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Cleanaway announced as finalists in 2019 WARR Awards

Industry Updates

October 23, 2019

Highlights

“It’s pleasing to see what players in the industry have been working on and excelling at over the last 12 months, and how they’ve been innovating.” WMRR CEO Gayle Sloan

Tags: Awards

Highlights

“It’s pleasing to see what players in the industry have been working on and excelling at over the last 12 months, and how they’ve been innovating.” WMRR CEO Gayle Sloan

Cleanaway is proud to be shortlisted in multiple categories for the 2019 Waste and Resource Recovery Awards (WARR). It’s been an exciting period for Cleanaway with the integration of Toxfree and Daniels Health, and further progress for our Footprint 2025 strategy with critical infrastructure assets providing resource recovery and waste solutions around the country.

As finalists in the WARR Workplace of the Year category, Cleanaway is recognised for the rollout of our refreshed “Our Cleanaway Way” toolkit which aligns the newly integrated business around a shared mission, vision and values. We’re also proud of our range of Diversity and Inclusion initiatives including progress in our reconciliation journey with the Innovate RAP.

Some of the other ways we’re creating a more inclusive workplace is our female drivers campaign where we’ve been sharing stories from around the business. Hear more from drivers Sinead, Nanise and Kat who are leading the way for women in waste.

Our Hydrocarbons business unit is shortlisted for the Operational Excellence Award for achieving fantastic operational and safety results – leading a standard for the organisation across their key sites including Rutherford Refinery, Wetherill Park Refinery and Narangba. The team were recently awarded an internal Best in Class Safety award for achieving a Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) of zero in Financial Year 2019.

Cleanaway Awards Blake Senior

Pictured above: Cleanaway CEO and Managing Director, Vik Bansal with General Manager Hydrocarbons, Blake Senior

The team’s commercial and operational performance excellence is made possible by long run lengths and reduced downtime. Steady operation and ongoing equipment improvements mean lower maintenance costs which can be redirected back to other improvements and initiatives.

Our Erskine Park Transfer Station is up for the Outstanding Facility Award which is given to an infrastructure project delivered on time and budget, responsibly planned and developed, and meets world-class standards using innovative approaches and technologies. Erskine Park is another milestone in our Footprint 2025 strategy that combines traditional waste transfer with cutting edge sorting facilities to recover more material and optimise landfill diversion.

In particular, the team focused on working closely with the community to understand and address concerns through the design phase. Odour management through containment using fast-acting roller doors, dilution of extracted air using high-speed fans, and emission control are all ways the new facility operates to reduce impact on the local community and environment.

General Manager Solid Waste Services NSW David Clancy is nominated for the Leader of the Year award, which is given to a senior-level individual who has effectively shaped their business’ success, delivered financial growth, positively impacted the business’ culture and championed the industry.

In his role as General Manager David has championed targeted waste stream solutions to optimise landfill diversion and maximise the quality of material in a stream. Specifically, David has been critical in the development and success of the Container Deposit Scheme. He provided critical insights and engaged with a range of stakeholders including government and EPA, joint venture partners and the community, supporting a complex and fast-paced roll-out.

WARR recognises the leading innovations, operations, and personalities in the waste sector with an independent panel of judges of more than 30 experts spending two weeks reviewing the nominations before agreeing on a short-list of three finalists across 10 categories.

The winners will be announced at the WARR Awards and Gala Dinner on Thursday, 14 November 2019 hosted by the WMRR and Inside Waste at Sydney’s Maritime Museum. Cleanaway’s Jodi Wright, Head of Engineering, Solid Waste Services will be one of the judges deciding the winner of the Outstanding WARR Project: Regional/Rural category.

Contact us to learn more about how we make a sustainable future possible through our expert and diverse workforce and industry-leading solutions.

The road to a circular economy

Industry Updates

October 15, 2019

Highlights

“For the first time ever, COAG has put waste at the forefront of the agenda. This represents a fundamental shift in how we as a society are thinking about waste.” – Vik Bansal, Cleanaway CEO and Managing Director

Tags: Resource Recovery

Highlights

Updated: November 2020

The Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG) ban on the export of waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres while developing Australia’s capacity to generate high value recycled commodities is a win for the circular economy in Australia. COAG recently announced it would establish a timetable to implement the plan following consultation with industry stakeholders.

“For the first time ever, COAG has put waste at the forefront of the agenda. This represents a fundamental shift in how we as a society are thinking about waste – from a linear ‘take-make-dispose’ model to a circular model instead,” said Cleanaway CEO and Managing Director Vik Bansal in welcoming the announcement of the export ban.

“It’s important that consumers and industry see waste as a high value commodity that has tremendous potential to be reintroduced into the economy.”

“The use of modern resource recovery facilities and alternative waste treatment technologies are coming to the fore, and rightly so. It’s time to have the conversation not just about “what is the dream for Australia’s recycling?” but “what do we do to get there?” The creation of a domestic recycling economy is the only way Australia’s going to manage our waste, and now’s the best time to do it,” Vik added.

What does a recycling export ban mean for recycling in Australia?

Industry stakeholders agree that more has to be done to make a meaningful impact including:

federal and state-level support in reprocessing and remanufacturing infrastructure
procurement targets for government spending on recycled materials
public sector purchasing of recycled content products
incentives for domestic use of recyclable commodities, including tax credits for manufacturers and removing regulatory barriers
standardisation of waste levies and recycling rules
reducing contamination in recycling bins through public education

According to the Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR), if the 4.5m tonnes of recyclables currently sent overseas could be integrated into a domestic circular economy, it would create an estimated 5,000 extra jobs, a 10% increase on current numbers.

ACOR’s CEO Pete Schmigel said, “If there are no new and sustainable markets established for the 4.5 million tonnes of currently exported material, there will only be the option of domestic disposal – which is highly undesirable.”

“Ministers must also remain open to alternative waste treatment and waste-to-energy where Australia only uses some 2% of its waste, which is massively below European countries, who also have much higher recycling rates.”

Is a domestic circular economy possible?

The opportunity is to scale existing efforts to a level where a clean, high quality supply of recyclable materials is met by ready domestic demand for its use. On the supply side, source separation is key. By sorting recyclables into common materials at the point of disposal, we prevent contamination like food, liquid and soft plastics from degrading the quality of the material in the recycling stream. Quality input equals quality output, which is a further incentive for manufacturers looking to use recycled materials in remanufacturing.

Container return schemes

Container return schemes such as those implemented in WA, South Australia, Northern Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, the ACT (and Victoria by 2023) allow consumers to separate materials at the point of disposal, which produces a clean, high quality stream of recyclables to be used in the manufacture of new products.

New South Wales’ container deposit scheme has collected more than 4 billion containers since it began. Containers collected are sent to Cleanaway’s Eastern Creek Container Sorting Facility. 100% of the material going through Eastern Creek is sent for recycling and depending on the markets for recyclable commodities, up to 75% of all materials received are sold domestically which feeds into the local recycling economy.

Recycled material in onshore production and manufacturing

Source separated material through container return schemes is perfect for reuse. Glass is 100% recyclable and can be turned into new glass bottles for consumers when recycled correctly with remaining material available to be used in road base.

Increasing manufacturing of plastic containers or packaging onshore increases the demand for onshore recycled material by using pelletised plastic from locally collected plastic waste. This will incentivise the quality of plastic being collected to improve the commodity for reuse. For companies like Cleanaway, it represents an exciting opportunity to move up the resource recovery value chain.

Extracting maximum value from organic waste

Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) recycling diverts organic materials from the general waste bin by providing a dedicated service. The material is collected, decontaminated and shredded to be reused as fertiliser or compost. With 14 million tonnes of organic waste coming in each year from households, commercial and industrial activities, and the construction sector, the opportunity is to recover even more than the 52% currently being recycled.

Advancements in sorting and recovery technologies have made it easier to recover nutrient-rich food waste from packaged products that were previously destined for landfill. Wholesalers such as South Australian Produce Market have increased their diversion rates by up to 70% using a combination of source separation and food depackaging technology.

A commercial packaged organics recycling service collects, separates packaged foods such as expired bread and wrapped vegetables from its packaging, and recycles the organic material into compost, mulch and other beneficial soil conditioners for reuse in agriculture.

How we help make a sustainable future possible

As sustainability partners, we work with our customers to understand their waste profile and working with the waste hierarchy to maximise waste avoidance and resource recovery. By investigating ways to reduce waste before considering disposal options, we help customers deliver not only environmental but also social and economic benefits through reduced operational and recycling costs.

Our waste health checks help customers identify wasteful practices, unlock opportunities for new revenue streams and reinforce sustainability programs within the organisation. By diving deep into rubbish bins, we identify what is being wasted and the corrective actions needed to ensure better recycling outcomes.

The waste we collect is processed in our state-of-the-art sorting, treatment and resource recovery facilities to extract maximum value before being sold to end-markets.

Learn more about our investment in resource recovery infrastructure.

Contact us to find out more about how we make a sustainable future possible through our partnerships with government, industry and communities.

Acquisition of SKM recycling assets

Industry Updates

October 10, 2019

Tags: Resource Recovery

Highlights

Cleanaway Waste Management Limited (ASX:CWY) today advises it is the successful bidder for the acquisition of the assets of the SKM Recycling Group (SKM) (Receivers and Managers appointed) (Acquisition). The Acquisition follows the public sale process conducted by KordaMentha, who were appointed Receivers and Managers of SKM by Cleanaway following the acquisition of the senior secured debt in SKM, announced on 21 August 2019.

Pursuant to the Acquisition, Cleanaway will acquire the properties, plant and equipment and certain other assets of SKM for approximately $66 million, subject to customary completion adjustments. Completion of the Acquisition is expected to occur by the end of October 2019. Sale proceeds will be applied to repay Cleanaway’s senior secured debt, accrued interest and costs associated with thereceivership.

The Acquisition will provide Cleanaway with a network of five recycling sites, including three material recovery facilities and a transfer station in Victoria and a material recovery facility in Tasmania. The site in Laverton North, Victoria includes an advanced plastic sorting facility which separates plastics from material recovery facilities into clean, individual polymer grades for sale or input into a pelletising facility. The Acquisition will also include two properties in South Australia which are not currently expected to form part of future operations and may be sold.

The properties that will be acquired by Cleanaway pursuant to the Acquisition have a current combined market value of approximately $50 million. Cleanaway expects to offer employment to the majority of SKM’s full time employees.

Commenting on the Acquisition, Cleanaway CEO and Managing Director Vik Bansal said: “Since the appointment of Receivers and Managers, significant progress has been made in clearing waste stockpiles from the sites, repairing plant and equipment and bringing the sites to required safety, environmental and operational standards. We expect to gradually restore operations in Victoria over the coming months to provide councils with a quality, sustainable solution for their recycling.

“I would like to acknowledge and thank the Victorian government who helped expedite the clearing of waste stockpiles and the return to operations at the Laverton North site through the loan provided to the Receivers.

“The Acquisition provides Cleanaway with a strong recycling platform in Victoria and Tasmania as part of our Footprint 2025 strategy and our mission of making a sustainable future possible.

“The recycling sector is undergoing significant structural changes with a move to increase recycling within Australia to support a transition towards a circular economy. The Acquisition provides us with the infrastructure to capitalise on the growth opportunities created by these changes.”

The Acquisition is not expected to contribute materially to earnings during the current financial year.

Media and investor enquiries:
Frank Sufferini – 0416 241 501

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Welcoming our electric vehicle fleet in WA

Industry Updates

October 9, 2019

Highlights

"Over the coming weeks we'll be conducting trials in our local municipal council areas to ensure our electric vehicles meet customer expectations," Racine Ogborne Customer Service & Administration Manager

Tags: Electric vehicles

Highlights

Cleanaway are proud to launch our fleet of fully electric, zero emissions kerbside waste collections vehicles in WA. Regional Manager, Solid Waste Services, WA, Daniel Le Provost said that the electric trucks reduce carbon footprint and noise levels on the road without impacting service levels. “This is a true example of how Cleanaway are making a sustainable future possible.”

The electric vehicles can travel up to 120km and do a full run before it needs to be recharged. It also features a drive system that generates electricity when braking – reducing repair and maintenance costs, and the consumption of other parts like brake pads.

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible through our industry-leading waste management solutions.

Cleanaway Daniels comes together to make a safe, sustainable future possible

Industry Updates - Our Services

Highlights

Cleanaway Daniels offers our customers a total waste management solution that is tailored specifically to your facilities' unique waste journey, without compromising on safety or environmental sustainability.

Tags: Medical care

Highlights

In 2018 Cleanaway and Daniels joined forces to offer Australia’s most comprehensive healthcare waste solutions. To reflect our combined presence and expanded services, we’re proud to introduce Cleanaway Daniels – the new name in healthcare services bringing together cutting-edge collector and disposal technology with industry-leading total waste management, recycling and environmental services.

The Cleanaway Daniels difference

Our unrivalled national infrastructure allows us to service healthcare facilities of all sizes. From small surgical centres, dental and veterinary clinics to large laboratories, universities and multi-campus hospitals, our products and services are customised to meet the needs of each facility while optimising environmental outcomes through our innovative clinical waste disposal systems.

This includes the Sharpsmart sharps management system which is safety engineered to eliminate the risk of container-related sharps injury, reduce infection transfer while minimising environmental impact. Since 1999 it is estimated that Sharpsmart containers have saved more than 20,000 Australian healthcare workers from needlestick injuries.

Sharpsmart reusable containers eliminates over 940,000kgs of disposable sharps containers from landfill each year, reducing plastic waste by 2,100 kgs and cardboard waste by 150 kgs for every 100 occupied beds.

Cleanaway Daniels Sharpsmart bin

Reusable sharps containers are collected and sanitised at our state-of-the-art facilities using Washsmart – a fully automated, robotic system used for decanting, washing, sanitising and drying the containers.

This innovation minimises the need for human intervention in the sanitising process, reducing the risk of disease or injury and achieving a higher sanitisation result than any other container washing method. Washsmart achieves a 6-log bacterial load reduction, which is a 4x higher sanitation than required by the CDC in the United States.

Safe, sustainable waste management solutions

Cleanaway Daniels collects and disposes of all clinical, anatomical, cytotoxic and related waste, including sharps, medicines, human and animal tissue and other types of solid and liquid biomedical waste. We handle all healthcare-related waste streams including:

Sharps such as scalpels, blades, hypodermic needles, lancets, broken capillary tubes, broken rigid plastic, and culture slides
Chemotherapy waste such as full IV bags, bottles, tubing, needles and other containers and tubing that contain trace amounts of chemotherapy drugs
Regulated Medical Waste (RWM) – all waste contaminated with blood, body fluids, potentially infectious materials

We clean, sterilise and dispose of every waste product according to Australian EPA standards for safety and compliance through our regulated treatment and disposal technologies including:

Autoclaves – a highly pressurised machine that sterilises and kills microbial flora and fauna through moisture and heat
Incinerators – automated processing method for the treatment of pharmaceutical and cytotoxic waste to destroy pathogens and toxins
Cleanaway Daniels Medismart – a high speed hammermill that uses hammers and cutters to crush, grind, chip or shred solid waste

As a total waste management services provider, Cleanaway Daniels offers a complete range of ancillary waste collection and recycling services with multiple bin sizes, pickup and treatment options that focus on maximising resource recovery. These include:

General waste
Commingled recycling
Cardboard and paper recycling
Organic food waste recycling
E-waste recycling including batteries, fluorescent tubes, printer and toner cartridges
Biosecurity waste and secure produce destruction
PVC recycling

Delivering a world-class collections network for NSW’s Return and Earn

Industry Updates

October 7, 2019

Highlights

As a litter reduction initiative, Return and Earn encourages correct disposal of drinks containers which were previously a common litter item.

Tags: Container deposit scheme

Highlights

As a litter reduction initiative, Return and Earn encourages correct disposal of drinks containers which were previously a common litter item.

Updated: December 2019

CEO TOMRA Cleanaway More than 2.4 billion eligible drink containers have been returned since the commencement of New South Wales’ (NSW) Container Deposit Scheme – Return and Earn.

At Waste Expo 2019 in Victoria, James Dorney, CEO of TOMRA Cleanaway, the Network Operator of the NSW Scheme, provided an overview of the key achievements of the scheme, and opportunities for further improvement as the second anniversary approaches.

By James Dorney – CEO TOMRA Cleanaway

NSW’s Return and Earn has demonstrated significant growth over the past 12 months. In a June 2019 survey of NSW citizens over 80% of respondents voiced their support for the scheme with more than half of them using Return and Earn regularly.

Through the efforts of residents and businesses in NSW, over 1.5 billion containers have been returned in 2019 alone and we estimate that 3 billion containers will be collected in total by the end of the year.

Supporting these volumes requires scale and reach, as provided by TOMRA Cleanaway through our investment in a world-class container deposit network, managed in real time, while ensuring efficient and convenient customer access.

Convenient, accessible collection points

A key ingredient to a successful collections network is providing easy access to return points. To this end, the convenient and strategically located reverse vending machines (RVMs) form the backbone of the Return and Earn collections network. These self-service machines are a great way to return smaller quantities of containers, up to 500 in any one transaction. Positioned in customer-centric locations that leverage citizens existing behaviours, such as shopping centre carparks, our RVM sites offer a service level of more than 95% availability 15 hours per day, seven days per week.

Over-the-counter return points, hosted by partners such as Vinnies has also proven to be popular with the community. As of June 2019, Vinnies has processed more than 42 million containers through its bulk container deposit centres, known as Automated Depots (ADs) and over-the-counter collections at selected retail shops.

Automated Depots have continued to play a role in processing bulk container volumes at high speed. ADs have been opened strategically across the state in areas such as Newcastle, Wagga Wagga and most recently in Grafton, bringing the total number of ADs within our network to 25.

Altogether, TOMRA Cleanaway has deployed a network of 645 return points across NSW Return and Earn Container Deposit Scheme including RVMs, ADs and over-the-counter sites.

State-of-the-art sorting and processing infrastructure

Cleanaway’s network of more than 200 trucks and drivers service between 2,200 to 3,000 clearances a day, delivering containers to Cleanaway’s Eastern Creek Container Sorting Facility for further processing.

This state-of-the-art facility includes a $7 million investment in plant and machinery, making use of TOMRA Sorting Solutions scanning technology to separate the various material streams.

The clean, source separated material is a highly valued commodity stream with tremendous potential to be reused in remanufacturing. After being sorted and baled, 100% of all materials that come through the facility are sent to recyclers to be turned into new products.

Delivering on the triple bottom line of sustainability

As a litter reduction initiative, Return and Earn encourages correct disposal of drinks containers which were previously a common litter item, achieving a 57% reduction in drinks container litter in just 18 months of operation.

Additional ticks for the economic and environmental bottom lines are achieved when recycled containers become part of a circular economy, extending the use of existing materials, reducing reliance on natural resources while stimulating the domestic recycling economy. TOMRA Cleanaway’s delivery of Return and Earn has also resulted in the direct employment of more than 700 citizens, with a large number of these jobs in regional NSW.

Return and Earn has also delivered significant social benefits to the community with over 350 community groups and charities direct beneficiaries of Return and Earn donations since the scheme launched. Many community groups and individuals also use Return and Earn for informal fundraising or to supplement their income. By participating in the network as collection point operators, social enterprises such as Vinnies, Hoxton’s, Citizen Blue and Resource Recovery Australia have returned benefits to their broader stakeholders.

TOMRA Cleanaway is proud of what we have achieved to date, in partnership with the NSW Government and scheme coordinator Exchange for Change. We look forward to even more participation from the citizens of New South Wales, who are the principal stakeholders of Return and Earn.

For more information about Return and Earn, visit NSW EPA’s Return and Earn site and social channels:

Facebook: @returnandearn (https://www.facebook.com/ReturnandEarn/)
Instagram: @returnandearnnsw
Twitter: @NSWGovCDS
Website: returnandearn.org.au

James spoke at Waste Expo Australia 2019 on “NSW Return and Earn: Towards 3 billion collections”. Waste Expo is the largest free to attend conference and exhibition for the waste management and wastewater treatment industries bringing together over 4,000 customers and suppliers from around Australia and beyond.

Contact us to learn more about how we make a sustainable future possible through our partnerships with government, industry and communities across Australia.

Cleanaway at Waste & Recycle Conference 2019

Industry Updates

September 20, 2019

Highlights

Cleanaway will be presenting at the conference and exhibiting at our Cleanaway booth. Join us for the latest on waste management and recycling from our panel of experts.

Tags: Events

Highlights

Cleanaway will be presenting at the conference and exhibiting at our Cleanaway booth. Join us for the latest on waste management and recycling from our panel of experts.

Cleanaway is proud to be Gold Sponsor of WA’s Waste & Recycle Conference in Crown Perth this 25-26 September.

The conference is hosted by the Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR), Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER), and Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) and is the largest gathering of thought leaders, educators and industry professionals in WA’s waste and resource recovery sector

The conference theme this year is ‘Whose WARR is it anyway?’, identifying the roles and responsibilities of the multiple stakeholders in Australia’s resource recovery ecosystem.

Cleanaway will be presenting at the conference and exhibiting at our Cleanaway booth. Join us for the latest on waste management and recycling from our panel of experts which includes:

Donna James – Technical and Environmental Services

Donna James Cleanaway Donna James is the Business Development Manager for Cleanaway Technical and Environmental Services (TES) in Perth. Donna has been with Cleanaway for over 12 years providing solutions to hazardous, chemical and complex waste problems. Donna specialises in the Household Hazardous Waste program and is a strong advocate for the safe and correct disposal of these waste types. Donna will be at the Cleanaway booth at the conference.

Learn more about how Donna and Cleanaway’s Technical and Environmental Services team collected aerosols, paint, batteries and other unwanted or expired products deemed too hazardous for the general or recycling bins in Kwinana recently.

Daniel Le Provost – Municipal and Post Collections

Daniel Le Provost – Municipal and Post Collections Daniel is the State Municipal Manager for Cleanaway’s Municipal and Post Collections Businesses in WA. He has worked in the waste and recycling industry for over 10 years, prior to which he was employed as a qualified solicitor. Daniel holds a Bachelor of Laws as well as a Bachelor of Science (Environmental Science), both of which serve him well in assisting our municipal customers to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. Daniel also manages our Education Department to ensure we provide the most effective education services in the industry.

Daniel regularly presents to industry and communities on issues affecting the waste and recycling industry. He is also the WA representative on the Technical Advisory Committee for the Australasian Packaging Label which provides guidance to consumers and manufacturers as to the recyclability of each packaging type.

Listen to Daniel explain what can and cannot be put in the yellow recycling bin in this interview with ABC Radio Perth.

James Dorney – CEO of TOMRA Cleanaway

James Dorney - CEO of TOMRA Cleanaway TOMRA Cleanaway is the Network Operator for the New South Wales Container Deposit Scheme and is a 50:50 Joint Venture between TOMRA and Cleanaway.

Before joining TOMRA Cleanaway, James was CEO of Autocare Services (majority owned by Brookfield Infrastructure) and his role prior to this was as General Manager of Patrick Port Logistics (part of ASX listed Asciano).

James has an Economics Degree and a Law Degree from the University of Sydney, and an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management.
James will be speaking on “CDS Network Operations in NSW – the TOMRA Cleanaway experience”. In his presentation, James will provide an overview of key achievements, learnings, and opportunities for further improvement leading into the second anniversary of Return and Earn.

Facebook: @returnandearn (https://www.facebook.com/ReturnandEarn/)
Instagram: @returnandearnnsw
Twitter: @NSWGovCDS
Website: returnandearn.org.au

Daniel Lloyd – Industrial Services

Perth Metro Operations Supervisor Daniel Lloyd represents our Industrial Services division. Daniel has been with Cleanaway for six years. He started as an Industrial Chemist in our Liquids division, moved into operations roles, then joined Industrial Services in 2018. Our Industrial Services division provide custom cleaning solutions and removal of all kinds of liquid and solid wastes and sludges.

If you have any questions on disposal of bulk liquids, solids or sludge, non-destructive digging, high pressure water cleaning or other custom cleaning solutions stop by our booth to meet Daniel.

Visit wasteandrecycle.net.au for more information on the Waste and Recycle Conference 2019.

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible though our partnerships with industry and regulators.

Cleanaway awarded Silver Partner – NSW Government Sustainability Advantage program

Industry Updates

July 4, 2019

Tags: Sustainability

Highlights

Cleanaway was recently recognised as Silver Partner of the NSW Government’s Sustainability Advantage program. The Sustainability Advantage Recognition Scheme acknowledges “organisations who have committed to achieving real environmental improvements through the program”.

Cleanaway was presented the award at a ceremony last week at the Sydney Opera House attended by the Minister for Energy and Environment, Matt Kean.

Pictured from left to right: Cleanaway General Manager Solid Waste Services – NSW/ACT David Clancy being presented the award by Minister for Energy and Environment Matt Kean.

Pictured from left to right, Cleanaway General Manager Solid Waste Services – NSW/ACT David Clancy, Cleanaway Sustainability Manager Rebecca Evered and Minister for Energy and Environment Matt Kean.

Pictured: Cleanaway’s David Clancy with all the Silver Award winners

Sustainability Advantage is a NSW Office of Environment and Heritage program that has been assisting organisations across New South Wales to achieve increased competitiveness and improved bottom lines through better environmental practices for over a decade.

Cleanaway joined the program as a member in 2015, and in 2017 was recognised for our sustainability initiatives internally and through partnerships programs delivered to customers.

The award is demonstrative of Cleanaway’s ongoing commitment to sustainability and continuous improvement through program implementation around sustainability initiatives.

The Sustainability Advantage program aims to facilitate mutually beneficial outcomes between partnership organisation. Ultimately the goal of the program is to help businesses partner with like-minded organisation that seek to improve sustainability outcomes.

Fully electronic waste transport certificates in Victoria

Industry Updates

June 17, 2019

Tags: Regulatory update

Highlights

Recently EPA Victoria announced that the transport of prescribed industrial waste within Victoria will go fully electronic by 1 July 2019. This means that any generator of prescribed industrial waste must have the ability to generate electronic waste transport certificates by 1 July 2019. EPA will not accept paper certificates from 1 July 2019, ensuring all certificates are recorded electronically.

EPA is investing $5.5 million to switch to a fully GPS electronic tracking system to improve tracking of production, movement and receipt of prescribed industrial waste. The new system will enable EPA to monitor the movement of waste more quickly and accurately.

This will not impact current customers for which Cleanaway acts as an Accredited Agent. As with the current practice Cleanaway will generate these electronic waste transport certificates as an authorised agent on behalf of the customer.

The transition to electronic submission of waste transport certificates marks the first phase in the implementation of EPA’s new waste tracking tool. It is being released as part of the transition, before the new Environment Protection Amendment Act 2018 that comes into effect on 1 July 2020.

Key steps for those without access to the electronic system

Visit the EPA Interaction Portal
Select the “Create Account” link found below the login fields
Select “Register on behalf of a business” even if you are a sole trader
Follow the steps of entering a business email address, and the verification process

Online training

EPA Victoria has a great video on how to complete electronic waste transport certificates on their Help with your waste transport certificates page.

The Victorian Waste Management Association also conduct a course on EPA Prescribed Industrial Waste.

Cleanaway is committed to working with you to ensure your business gets the best value from our service and expertise. We look forward to supporting our customers and governments to improve the way waste is sustainably managed in our community.

Please contact your account manager to discuss the opportunities available to your business.

For more information about electronic waste transport certificates, visit the EPA Victoria website.

Why waste health checks deliver on the triple bottom line

Industry Updates

June 7, 2019

Tags: Waste audits

Highlights

A waste check can reveal a lot about the health of your waste – uncovering potentially expensive and wasteful disposal practices, unlocking opportunities for new revenue streams and maximising the effectiveness of sustainability programs.

What is a waste health check?

Think of a waste health check (or waste audit) as a kind of deep dive into the rubbish you’re throwing away. Quite literally, it’s about going through your waste and recycling bins, looking at each piece of rubbish thrown away, and understanding what type of waste it is, how it got there, and how to improve its recovery.

Because sustainability is about implementing best practices throughout the organisation, starting with a waste health check is the first step to setting up a good waste management plan. Without it, you would be operating in the dark without tangible, accurate data to set goals, identify waste reduction strategies and training opportunities.

The benefits of a waste health check

1. Ensure compliance to proper disposal behaviours

Recycling only works if the right materials are put into the right bin, free of contaminated items. Using the commingled stream as an example, this usually means only clean and dry paper, cardboard, hard plastic, aluminium and glass. Waste health checks help identify the contamination in your recycling bin, investigating how it got there in the first place, and steps to ensure everyone has the right knowledge to prevent incorrect disposal in the future.

2. Recover more resources and save costs

If a waste health check reveals a considerable amount of cardboard waste in the commingled stream, this builds a case for a dedicated cardboard recycling bin to maximise the quality of this material for recovery. Similarly, wet, heavy organic material such as food waste in general waste has incredible potential to be diverted into an organics bin – reducing the weight and cost of general waste while increase recycling rates through organics recovery.

3. Reveal opportunity costs

Waste audits often reveal wasteful stock management or issues with manufacturing that directly result in lost revenue. For example, is a store missing out on sales by disposing of expired produce rather than proactive stock management? Or is material being damaged in transit and unable to be sold when it could easily be recovered through a simple design change? Taking a good hard look in the bin can reveal how you’re letting potential sales go to waste.

4. Engage employees in sustainability goals

Waste health checks are also an excellent tool to communicate your goals to the whole team and get their buy-in for sustainability targets. By engaging team members in the audit process, everyone is made to understand the impact of their waste on the organisation and are likely to take that knowledge back to positively influence their co-workers, departments, families and communities they live in.

Everyone can benefit from regular check-ups

1. Large organisations with multiple branches

Cleanaway provides general waste and recycling services to Officeworks – Australia’s leading office supplies chain with over 200 stores nationwide. Since working with Cleanaway in 2017, our waste audits have significantly increased their diversion rates from 64% in April 2017 to 82%.

2. Small to medium sized businesses

A café in Adelaide, Argo discovered that they were diverting less than 20% of their waste from landfill. Following Cleanaway’s waste health check, an organics recycling service was started by the café. This resulted in Argo substantially increasing their diversion rate from 19.3% to 70% in just two months. To add to its green credentials, Argo could now claim that it was recycling food waste into high quality compost and mulch to nourish soil.

3. Councils, schools, universities, community groups

Cleanaway collaborated with James Cook University’s (JCU) TropEco team for a health check of the campus’ commingled recycling stream in Townsville. At the end of the process, the team discovered the potential for a new cardboard recycling stream (40% of all recycling was cardboard) and the need to further educate students on proper disposal practices (10% of recycling was being disposed of in general waste).

Ready to get started with a waste management plan? We can help.

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