A South Australian company has become the first waste-to-energy company in Australia to be certified Greenhouse Friendly by the Department of Climate Change. SITA ResourceCo Alternative Fuels underwent rigorous independent verification to achieve its new status.

Cadbury Australia and Fairtrade Labelling Australia & New Zealand have announced plans for Cadbury Dairy Milk to achieve Fairtrade certification by Easter 2010. This means cocoa farmers and communities can look forward to a better and brighter future as Fairtrade cocoa sales increase in Ghana and new Fairtrade opportunities open up for cocoa growers in other parts of the world.

An Australian-based developer of new wind-powered desalination plants is set to play a role in addressing the country’s severe water shortage.

WSN Environmental Solutions and joint venture partner LMS Generation have reached a major milestone, generating over 50,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy from waste at the Eastern Creek waste-to-energy complex in its first year of operation.

Origin Insulation has chosen AXO Shredders to pre-shred waste paper and card at its cellulose insulation manufacturing facility in Melbourne.

Environmental technologies available in Australia have been used by one of the UK’s major independent beef and lamb producers to achieve net savings of 60% on wastewater disposal.

A Nestlé Foods factory in Pakenham, Victoria, has just completed a water-saving project that is reported to save five million litres of water a year. Rainwater captured from the rooftops of three factory buildings is used to supplement mains water for the factory’s cooling towers. 

The Volvo FE waste truck is powered by a new Euro 5-compliant, 7-litre, 6-cylinder diesel engine, which generates 300 hp. The engine is turbocharged and the wide torque range and quick response to accelerator ensures good driveability.

Melbourne Water will soon be using the sewage at its Western Treatment Plant in Werribee to produce nearly all of the plant’s power needs.

The Energy Pipelines Cooperative Research Centre is one of 10 new centres to be allocated funding in the latest round of the government’s Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) program. The Australian Pipeline Industry Association (APIA) has welcomed the announcement, by the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research saying that it is encouraged that pipeline infrastructure is seen as a critical part of the nation’s battle to reduce carbon emissions.

The NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, Carmel Tebbutt, along with the Member for Menai, Alison Megarrity, have officially opened The Ridge Golf Course on the site of the old Lucas Heights landfill.

Black & Veatch has announced that the first phase of the Sembcorp Changi NEWater Plant (SCNP) in Singapore was completed on schedule. The plant uses the main advanced water treatment process steps of micro-filtration (MF), reverse osmosis (RO) and ultraviolet radiation to produce NEWater, high-grade reclaimed water. When completed in 2010, the plant will supply 15% of Singapore’s current water needs.

In the wake of the federal government’s 50,000 green jobs announcement, Conergy, a global leader in the manufacture and distribution of renewable energy systems, is reminding Australians that there are real green jobs in the solar industry crying out for the promised support of our elected politicians.

BHP Billiton, as one of Western Australia's big water users, has a target of 10% potable water saving documented into its environmental policy and sustainable growth strategies. The new administration and maintenance facility at Port Hedland's Finucane Island is part of BHP Billiton's Western Australian Rapid Growths Project (RGP4).

Australia's tree change and sea change movement has seen the resident populations of traditional holiday towns swell in recent years. This growth puts a strain on essential services like electricity to keep up with demand. Factor in the environmentally sensitive nature of these locations and the need to come up with sustainable, low carbon emission households and a developer's task can get extremely complex.