Posts Tagged ‘waste’
2010 Great Northern Clean Up
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on August 23rd, 2010
Source: EcoVoice
Following the success of last year’s inaugural event, Clean Up Australia has announced the 2010 Great Northern Clean Up will be held on the weekend of 11 and 12 September. Created after feedback that March weather made it difficult for North Australian communities to participate in Clean Up Australia Day, the 2010 Great Northern Clean Up is a great opportunity to get things ship-shape at the end of the tourist season and before the big wet kicks in.
Ian Kiernan AO, founder and Chairman of Clean Up Australia said, “Last year’s community spirit, passion and support was fantastic, with over 90 tons of rubbish removed by nearly 1800 volunteers across Northern Australia.
“We know as the tourist season draws to an end we’re likely to find new pockets of rubbish around, with bottles, cans, plastic bags and cigarette butts the main offenders. Once the wind picks up and the rain comes in, much of that rubbish will make its way into our waterways where it can harm or kill local wildlife.
“I urge people to think about areas in their community that need cleaning up, then register your site before the cut off date – August 29″ Mr Kiernan concluded.
Anyone can register a Clean Up site or volunteer for the 2010 Great Northern Clean Up on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th September just by visiting www.cleanupaustraliaday.org.au or by calling 1800 CUA DAY (1800 282 329).
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No Junk Mail Campaign: Waste Reduction & Fundraising
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on July 2nd, 2010
Source: EcoVoice
Keep Australia Beautiful has partnered with Eco Voice to encourage all Australians to read their catalogues online to reduce waste and litter. Figures on how catalogues impact on the environment are scary:
* There are around 8 billion catalogues delivered around Australia each year.
* Junk mail makes up 6% of all paper used in Australia, equating to 240,000 tonnes of paper per year.
* One tonne of catalogue pages uses 90,000 litres of water to produce.
* We could fill 8,640 Olympic swimming pools with the water used to produce a year’s worth of catalogues.
(Source: Robert Wong, CEO of Catalogue Central)
Seeking Help
Keep Australia Beautiful needs help to get “No Junk Mail – I read my Catalogues Online at Eco Voice” stickers on as many letterboxes across Australia as possible. Eco Voice will soon have bundles of stickers available for schools & community groups to use as fundraisers to spread the word and make revenue (perhaps) for their other sustainability programs. So get your school or community group involved today. By getting involved, you will be helping the environment by:
* Reducing the junk mail litter that ends up on our streets
* Saving water and paper used in printing the catalogues
* Raising funds for your school or group eco project and
* Raising funds for Keep Australia Beautiful
Keep Australia Beautiful Week kicks off on Monday 23 August.
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Queen Vic Market: Plastic-bag free
Posted in Events, Movements by Kate Archdeacon on June 29th, 2010
From July, Deli Hall and Meat Hall traders at Queen Victoria Market will be going plastic bag free with a campaign to ‘Bag the (Plastic) Bag’. In an effort to encourage patrons to rethink their use of plastic bags and their impact on the environment, traders will be offering alternatives such as biodegradable cornstarch bags in place of regular plastic.
There’s much more to the Market’s sustainable practices than many people may realise. When the solar panels were installed onto the shed rooves in 2003 the project was the largest urban gridconnected solar photovoltaic installation in the southern hemisphere. The rainwater harvesting project reduces the Market’s potable water consumption by around 25%; saving approximately 6 Olympic swimming pools of water each year.
The Market team has been working closely with traders in the Deli and Meat Halls on the plastic bag project and now has a full time Sustainability Officer on board to work with traders and staff on initiatives to further the sustainability efforts including the Bag the (Plastic) Bag campaign. The goal is to encourage patrons to bring re-usable bags into the Market and eventually have the entire Market plastic bag free – an ambitious goal but an important one. The aim is to provide customers with a high quality, lifestyle experience, and we consider running a sustainable operation to be very much a part of that experience. Plastic bags will be phased out of the Deli Hall and Meat Hall from July.
Queen Victoria Market will be holding a plastic bag amnesty on Thursday July 1 and Friday July 2, giving shoppers the chance to pick up a FREE re-usable QVM bag in exchange for making a pledge to use less plastic bags.
Market Staff will be at the following locations from 10am to 11am:-
* Therry Street entrance Deli Hall
* Queen Street entrance Meat Hall
* Market office, 513 Elizabeth Street Melbourne
Patrons can also hand in their old plastic bags for recycling in the Market office.
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Use of recycled water in industry: Guidance Tool
Posted in Research by Kate Archdeacon on May 3rd, 2010
Source: Smart Water Fund
Victoria University and the Smart Water Fund have developed a guidance tool for industrial water users to address issues associated with recycled wastewater systems and increase uptake across the state. The user-friendly guide, ‘Guidance for the Use of Recycled Water by Industry’, is designed to inform industrial water users on recycled water and how systems can be installed, with an emphasis on reticulated treated wastewater.
“As part of the project we engaged five different industries in Victoria and identified common concerns about reticulated treated wastewater, such as corrosion, water quality and company image when associated with using recycled water,” said project manager at Victoria University, Professor Stephen Gray.
“Across the board industries were unsure of its applicability to their business and some were reluctant to install recycled systems, despite the water savings they could make,” Professor Gray said.
Victoria University identified nine different categories of water use that are common across different industries. Each category has its own water quality requirements, human exposure levels and hazards.
“After identifying the most common water needs for industries in Victoria, we conducted a thorough literature review to provide a comprehensive and sound base on which to make recommendations,” Professor Gray said.
Based on the literature review, Victoria University developed a quick scan ‘water reduction tool’ and decision support framework (DSF) and trialled it on the five industries, each having different water use needs.
“The trials were received positively, with four of the five companies successful in identifying a water-saving measure for further investigation.” Professor Gray said.
“Depending on the structure of your business, recycled water systems can make water savings of more than 50 per cent, which improves the financial sustainability of your business in the long-term and reduces your impact on the environment.
“Wastewater recycling also provides additional benefits for companies where rainwater tanks are not an option, or higher levels of certain minerals and substances are beneficial.”
The guidance tool has been recognised by industry bodies in Victoria and nationally, including the dairy and food industries, as a well-rounded and accurate document for industries to make an informed decision on recycled water.
The guidance tool has also been referenced in a number of reports and websites, including VicWater and recycledwater.com.au
Read more about the project on SmartWater.
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Sustainable Waste Management: Events for Behaviour Change
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on February 8th, 2010
Source: Metropolitan Waste Management Group
The Metropolitan Waste Management Group (MWMG) works with organisations and individuals to promote and achieve Sustainable Waste Management. Their objectives are to collaborate with metropolitan Councils, Sustainability Victoria, the Environment Protection Authority, Department of Sustainability and Environment, industry, business and the community to assist metropolitan councils to undertake individual and collective efforts to:
1. Reduce the generation of waste,
2. Maximise the sustainable recovery of materials from waste for reuse, recycling, reprocessing and energy recovery and,
3. Minimise the damage to the environment caused by waste disposal.
4. Plan, coordinate and facilitate metropolitan councils’ procurement of waste management and resource recovery services, and,
5. Strengthen organisational capacity and capability and empower others to deliver waste and resource recovery objectives and priorities
Over the next few months, they are supporting a wide range of events which showcase the breadth of their engagement with behaviour change. At the moment there are three open for registration:
Green Cleaning: Systems to Erase Waste, A Waste Wise Melbourne Network Meeting, February 18
Sita Landfill and Hallam Road Education Centre Tour, March 16
Learn about the latest waste recovery technologies which reduce the amount of household and building waste going to landfill and gain a firsthand insight into the ways that recycling can reduce landfill and costs.
Sustainability Leadership for Changing Times: A 2 Day Workshop & Retreat, May 6&7
Explore the deeper questions of Sustainability Leadership at this time on Earth; Integrate multiple intelligences, with Deep Ecology and ‘Theory U’ processes in a beautiful natural setting; Broaden your horizons, allowing you to relate to your work and your world with new eyes; This learning journey will leave you empowered and inspired to lead as we navigate unprecedented change in our society; Learning from each other, through authentic collaboration, we’ll unearth a confidence that allows for creative response to the crises we face.
Contact Ellen Regos on (03) 8698 9805 or ellen.regos@mwmg.vic.gov.au for more information.
HazWaste Expo
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on October 15th, 2009
Source: Small Business Victoria
Building on the success of the 2008 event, HazWaste Expo 2009 brings together representatives across industry dealing with contaminated soils and hazardous manufacturing waste. The event aims to connect problems with solutions, with the ultimate goal of reducing or eliminating hazardous waste disposal, and the associated costs.
This is a free event for organisations seeking opportunities to reduce hazardous waste disposal to landfill:
Investigate technologies capable of reducing, recycling, reusing, reprocessing or avoiding hazardous waste generation.
Explore technology options for the remediation of contaminated soils.
Connect with industry associations and experts.
Discover how you can reduce your business costs through waste reduction.
Keep abreast of the latest waste issues faced by industry.
Turn your waste into a resource.
Date 8am – 12pm Tuesday November 10 2009
Entry Free
To RSVP, or for further information, contact Sustainable Solutions Unit on (03) 9695 2915, RSVP by 23 October 2009.
HazWaste Expo: Call for Exhibitors
Posted in Seeking by Kate Archdeacon on September 22nd, 2009
Source: Small Business Victoria
EPA Victoria is inviting applications from interested exhibitors for the 2009 HazWaste Expo. Companies offering a range of innovative solutions for reducing hazardous waste or remediating contaminated soils are invited to apply.
This is an opportunity for companies to showcase practical solutions to eliminate or reduce hazardous waste disposal, including contaminated soil. There is no cost to exhibitors but spaces are limited.
Who should exhibit?
Companies with solutions or new technology for hazardous waste avoidance or reduction
Companies with solutions or new technology for the remediation of contaminated soil
Consultants with expertise in waste reduction and resource recovery
If your company provides a service or product that can reduce hazardous waste through avoidance, reuse, recycling, reprocessing or recovery, or if you have a waste reduction success story, submit your expression of interest to exhibit.
Applications close Friday 2 October 2009.
Download Exhibitor Information
Employees’ Project Saves 2 Million Litres
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on August 21st, 2009
Source: Smart Water Fund
Nestle Pakenham’s Smart Water Fund project has saved nearly two million litres of water in just six months, thanks to a team of environmentally minded employees. Two years ago, the Pakenham factory switched to mains water leaving two large water treatment tanks unused. The Pakenham Water Wise team, which is open to every factory employee, came up with the idea of using the 5,500 square metre factory roof for rainwater harvesting. The group recognised the 1.2 million litre capacity water tanks would be ideal for storing the rainwater.
“Recycled water cannot be used in food processing for hygiene reasons, so the challenge for the Water Wise team was to devise an innovative use for the rainwater collected,” says project manager Graham Ellils. The rainwater is used to supplement mains water for factory’s cooling towers, which are used for freezing ready-made meals and consume 11 million litres of water a year. The project also included the development of a HACCP plan for rainwater re-use in cooling towers. The project captured 1.765 million litres of water in six months last year during a period of below average rainfall, and during a non-drought year has the potential to capture and save up to five million litres of water.
Source: Smart Water Fund
Soil & Organics Recycling in Gippsland
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on August 20th, 2009
Source: Smart Water Fund
A new waste plant that will process 3000 tonnes of contaminated soils, 13,000 tonnes of organic waste and up to 20 megalitres of liquid waste a year has opened in Gippsland.
The Soil and Organic Recycling Facility (SORF) at Dutson Downs, 20km south-east of Sale, will manufacture high-quality compost that will be used for pasture improvement, land rehabilitation or beautification projects.
Contaminated soils retrieved from disused petrol stations or gas works can be treated and recycled at the SORF as an alternative in many cases to landfill disposal. Other wastes, including animal fats and petrol-based pollutants, will be converted (using naturally occurring microbes) into their component parts – carbon, water and beneficial soil organics. The plant will also recycle liquids such as waste oils and washdown water from factories, food processors and machinery plants – including car washes.
Gippsland Water Managing Director David Mawer said: “Contaminated water is a valuable resource that previously has gone to waste. This new plant can now take 20 megalitres a year. That’s water that once it is treated, can be reused for agricultural purposes.” “We believe industry will soon recognise the usefulness of this facility and it has been planned to further increase in capacity as demand grows.” Mr Mawer added. The SORF is within Gippsland Water’s existing Resource Recovery Facility, which occupies 250Ha of the 8000Ha Dutson Downs site.
Source: Smart Water Fund
Zero Waste Week
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on June 12th, 2009
Could you survive a week without throwing anything away? An invitation from the Ethical Consumer Guide to join the “Zero Waste Week” trial. Can we live with zero rubbish for one week? It’s a basic concept, yet may be not-so-basic to implement. Join us on a “Zero Waste Week” trial, where together we attempt to reduce our household rubbish for seven days. For some people this will mean not having anything that is not able to be recycled in curbside collections, while for others it may mean no packaging waste including recyclables. For all, it will mean preparation as the things we buy affect the rubbish we end up with.
The proposed date is the last week of July, 26th – 1st.
The next planning meeting is Thursday 18th June.
Find out more including RSVP details.