu will notice an L-shaped living room.” “The piece de resistance is the outdoor concreted alfresco which provides the perfect place to spend your summer evee-nings. “This property is sure to charmander-ttract even the fussiest of buyers.”
Mr Nguyen said the best part about the property was Pokestops and a Pokemon gym within one kilometre, and a key feature was psyduck-ted heating. The augmented reality app-based game has attracted millions of users around the world since launching on Wednesday 6 July. Players can capture, battle, and train virtual creatures called Pokemon, which appear throughout the real world through the use of their phone’s GPS and camera.
Carpentry apprentice shortlisted for top state award A Chisholm apprentice is in the running to be named the state’s best. Training and Skills Minister Steve Herbert announced the finalists for this year’s Victorian Training Awards on Tuesday 12 July. Danielle Kazi-Shedden, 24, was among four shortlisted for the Victorian Apprentice of the Year title. The Journal reported in May that the Chisholm Dandenong student was doing things a
little differently and picking up plenty of awards along the way. She’s since popped up on promotional billboards and bus shelter posters for the TAFE. Danielle didn’t achieve the Year 12 results she wanted and spent nine months unemployed before landing a job at Jayco in Dandenong South. Over the next three years, she tried her hand at different roles and discovered an interest in joinery and carpentry.
“From there I was looking for an apprenticeship and found this shop-fitting role with Whytehall,” she said. Last year she won Chisholm’s Building and Construction Apprentice of the Year, and was then nominated for a Master Builders’ award. “I was a little bit in shock at the time, it didn’t really sink in,“ she said.
A Dandenong teacher is among 15 across the state to receive a VET training boost. A Trainer and Assessor Academic Grant will provide Megan Turner, who teaches at Chisholm online, with up to $8000 towards a diploma or higher education qualification in Victorian Vocational Education and Training (VET) training and assessment. “As well as financial support to undertake study, award recipients will receive significant on-the-job mentoring and professional development opportunities which will help them grow as VET teachers,” Training and Skills Minister Steve Herbert said. The new State Government grants are part of a $1 million initiative to support high-quality teachers and followed last year’s Review of Quality Assurance in Victoria’s VET System.
Advice from the business experts Small businesses can access relevant, reliable and affordable information on how to grow at a workshop in Dandenong. Business specialists who are skilled in development and management will present the Small Business Victoria event on Wednesday 27 July at 6pm. The City of Greater Dandenong will host the Pricing for Maximum Profit short workshop at the Dandenong Civic Centre, 225 Lonsdale Street. Dandenong MP Gabrielle Williams said the event was a great opportunity for business owners and operators to get reliable and affordable advice from experts. Visit business.vic.gov.au/workshops for more information. 37 DANDENONG JOURNAL Monday, 18 July, 2016