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Sustainable Categories: Industry Updates
Cleanaway awarded Canstar Blue’s ‘Most Satisfied Customers’ award
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“I've always used these guys with no problems”. – Female, QLD
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“I've always used these guys with no problems”. – Female, QLD
Cleanaway is proud to be awarded Canstar Blue’s ‘Most Satisfied Customers’ award in the Small Business Waste Management category. This award reflects the hard work of our frontline teams who provide a high level of service to our customers.
We know that for small businesses, a great waste management service is often “out of sight, out of mind”. That’s why we’re committed to providing reliable, value for money, sustainable services. Importantly, we pride ourselves on giving our customers options so we’re pleased to be recognised for our service frequency and availability, and equipment options.
Environmental protection is one of our foundations at Cleanaway and we know it’s important to our customers too. The survey has provided some valuable insights on the number of small businesses that value working with a provider that they can trust – not just with protecting the environment but to do the right thing with the material we collect. You can read more about how we manage your recycling here: So what really happens to our recycling? | Cleanaway.
Some of the best insights from the survey came directly from our customers, here’s what they had to say:
“Essential for waste management.” – Male, Victoria
“Easy to book options, can easily ask for more servicing, good value” – Female, NSW
“I’ve always used these guys with no problems”. – Female, QLD
“Recycling for paper” – Male, WA
To see the award and read more about Canstar Blue’s process for recognising consumer choice visit: https://www.canstarblue.com.au/stores-services/waste-management-services/
Acquisition Of Citywide Waste
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Viva Energy and Cleanaway team up to address hard-to-recycle plastic waste
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Cleanaway and Viva Energy today announced they have entered into an agreement to undertake a prefeasibility assessment of a circular solution for soft plastics and other hard-to-recycle plastics currently sent to landfill and transform them back into feedstock for food-grade plastic resin.
The partners want to provide a sustainable soft-plastics solution for food manufacturers and packaging specialists seeking to cater to the growing environmentally conscious market, as well as households and businesses who want a landfill-diversion option.
The facility being assessed would incorporate a dedicated sorting and mechanical pre-treatment plant and an advanced chemical recycling plant to convert waste plastic into plastic pyrolysis oil (PPO), a feedstock for co-processing at Viva Energy’s Geelong Refinery. Recycled plastic manufactured through this process would have identical properties to virgin resin, opening the potential for food manufacturers to use recycled packaging.
The project could provide an important solution for food manufacturers and packaging specialists to meet their obligations under the Australian Government’s new recycling regulatory scheme that is expected to be in place by the end of 2025. Implementation of the packaging reform with mandatory obligations and a product-stewardship scheme for soft plastics are critical to enable this investment.
This project follows Viva Energy’s announcement in May last year that it intends to introduce coprocessing at its Geelong Refinery as part of it’s plans to transform the site into a broader energy hub. Co-processing will allow the refinery to demonstrate the important role it will play in plastic recycling while also reducing the facility’s carbon footprint.
For Cleanaway, pursuing this opportunity is part of its broader focus on providing low-carbon, high circularity solutions that reduce the need for virgin resources and lift Australia’s recycling rates.Assessing the potential for a circular solution for soft and other hard-to-recycle plastics follows Cleanaway’s recent investment in three Circular Plastics Australia recycling plants in Melbourne and Albury which process PET beverage bottles, milk bottles and other plastic packaging to create food and non-food grade resins to make new packaging.
Viva Energy Chief Business Development and Sustainability Officer Lachlan Pfeiffer said the project offers a significant advance in addressing Australia’s plastic waste issue. “For Australia to have the ability to recycle its own plastic – a true circular economy – we need to have a facility like this to convert waste plastic to pyrolysis oil on a commercial scale,” Mr Pfeiffer said. “If feasible, over time it will support a market for plastic collection and processing while also providing the pyrolysis oil we need to allow the refinery to produce recycled food-grade plastic. It will be a true end-to-end
solution for manufacturers.”
“This strategic alliance forms an exciting foundation on which to pursue a circular solution for soft plastics. It brings together Cleanaway’s experience and strategic infrastructure in the waste collection and processing sector, with the processing capability of Viva Energy’s refinery and polypropylene plant.”
Cleanaway Executive General Manager, Strategy, Mergers & Acquisitions, Frank Lintvelt said: “This is an exciting opportunity for Cleanaway to expand our existing operations enabling plastic and packaging circularity in Australia. We are looking forward to leveraging our experience piloting new collection methods for soft plastics alongside Viva Energy’s refining capability. “An end-to-end circular solution for soft plastics is desired by many of our customers, consumers and governments. We are keen to progress this early-stage planning work, so that once we have a federally harmonised policy framework for plastic packaging and mandatory obligations for packaging design, recovery, and recycled content – together, we can provide a circular plastic packaging solution in Australia,” said Mr Lintvelt.
Viva Energy Media Enquiries
Michael Cave
T: +61 409 647 910
E: michael.cave@vivaenergy.com.au
Cleanaway Media Enquiries
Mark Biddulph
T: +61 499 332 601
E: mark.biddulph@cleanaway.com.au
About Cleanaway
Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd (ASX: CWY) is Australia’s leading waste management company with a national network of unique collection, processing, treatment and landfill assets. Cleanaway operates from more than 350 locations and employs more than 7,600 people. Our philosophy is that all waste is a resource and we aim to incorporate recovery, recycling and reuse throughout our operations and those of our clients. Our mission is making a sustainable future possible together.
Circular Plastics Australia (PET) is a joint venture partnership between Pact Group, Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd, Asahi Beverages, and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP). Circular Plastics Australia (PE) is a joint venture partnership between Pact Group and Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd.
About Viva Energy
Viva Energy (ASX: VEA) is a leading convenience retailer, commercial services and energy infrastructure business, with a history spanning more than 120 years in Australia. The Group operates a convenience and fuel network of almost 900 stores across Australia, and exclusively supplies fuels and lubricants to a total network of approximately 1,500 service stations. Viva Energy owns and operates the strategically located Geelong Refinery in Victoria, and operates bulk fuels, aviation, bitumen, marine, chemicals, polymers and lubricants businesses supported by more than 20 terminals and 60 airports and airfields across the country. www.vivaenergy.com.au
Victoria’s biggest PET plastic bottle recycling plant opens for business in Melbourne
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Cleanaway announces the Bromelton Energy & Resource Centre project
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Erskine Park Landfill emerges as a winner at the 2023 Australian Landfill and Transfer Station Awards
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“In a climate where fewer and fewer landfills are being approved, this technology opens up the opportunity to revitalise dormant assets or extend the life of assets heading towards closure.”
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“In a climate where fewer and fewer landfills are being approved, this technology opens up the opportunity to revitalise dormant assets or extend the life of assets heading towards closure.”
Cleanaway’s Erskine Park Landfill recently won the Outstanding Innovation, Project or Facility award at the 2023 Australian Landfill and Transfer Station Awards for its Mechanically Stabilised Earth (MSE) wall project.
The MSE wall at Erskine Park Landfill is the largest landfill application of mechanically stabilised earth technology in Australia. At 900m long and over 16.5m high, it has raised the bar for landfill engineering.
As the current landfill fence line was fixed, the MSE wall technology allowed our team to vertically expand the landfills available airspace. The MSE wall project is in line with our Blueprint 2030 strategy, Blueprint 4 – Landfill Optimisation, which focuses on investing in new capacity to ensure that there is sufficient airspace at our existing landfill operations.
By building the MSE wall, we have unlocked 430,000 cubic metres of airspace that was previously not available. This extends the operational life of Erskine Park Landfill by over three years and alleviates some of the pressure on Sydney’s landfill network.
“We have set a precedent for the Australian landfill industry,” says Landfill Manager Daniel Wright.
“In a climate where fewer and fewer landfills are being approved, this technology opens up the opportunity to revitalise dormant assets or extend the life of assets heading towards closure.”
Erskine Park Landfill will continue servicing customers in Western Sydney until 2025. After this point, the Engineering team will install an engineered final cap to safely and compliantly transition the site into post closure.
Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.
The growing threat of embedded lithium-ion batteries
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While largely out of sight, embedded lithium-ion batteries are all around us. They power many of our everyday devices such as:
- baby monitors and cameras
- bluetooth devices (headphones, speakers, etc)
- computer accessories (wireless keyboards, mice, etc)
- digital cameras
- electric bikes and scooters
- smartwatches
- tablets
- toys
- videogame controllers.
The list goes on and on. Many Australians aren’t even aware of the existence of batteries in the products they use every day, and unknowingly dispose of these items in bins.
Pictured: In March 2023 Cleanaway operators servicing a customer’s site found a fire in one of our hook lift bins. The fire is suspected to be caused by an embedded lithium-ion battery.
Why are embedded lithium-ion batteries so dangerous?
The short answer: it doesn’t take much for lithium to combust.
There have been reports of lithium-ion batteries catching fire by simply coming into contact with moisture which makes them especially dangerous when placed in kerbside recycling bins.
On top of that, lithium fires even more dangerous than fires caused by other kinds of waste. Lithium releases oxygen as it heats up so using water to put out such fires is not only difficult but can lead to explosions.
Data provided by state fire departments show that more than 450 incidents linked to lithium-ion batteries have been reported over the past 18 months.
This alarming statistic is expected to rise as more and more lithium-ion batteries in use today reach the end of their life cycle.
Pictured: Embedded lithium-ion batteries such as the one inside this charred device shown above regularly catch fire in waste collection vehicles and facilities. This complicates an already difficult challenge for Australian waste management workers.
What to do with devices that contain embedded lithium-ion batteries?
Batteries of all types are a direct threat to our ecosystem and should be kept away from household waste bins or recycling bins.
Lithium-ion batteries pose an even greater hazard because they can combust at any stage of the waste management chain. These have been reported to catch fire during collection, transportation, handling and processing.
End of life devices that contain embedded lithium-ion batteries should be discarded at e-waste drop off points. This includes permanent collection sites at local waste transfer stations and retail outlets such as Bunnings.
Product stewardship programs such as MobileMuster accepts a large variety of e-waste such as mobile phones, smartwatches and tracking tags.
Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.
Grasshopper Environmental is recertified by Good Environment Choice Australia (GECA) for meeting new standards
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“The GECA ecolabel is an independent ‘tick’ that shows our service is better for the environment and has been ethically administered."
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“The GECA ecolabel is an independent ‘tick’ that shows our service is better for the environment and has been ethically administered."
Member of the Cleanaway group Grasshopper Environmental was recently recertified by Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA) for meeting its new construction and demolition (C&D) waste service standards.
GECA is Australia’s only independent advisory and eco labelling program. It’s recently announced new Green Star recognition covers six new standards:
- building insulation materials
- cement, concrete and concrete products
- steel and steel products
- recycled products
- waste collection services
- sustainable products and services (lifecycle assessment based).
Grasshopper Environmental services the C&D sector and is on a mission to divert C&D waste from landfill. C&D waste – which includes broken bricks, concrete, green waste, plasterboard, metals, soils, tiles and timber – has a recovery rate of up to 80%.
Cleanaway acquired Grasshopper Environmental in October 2020. In 2021 it became the first construction and demolition waste management supplier company in New South Wales to be licensed by GECA.
“The GECA ecolabel is an independent ‘tick’ that shows our service is better for the environment and has been ethically administered,” said Grasshopper Environmental Regional Manager Gavin Stewart.
“We’re proud of this significant achievement, which follows months of preparation and assessment, and demonstrates the high standards we have maintained over our 40 plus year history.”
“We’re committed to not only complying with environmental regulations but operating in a safe and ethical manner and exceeding the expectations of our customers.”
Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.
The waste industry’s fight for fire safety
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“When we think about the journey our rubbish goes on, from kitchen bin to the street for collection and then to waste facilities, if there’s a battery in the mix, the risk of a fire starting along the way soars.”
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“When we think about the journey our rubbish goes on, from kitchen bin to the street for collection and then to waste facilities, if there’s a battery in the mix, the risk of a fire starting along the way soars.”
The waste industry is seeing a sharp increase in waste fires on garbage trucks and in waste facilities. In Australia more than 450 fires have been linked to lithium-ion batteries over the past 18 months, according to data provided by state fire departments. WA alone recorded 81 lithium-ion related fires in the last year compared to 21 in 2018, NSW recorded 180, 120 in VIC and 72 in QLD.
Many of these incidents are a direct result of waste contaminated with lithium batteries and other household batteries, which are a no go for kerbside bins.
Late on Boxing Day 2022 the Canberra suburb of Hume was rocked with news of a blaze at the local Materials Recovery Facility (MRF).
ACT Fire and Rescue chief, Matthew Mavity, said in an interview with The Guardian that an incorrectly recycled battery or vape had not been ruled out.
“Any battery … has potential chemical energy stored and that can be released if it’s damaged,” he said.
Pictured: Facebook post by the ACT Emergency Services Agency detailing the Boxing Day blaze at Hume MRF. The fire has detailed residential recycling in the ACT.
ACT transport minister Chris Steel added that the incident should serve as a wake up call for people to make sure they only placed non-hazardous recyclables in their bins.
“Unfortunately, we do see too many dangerous objects put into the recycling stream that simply shouldn’t be there,” he said.
“Things like vapes, batteries and even gas cylinders that can cause a hazard and a risk of fire.”
The destruction of the Hume MRF is a massive blow to waste management in the ACT.
Thousands of tonnes of waste that could’ve previously been recycled locally is now being transported interstate for processing.
A nationwide concern
The Hume MRF fire is far from isolated. At around the same time, two fires broke out at a facility for yellow lidded waste in Kwinana, WA.
Just like the Hume incident, the Kwinana fires are believed to be caused by lithium batteries thrown into kerbside bins.
Pictured: Facebook post by City of Kwinana reporting on the fires that broke out at the local MRF in December 2022.
Pictured: Facebook post by Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA showing firefighters battling a fire on a garbage truck in November 2022.
Since 1 January 2022, Fire and Rescue NSW crews have responded to 180 li-ion battery fires compared to just over 16 in 2021.
Up north in Queensland, discarded batteries are believed to have caused eight Brisbane City Council garbage truck fires since July 2021.
All eight incidents forced the truck drivers to dump their hot loads on suburban streets.
In an interview with the Brisbane Times, Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said that household batteries that were discarded in council bins were suspected of causing the fires.
“When we think about the journey our rubbish goes on, from kitchen bin to the street for collection and then to waste facilities, if there’s a battery in the mix, the risk of a fire starting along the way soars.”
Not even landfills are safe from battery fires.
The Australian Battery Recycling Initiative (ABRI) in its Inclusion of all batteries in the Victorian landfill ban submission to the Victorian EPA mentioned reports of at least two fires in a Victorian landfill believed to have been caused by li-ion batteries.
ABRI further explained in its submission that the incidence of battery fires in landfills continue to grow and that these incidents create hazardous fumes which are a danger to both firefighters and landfill operators.
A cause for change
According to the Hazardous waste infrastructure needs and capacity assessment report by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) the surge of li-ion entering the waste stream in the years to come is of particular concern.
The report estimates that waste li-ion batteries will grow by upwards of 300% each year by 2036. The result is the generation of between 100,000 to 187,000 tonnes of waste per year.
To put this into perspective, the Sydney Opera House weighs roughly 165,000 tonnes.
Source: Randell Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd & Blue Environment for the Hazardous Waste Section Department of the Environment July 2016.
Statistics by ABRI published in Waste battery disposal and recycling behavior: a study on the Australian perspective show that Australia’s battery recycling rate is still lagging behind many countries.
Pictured: Battery recycling rate in OECD countries including Australia (ABRI 2017).
The waste industry’s fight for fire safety requires concerted action to tackle Australia’s rapidly growing li-ion waste stream. This can be addressed by further developing the current battery recycling ecosystem to keep household batteries away from kerbside bins.
A nationwide effort such as this demands cooperation from the public, waste service providers and industry to support stewardship programs such as B-cycle, Australia’s official recycling scheme.
B-cycle was launched in January 2022. In its first six months of operation the scheme has collected over 900,000kg of batteries for recycling from more than 3,200 drop off points across all eight states and territories.
Safe and sustainable alternatives are also being developed by Australian companies as a long term solution to the li-ion waste problem.
Brisbane-based Redflow and Sydney-based Gelion have developed batteries with world leading zinc bromine flow technology.
Zinc-bromide batteries offer a safer and more reliable alternative to li-ion batteries. These next gen batteries also provide performance advantages over li-ion batteries by maintaining 100% state of health even after thousands of cycles.
Apart from new and emerging technologies, battery recycling education remains the waste industry’s best safeguard against waste fires.
Cleanaway provides free resources for Australians to learn how to properly discard of their batteries and other potentially hazardous household waste.
This includes information on free battery and e-waste recycling programs for residents to bring in their end of life household batteries as well as tips on handling and managing different battery types.
Pictured: Cleanaway battery recycling education poster.
We also partner with organisations such as Clean Up Australia to support hazardous waste disposal in communities across Australia and organise hazardous waste collection events with councils across the country.
Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.