Government makes battery recycling a priority
13 August, 2013The Australian Government has released its 2013-14 priority list of products that will be considered for voluntary certification or regulation under the Product Stewardship Act, including end-of-life handheld batteries.
National Bulk Equipment ProductSaver product recovery system for packaged liquids and flow-resistant wet contents
30 July, 2013The National Bulk Equipment ProductSaver line of product recovery systems is designed to provide automated, controlled removal of free-flowing liquids or flow-resistant wet contents from their packaging.
Mobile phone runs on urine power
17 July, 2013 by Dr Ioannis IeropoulosScientists working at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, which is a collaboration between the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) and the University of Bristol, have developed a novel way of charging mobile phones using urine as the power source to generate electricity.
Recycling tyres to recover oil and steel
16 July, 2013Green Distillation Technologies is commercialising an innovative process to resolve the long-standing, global environmental problem of tyre disposal, to produce oil and recover steel and carbon from end-of-life tyres. The company plans to start operations in October at its Warren NSW pilot plant and market an IPO next year to fund seven additional plants in Australia in its first five years.
Developments in PET and bioplastics
15 July, 2013Take a PET bottle, fill it with sand and put the lid on. Do this with lots more bottles, then stack them up and join them together with mud and cement. What sounds like a fun game for the children’s sandpit is, in fact, a new idea in recycling. The bottles are being used to build houses in an outstanding and ambitious project in Nigeria.
Unitywater lightens the load on landfill
10 July, 2013Unitywater will divert 200 tonnes of waste away from landfill, thanks to a recycling program that will see almost 90% of the old Cooroy Sewage Treatment Plant re-used.
Forum discusses the future of e-waste
04 July, 2013The ‘E-Waste or E-Resource?’ future forum took place on 28 June. Hosted by the ANZRP, the forum discussed the federal product stewardship legislation and whether it is enabling resource efficiency and the emerging circular economy.
BASF closes the loop on composting showcase at Chinaplas 2013
04 July, 2013BASF and Guangzhou Joraform Environmental have announced that compost produced from a joint composting project at Chinaplas has come full circle and will be used to improve soil quality at the Guangzhou Nansha District Dagang Institute of Agricultural Sciences farm in Guangzhou.
C&I waste and recycling report published
18 June, 2013The Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities today released ‘A study into commercial and industrial (C&I) waste and recycling in Australia by industry division’.
Creating high-value products from leftovers
13 June, 2013 by Marcia WoodFor around every 4 L of olive oil that’s pressed from the ripe fruit, about 17 kg of olive skins, pulp and pits are left behind. Known as pomace, these leftovers typically have low-value uses. But US Department of Agriculture (USDA) agricultural engineer Rebecca R Milczarek and her colleagues are working with olive growers and olive-oil processors in California - where most of the US’s commercial olives are grown - to find new, environmentally friendly and profitable uses for pomace.
Waste to wages
13 June, 2013Community recycling enterprises have the potential to create thousands of new jobs while at the same time reducing waste to landfill. A documentary titled ‘Waste to Wages’ demonstrates how these enterprises are dealing with local waste problems in a sustainable way.
Trends in ‘sustainable’ packaging: a recycling industry perspective
02 June, 2013 by Grant Musgrove*, CEO, ACORWith all the discussion regarding container deposit legislation, packaging regulatory reviews and product stewardship, it is timely to step back and examine the key drivers to sustainable packaging and global trends.
Making ice-cream more nutritious with meat waste
28 May, 2013Most of the animal proteins found in the meat industry waste have, until now, been underutilised. The challenge is to transform such waste into food of higher functionality and added value.
Transforming waste energy into sustainable processes
16 May, 2013 by Ed Sugay*, Head of Energy Efficiency, Siemens LtdAround half of the primary energy consumed in industrial processes is currently wasted. Even steel produced by recycling scrap metal in electric-arc furnaces, for instance, requires approximately 370 kWh per metric tonne. In this type of furnace an electric arc is struck between several electrodes. The resulting heat causes the steel to melt before emitting a mixture of gases at up to 1700°C - a huge waste that might otherwise be used in the process or to generate electric power.
Drop Zone free drop-off for e-waste
10 May, 2013SITA Australia has partnered with the Supply Chain arm of DHL in Australia to reduce the amount of television and computer waste going to landfill and increase the recovery of resources. The program also aims to provide greater recycling options and a free-of-charge solution for the community.
