Top tips for Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) recycling

Our Services

December 5, 2022

Tags: Everyday tips

Highlights

Updated December 2022

Organic waste like leftover food is some of the heaviest components of the general waste bin, making up to 50% of the bin for shopping malls and the retail sector alone. Yet food and other organic waste, such as garden trimmings, can be recycled into compost, mulch and other beneficial soil conditioners, closing the loop on organic waste.

Composting at home or school

For households, composting is a simple, actionable way to recycle organic waste that almost anyone can do.

The benefits of composting at home include:

Reduce reliance on chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides
Change the soil structure of the garden, leading to healthier and resilient plants
Reduce reliance on expensive soil conditioners and chemicals
Increase the garden’s resistance to drought and dry conditions by improving water retention and reducing soil erosion
Reduce the weight and volume of the general waste bin

Starting a compost at home is simple:

Aim for a healthy balance of rich carbon matter and organic nitrogen
Use a 3:1 ratio of brown to green items
Ensure your bin is covered to avoid flies and rodents and avoid unsuitable materials

Watch this video to learn more about setting up a compost bin at home or in school.

To encourage even more organics recovery, kerbside FOGO collections are being rolled out across the country. The National Waste Policy Action Plan has targeted FOGO bins for every household in Australia by 2030.

South Australia is currently leading the way with the most amount of kerbside FOGO bins:

40% in South Australia
26% in New South Wales
24% in Victoria
10% in Tasmania
3% in Western Australia (with an expected increase as the Better Bin program is expanded)

Organics recovery for businesses

For businesses, organics recycling offers a number of benefits, including:

Reducing the weight and thereby, the cost of the general waste bin
Improving landfill diversion and sustainability rates
Promoting a circular economy where recycled organics contributes to the health crops and agriculture

Organic waste recovery is not limited to just cafes, shopping malls, kitchens, bakeries and other food and beverage businesses. Savvy business owners that have a comprehensive waste management plan can identify new waste streams on their premises, including organic waste.

Event organisers may also want to engage an organics recovery service for their events, even if it is a one-off occasion.

Find out how we work with our customers to reduce waste with our total waste management solutions for businesses.

What happens to organic waste?

The organic waste collected by Cleanaway can be recycled in multiple ways, including repurposed into high-grade compost. Our EPA-approved organics recovery facilities located throughout Australia processes food and garden waste into compost and mulch. The South East Organics Facility in Dandenong South alone allows us to recover 100,000 tonnes of organic waste each year including large amounts of industrial food waste wrapped in packaging.

Want to download our top tips for FOGO recycling? Visit our FOGO hub.

Inkerman Landfill’s 10-year masterplan to ramp up resource recovery in South Australia

Our Services

October 10, 2022

Highlights

“In the one-to-five-year timeframe we are looking to commence projects involving soil recovery, basic C&D processing as well as garden organics receival and processing.”

“In the five-to-ten-year timeframe we will be considering an on-site resource recovery centre to recover materials that would otherwise go to landfill."

Tags: Landfill

Highlights

“In the one-to-five-year timeframe we are looking to commence projects involving soil recovery, basic C&D processing as well as garden organics receival and processing.”

“In the five-to-ten-year timeframe we will be considering an on-site resource recovery centre to recover materials that would otherwise go to landfill."

Inkerman Landfill is one of South Australia’s largest landfills and accepts approximately 250,000 tonnes of waste from across the region each year.

As the operator of the landfill, we are working on a 10-year masterplan to divert and recover materials on site. This is in line with the transition from a use-and-dispose economy to a circular economy which is the key focus of South Australia’s 2020-2025 Waste Strategy.

Source: The Circular Economy in South Australia (Green Industries SA, SA Waste Strategy 2020-25)

Our masterplan is also expected to extend the life of Inkerman Landfill from the current forecast of 50 to 60 years.

Regional Manager David Leaney says, “In the one-to-five-year timeframe we are looking to commence projects involving soil recovery, basic C&D processing as well as garden organics receival and processing.”

“In the five-to-ten-year timeframe we will be considering an on-site resource recovery centre to recover materials that would otherwise go to landfill. We are also considering other waste streams including high level contaminated waste (HLCW) and low concentrations of PFAS, subject to regulatory approvals.”

Pictured: David Leaney (middle) at Inkerman Landfill.

Pictured: Map of Inkerman Landfill.

At the core of Inkerman Landfill’s 10-year masterplan is our Inkerman team’s dedication to innovation which has garnered the landfill several industry accolades over the years.

During the 2015 Waste Management Association of Australia Awards, Inkerman Landfill won the Landfill Excellence Award for its containment and control systems as well as its engineering-grade and site-based GPS system.

This GPS system allows real-time tracking and recording of data on sensitive waste loads such as non-friable asbestos or quarantine waste.

Pushing the limits of technology has also enabled our Inkerman team to further compact the waste in the site’s cells, increasing the density and lifespan of the waste.

Through landfill gas capture and flaring, the team also minimises the release of methane into the surrounding air.

Pictured: Landfill gas flaring.

Pictured: Heat map showing overall levels of Inkerman Landfill. The top left corner is where two new cells are being constructed.

The 10-year masterplan is being developed with the consideration of the surrounding farming community. The Inkerman Landfill Community Reference Group (ILCRG) – which consists of members of communities surrounding Inkerman Landfill – plays a crucial role in its present and future.

“The ILCRG is not only updated on what we’re currently doing at the landfill but are actively consulted and involved in the development of our 10-year masterplan.”

“Seeking community feedback is important to us. We take it upon ourselves to making ourselves known and building trust within the communities we operate in.”

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.

Cleanaview – five years of service and counting

Communities - Our Services

September 21, 2022

Highlights

"The Cleanaview team is looking forward to continuing to develop Cleanaview so it provides even greater benefit to our branches and our ability to provide the best service to our customers.”

Tags: Our services

Highlights

"The Cleanaview team is looking forward to continuing to develop Cleanaview so it provides even greater benefit to our branches and our ability to provide the best service to our customers.”

1 September 2022 marked five years since the launch of Cleanaview (Municipal Version), our integrated system that helps our municipal customers keep track of collections with real time data gathered from the Cleanaway fleet.

Head of Cleanaview Redevelopment Paul Young said, “Thank you to our branches and their operations and support staff, customer service teams and drivers for embracing the technology and making it work. The Cleanaview team is looking forward to continuing to develop Cleanaview so it provides even greater benefit to our branches and our ability to provide the best service to our customers.”

In 2018, Noosa Shire Council employed Cleanaview as a single point of call for reporting and resolving issues.

Today it is in operation for 61 of our council contracts with 51 councils using purpose built, council branded Cleanaview portals to monitor Cleanaway vehicles and job completion.

Pictured: Over 1,100 Cleanaway solid waste services vehicles currently use Cleanaview to communicate bin events to council customer service teams. The Cleanaview platform brings customer transparency, which is a unique selling proposal to municipal users. This transparency also minimises any back and forth between residents, councils and Cleanaway admin teams.

The system gathers data from our fleet of trucks and enables our drivers to report driver-initiated alerts including high definition images directly to council. This includes contaminated or damaged bins as well as bins that have not been emptied or presented.

Cleanaview also enables our drivers to take photos or record videos of such bin events on their routes for council customer service teams to action on in real time.

Such visual information offers councils greater visibility over bin usage in the community and more control over kerbside collections.

Pictured: Cleanaview allows council customer service teams to give feedback to residents who call about their collections and provide them with a first call resolution.

Over its first five years in service, Cleanaview has evolved to make our fleet safer and more compliant.

Before leaving the depot our drivers complete a pre-start checklist (electronic Safe Truck Safe Drive) on Cleanaview to ensure that their vehicles are safe from a driving perspective. Similarly, at the end of the shift driver is directed to complete post trip checklist form.

Pictured: Each Cleanaview equipped vehicle is fitted with up to seven vehicle mounted cameras (left) and automatic smart sensor brakes (right) to ensure the safety of our drivers and other road users in the community.

Major highlights

Electronic job scheduling and completion has allowed drivers to receive jobs while in the field and to take photos as required to report issues. Operations teams have greater visibility of job progress throughout each day.

The introduction of the digital Safe Truck Safe Drive process enabled drivers to complete pre and post shift electronically with automated corrective maintenance work order creation, which is now standard in many Cleanaway branches (and being used in over 850 vehicles). This has saved a significant amount of administration effort, not to mention the trees that have also been saved.

Bin events (including photos) such as contaminated bins from municipal trucks being reported in near real time so users can see images from the truck cameras straight away.

Other key features are as follows:

A series of automatic contamination letters sent to residents for bin contamination event
SMS texting alert to residents for their scheduled hard waste collection
Electronic turn by turn navigation for drivers
Enhanced route optimisation based on driver shifts, vehicle capacity, job types etc
A purposed built portal for residents for self-service to book and track a service request
Business to business integration with council system either via real time interface or batch interface.

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.

Toby’s Estate advances its zero waste goals through Bin Trim Round 4

Our Services - Partnerships - Resource Recovery

July 26, 2022

Highlights

“It is always a fulfilling experience to work with a customer like Toby’s Estate who are especially passionate about improving their recycling.”

Tags: Resource Recovery

Highlights

“It is always a fulfilling experience to work with a customer like Toby’s Estate who are especially passionate about improving their recycling.”

Toby’s Estate was one of the businesses that came under the purview of Cleanaway’s Centre for Sustainability in NSW EPA’s Bin Trim Round 4 program which took place from May 2021 to February 2022. This project is a NSW Environment Protection Authority, Waste Less Recycle More initiative funded from the waste levy.

The coffee company’s goal was to identify areas for improvement in its push for zero waste. Through Bin Trim Round 4 assessments, our Centre for Sustainability (C4S) team was able to make recommendations on recycling some of the material that was going into the general waste streams at two Toby’s Estate sites in Sydney – Alexandria and Chippendale.

One of the recyclable materials that came into focus during the assessments was soft plastics. The C4S team assisted the business in setting up a collection system for this waste stream at the two Toby’s Estate sites.

Currently, both clear and coloured soft plastics are collected in bags to be taken away for recycling at our Greenacre facility.

The other waste stream the C4S team looked at was Toby’s Estate hessian coffee bags which were initially categorised as an organic waste stream. However, the business was facing difficulties in getting an organics recycler to accept this material.

The C4S team assisted Toby’s Estate by contacting textile recyclers and enquired on what kind of collection and recycling services they could provide. This search eventually led Toby’s Estate to partner with WornUp, a textile recycler that could recycle the coffee bean bags.

Pictured: Toby’s Estate hessian coffee bean bags sorted for recycling.

Chaff was another potentially recyclable material our C4S team looked into. Chaff is the husk of coffee beans and a problematic biproduct of the bean roasting process. While it is an organic material, it is also very light and usually ended up in the general waste bin.

With the C4S team’s recommendation, Toby’s Estate installed custom equipment to compact chaff and make it suitable for food organics recycling collection by Cleanaway.

Pictured: Toby’s Estate installed specialised machinery to assist with the compacting of coffee chaff for organics recycling.

Toby’s Estate has now increased its total landfill diversion from 24 tonnes per year to 42 tonnes per year.

The volume of waste recovered has also significantly increased at its two sites. The Alexandria site increased from 52% to 86% by volume while its Chippendale site diversion increased from 28% to 84% by volume.

Resource Recovery Specialist Helina Kila says, “It is always a fulfilling experience to work with a customer like Toby’s Estate who are especially passionate about improving their recycling.”

“Finding solutions for their problem waste was made possible with the assistance of the Cleanaway network and knowledge of our staff. We will continue to look for alternative ways to divert additional waste from landfill for the customer to progress their waste management.”

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.

Vacuum innovation sets new standard for beach polystyrene clean-ups

Communities - Our People - Our Services

July 18, 2022

Highlights

"During this trial, we also gained valuable learnings on how we can improve it for implementation in similar projects in the future."

Tags: Communities

Highlights

"During this trial, we also gained valuable learnings on how we can improve it for implementation in similar projects in the future."

Following the February flooding in South East Queensland, approximately 85km of beachfront between the North Sunshine Coast and Fraser Island was contaminated with polystyrene particles that were left behind after pontoons washed ashore.

Cleanaway’s Queensland IWS team was contracted by Noosa Council to remove the polystyrene pollution from the affected areas of Noosa Beach on a trial basis. However, with no purpose-built technology for removing polystyrene pollution from beach sand, the team had to think outside the box to come up with an all-new solution for the trial.

Further complicating the problem was the terrain of Noosa Beach which featured hundreds of metres of steep sand cliffs. These cliffs had formed along the beach by rough surf and the situation made it difficult for Cleanaway all-terrain vacuum trucks to access the problem areas.

Pictured: Polystyrene particles washed up on the Noosa Beach shoreline.

“When Noosa Council approached us for a solution, I started researching beach cleaning methods and contacting people who run beach clean-up drives to check if any work had been done in the past, but I couldn’t find what we needed,” said Graduate Engineer Pir Muhammad Junejo.

“So, I approached my IWS team to see what kind of machinery and equipment we have on site. After some brainstorming sessions with the team including Branch Manager Nick Emmett, Key Account Manager Ben May, Project Manager Steve Milward and Operations Supervisor Cem Kusdemir we decided to go ahead with a vacuum unit with vibration separator as our prime method for the trial.”

Pictured: Graduate Engineer Pir Muhammad Junejo from our Queensland IWS team next to an all-terrain vacuum truck. The Noosa Beach polystyrene clean-up trial was Pir’s first project with Cleanaway.

Despite the challenges, the Queensland IWS team conducted the polystyrene clean-up trial in early April 2022 – only four months into Pir’s career with Cleanaway. Using his newly modified general waste vacuum unit, the team went to work sucking up layers of sand containing polystyrene, which would then be screened at a nearby quarry. Once the polystyrene particles were screened, the clean sand was returned to the beach.

Pictured: The mobile screen that was set up at a nearby quarry to screen polluted sand collected from Noosa Beach.

To facilitate the removal of polystyrene pollution from hard to reach dune areas, the Queensland IWS project team brought in extension hoses to extend the reach of the all-terrain vacuum trucks.

Pictured: The Queensland IWS team sucking up polystyrene waste from the affected areas of Noosa Beach using extension hoses.

Pictured: Some of the polystyrene debris collected during the clean-up trial.

The team’s vacuum innovation cleaned up a total of 160L of polystyrene along 5.5km of beachfront in just five days. Any remaining polystyrene particles were collected by hand by Noosa Council crews who were brought in to follow behind Cleanaway vacuum operators.

This successful trial eliminated the risk of microplastics entering the water table and impacting the marine life off the Noosa Beach coast.

“Seeing our methodology work and our team effort pay off gave me immense contentment,” said Pir.

“During this trial, we also gained valuable learnings on how we can improve it for implementation in similar projects in the future.”

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.

TOMRA Cleanaway returns as NSW CDS Network Operator for another 4 years

Industry Updates - Our Services - Resource Recovery

May 20, 2022

Highlights

Since the commencement of the scheme in December 2017, NSW communities and businesses have returned over seven billion containers.

Tags: CDS

Highlights

Since the commencement of the scheme in December 2017, NSW communities and businesses have returned over seven billion containers.

The New South Wales (NSW) government announced that the TOMRA Cleanaway joint venture will continue in the role of Network Operator for its Container Deposit Scheme (CDS), ‘Return and Earn’ for another four years, ending in late 2026. Minister for Environment James Griffin called the scheme “one of the most successful and trusted recycling initiatives Australia has seen.”

Cleanaway CEO and Managing Director, Mark Schubert welcomed the announcement, “Cleanaway is proud to play a key role in delivering this enormously successful scheme. Our refreshed Blueprint 2030 strategy centres around delivering sustainable customer solutions and making a sustainable future possible together. We are pleased to be able to continue to deliver an efficient CDS Network Operator service to the NSW community through our joint venture partnership with TOMRA. We look forward to driving even higher recovery rates and greater community access to the scheme in the future.”

Under the extension agreement, TOMRA Cleanaway continues to be responsible for the NSW Container Deposit Scheme network of return points, including Reverse Vending Machines, over-the-counter drop offs and automated depots. The joint venture will also be responsible for recycling collected containers and ensuring this material is sent to appropriate destinations, such as the Circular Plastics Australia facility in Albury.

Circular Plastics Australia is a joint venture with Cleanaway, PACT, Asahi Beverages and Coca Cola Europacific Partners. The PET plastic pelletising facility by the venture turns used PET containers into recycled PET pellets that can be used to make new packaging. The NSW CDS provides a significant portion of the feedstock for this circular economy solution.

TOMRA Cleanaway has also committed to greater community access to ‘Return and Earn’ by increasing the number of collection points across NSW.

TOMRA Cleanaway CEO James Dorney said he looks forward to continuing working with the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and the scheme coordinator Exchange for Change.

“Working with our partners, we look forward to building upon the incredible successes of the scheme to date and the positive environmental, charity and community outcomes delivered as part of the circular economy in NSW,” Mr Dorney said.

Pictured: TOMRA Cleanaway board representatives and CEO James Dorney

Since the commencement of the scheme in December 2017, NSW communities and businesses have returned over seven billion containers and significantly improved resource recovery and recycling rates across the state.

Before NSW introduced the ‘Return and Earn’ scheme, more than 160 million drink containers littered our streets, beaches, waterways, and parks. Drink container litter made up 44 per cent of the volume of litter in the state and cost more than $162 million a year to manage.

Pictured: A Return and Earn Reverse Vending Machine (RVM)

The renewal and expansion of the contract isn’t just good news for the environment, it’s also good news for charities, with more than $30 million raised for charities and community groups via donations and fees since the scheme commenced.

St Vincent de Paul Society NSW CEO Jack de Groot said through the partnership they’ve developed a valuable new income stream to support their work.

“It started out with over-the-counter collections in Vinnies Shops across Western Sydney and the Illawarra,” Mr de Groot said.

You can read the Cleanaway media release here.

You can read the release from the Minister for Environment, James Griffin, here.

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.

Lesser-known waste management solutions

Our Services

May 18, 2022

Highlights

Complex clean ups, hazardous materials and expert solutions in specialised fields

Tags: Hazardous

Highlights

Complex clean ups, hazardous materials and expert solutions in specialised fields

There’s more than meets the eye when it comes to waste management and industrial rubbish removal. Beyond bin collections and resource recovery, our teams regularly deal with complex clean ups, hazardous materials and provide expert solutions across a variety of industries. Take the road less travelled into the world of waste management.

1) High hazard crude oil tank clean

Our SA and NT Industrial & Waste Services team recently completed a complex tank clean in remote Western NT. The expert crew successfully desludged the tank, having to enter under breathing apparatus with an ultra-high pressure hydrojet. “Under trying and challenging circumstances, the crew successfully completed the task to high level of customer satisfaction and very high safety level over three weeks.” said Operations Supervisor Lachie Anning. Hydrocarbon waste disposal also means complex tank cleans for some customers.

2) Hazardous materials endanger flood recovery efforts

During recent flood recovery works in QLD, 9kg LPG gas canisters incorrectly disposed of in our commingled waste stream sparked a potentially serious incident with our mobile equipment. Thanks to safety protocols and quick thinking by our operators, no one was hurt. Never dispose of chemicals, lithium-ion batteries and gas cylinders in kerbside bins. Use a council organised hazardous waste collection service instead.

3) Asbestos contaminated bins

Can you spot what’s wrong with this picture? Spot on if you noticed the small amount of asbestos cement roof sheeting in one of our skips. Asbestos is not only harmful to health, it needs to be disposed of correctly. Our eagle-eyed operator isolated the skip and a licensed asbestos revivalist was contacted to remove and provide a clearance certificate.

4) Off the road and into the seas

Great to see our cruise industry getting back on its feet. We provide this ship in White Bay with a crane-approved bin service to support the ship’s maintenance through Cleanaway’s Grasshopper Environmental team in NSW.

5) Innovative solutions to everyday problems

Our Mandurah team is always looking for new ways to tackle old problems. The team have been working on a simple, effective innovation for hook-lift bin safety with a local bin manufacturer which is now being trialled in southern WA.

Most side opening hook-lift bins have no handle. This results in them being operated inconsistently, using pinch-bars more and increasing manual handling risks. This is an incredibly simple drop-away handle to keep us out of the line of fire and improve the operability of the door. It’s easily retrofitted to existing bins if the trial is successful.

6) Automated equipment cleaning services

Check out our newly installed Cleanaway parts washers for our customer in the mining and construction industries. The units pictured are a 10,000 litre agitated hot tank, and a TW6 “Rinse and Divert” Turbowash. Following careful consultation with the customer, these machines are helping them meet their contamination control requirements. These machines are highly entrenched in day-to-day operations with more than 15 other machines just like these across the site.

7) Household hazardous waste collection events

We recently supported the NSW EPA’s annual household hazardous waste collection event program in Sutherland where more than 200 tonnes of hazardous packaged waste were collected over four days. Household hazardous waste such as lithium-ion batteries, paint and chemicals should never be disposed of in the kerbside bins. Check with your local council on the availability of local drop-off events, permanent disposal sites, and national or state collection programs.

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.

‘Operation Collect’ sweeps 100,000 tonnes of waste from flood-impacted Brisbane

Communities - Our Services - Partnerships - Resource Recovery

May 3, 2022

Highlights

Cleanaway and Brisbane City Council (BCC) sprang into action to assist in the flood clean-up operations to manage over 100,000 tonnes of waste that was generated by the flooding, including the use of temporary sites to remove flood waste from Brisbane’s streets as part of ‘Operation Collect’.

Tags: Communities

Highlights

On the morning of 28 February 2022, record volumes of rain caused the Brisbane River to peak at its highest level since 2011 and within three days, up to 18,000 homes across southeast Queensland were inundated.

Pictured: Adrian Schrinner, Brisbane Lord Mayor addresses media to discuss ‘Operation Collect’ at Cleanaway’s Mt Coot-tha temporary site.

As most of the commercial waste infrastructure in the region was impacted by the floods, BCC commissioned seven temporary resource recovery centres across the city to assist residents with stockpiling waste from recovery and clean-up work.

Cleanaway operated three of these temporary sites, with Mt Coot-tha and Eagle Farm being the two largest sites set up for ‘Operation Collect’.

Pictured: Residents queuing up to unload flood waste at Chandler Resource Recovery Centre, one of the facilities operated by Cleanaway.

Pictured: Cleanaway staff using loaders to gather flood waste in the surge pit at Willawong Resource Recovery Centre. Surge pits provide temporary waste storage space during counter disaster operations.

Cleanaway operates five facilities for BCC – Brisbane Landfill at Rochedale and four resource recovery centres at Chandler, Ferny Grove, Nudgee and Willawong. During the flood crisis, we expanded our efforts to operate 10 facilities in total, including the three temporary resource recovery centres set up specially for ‘Operation Collect’.

BCC commissioned Cleanaway to operate two former landfills in Nudgee and Willawong. Together with Brisbane Landfill and resource recovery centres in Nudgee and Willawong, we were able to facilitate after-hours disposal and bulk haulage transfer 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

We also offered a bespoke household hazardous waste collection service for the council’s street clean-up crews. A dedicated phone number was created for the crews to call the Cleanaway hotline whenever hazardous waste was identified at any of the temporary resource recovery centres. Our Liquid and Technical Services team from Narangba was on hand to assist with this service.

Pictured: Cleanaway’s Narangba Liquid and Technical Services team members inspecting hazardous waste before removing it from the Mt Coot-tha temporary site.

Pictured: Cleanaway fleet delivering flood waste collected from the Resource Recovery Centres to Brisbane Landfill.

During the peak of the flood recovery efforts, we tripled our workforce from 89 employees to approximately 250, including external contractors.

We deployed skilled labour from other Cleanaway sites such as New Chum and Bowhill Road. We were also supported by our Queensland Solid Waste Services teams who provided extra drivers required for the non-stop operations.

Our regional managers, safety and environment business partners and finance and administration teams were all hands on deck to ensure coordination and management of the clean-up effort.

Cleanaway processed approximately 80% to 90% of the 100,000 tonnes of flood waste with residual volumes handled by external facilities contracted by BCC. The operation ran for a total of six weeks, starting in late February and ending in early April.

Pictured: Cleanaway’s high productivity B-double vehicles tipping flood waste at Brisbane Landfill.

Each year, Cleanaway manages over half a million tonnes of waste and recyclables for BCC – the largest local government in Australia.

Cleanaway and BCC officially entered into the Resource Recovery Innovation Alliance (RRIA) in 2018 to manage the city’s post collection infrastructure including the operation of the Brisbane Landfill and four resource recovery centres in Chandler, Ferny Grove, Nudgee and Willawong. RRIA also oversees the bulk logistics of waste and resources flows within this network as well as with third party facilities.

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.

A day in the life of a ‘Grasshopper’

Our People - Our Services

February 28, 2022

Highlights

"Thought I'd post a few pictures to show a day in the life of a Grasshopper driver - what we do and hopefully give a little insight for people that haven’t seen the operation."

Tags: Drivers

Highlights

"Thought I'd post a few pictures to show a day in the life of a Grasshopper driver - what we do and hopefully give a little insight for people that haven’t seen the operation."

Grasshopper Environmental is part of the Cleanaway family specialising in the transport, disposal and recycling of commercial, construction and demolition waste in NSW. Our customers include warehouses, strata management companies, nursing homes, restaurants and the construction and demolition industry, including tier 1, 2 and 3 builders as well as government infrastructure.

Driver Richard Palmer shares what a typical day is like for him collecting and transporting commercial, construction and demolition waste.

Pictured: Entering the depot at 4:15AM for the start on my shift on a Saturday.

Pictured: Our pit stop area with hand sanitiser, airline and auto inflator to check tyre pressure, a water line to top up the water, notice board and our new touchless water fountain for COVID-safe water.

Pictured: Speaking of COVID, here’s our wonderful COVID-safe bubble toilets!

Pictured: All our ‘babies’ parked up waiting for another day to help “make a sustainable future possible.”

Pictured: Picking up my truck from Volvo and doing the pre-trip inspection making sure every thing is safe. The red lines are from the Patronus system that puts a red exclusion zone around the truck and has an audible voice to warn of the truck operating!

Pictured: Check out this cool fridge I got for my truck to help keep hydrated through the hot Australian days.

Pictured: One of the bins we collect in the construction and demolition waste game. This one is from a newly built apartment complex.

Pictured: Changeover of bins complete, now ready to take to the tip.

Pictured: An example of some of the waste we transport and that can easily be recycled.

Pictured: Back in the yard, check out that cool Cleanaway skip! That’s all folks!

In 2020 Cleanaway acquired Grasshopper Environmental, which has been providing waste management services in the building, demolition and infrastructure, and commercial and industrial sectors in Sydney and nearby regions since 1978.

Grasshopper is the first C&D waste management supplier company in NSW to be licensed by the independent Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA) advisory and ecolabelling program.

Cleanaway’s Perth MRF wins the 2021 Star Award for Team

Cleanaway's Perth MRF wins the 2021 Star Award for Team

The story of Perth MRF is not unlike the story of the phoenix. Rising from the ashes of a significant structural fire in November 2019, our facility in Guildford has emerged as a new standard of safety and sustainability for Cleanaway.

Our People - Our Services

February 11, 2022

Highlights

"The culture at the MRF is terrific and we are blessed for the opportunity that is continuously provided to work, learn and grow as a team!"

Tags: Star Awards

Highlights

"The culture at the MRF is terrific and we are blessed for the opportunity that is continuously provided to work, learn and grow as a team!"

The story of Cleanaway’s Guildford Materials Recovery Facility (Perth MRF) is not unlike the story of the phoenix rising from the ashes.

A significant structural fire in November 2019 shut the facility until May 2021, when it was redesigned from the ground up and reopened with state-of-the-art recycling capabilities and fire safety upgrades in place.

Today, Perth MRF stands tall as one of our Prized Assets with the capacity to process 200,000 tonnes of recyclables per annum. This represents over half of Western Australia’s commingled recycling.

Pictured: Material sorting inside Perth MRF

Central to Perth MRF’s tale of tenacity is its team, which recently won the 2021 Star Award for Team. Cleanaway’s Star Awards recognise and reward our most dedicated team members helping to make a sustainable future possible.

Pictured: The Perth MRF team (top), Regional Manager John Mulholland presenting Business Manager – Recycling Sang Chi with the Star Award (bottom)

Here’s what Business Manager – Recycling Sang Chi had to say about his team’s win: “Cleanaway is a great company, so to receive a recognition like this is staggering.”

“The culture at the MRF is terrific and we are blessed for the opportunity that is continuously provided to work, learn and grow as a team!”

Well done once again to all members of the Perth MRF team!

Contact us to learn more about how we’re making a sustainable future possible for communities and businesses across Australia.

Sustainable Categories: Our Services

Top tips for Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) recycling

Top tips for Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) recycling

Composting at home or school

Organics recovery for businesses

What happens to organic waste?

Inkerman Landfill’s 10-year masterplan to ramp up resource recovery in South Australia

Inkerman Landfill’s 10-year masterplan to ramp up resource recovery in South Australia

Cleanaview – five years of service and counting

Cleanaview – five years of service and counting

Toby’s Estate advances its zero waste goals through Bin Trim Round 4

Toby’s Estate advances its zero waste goals through Bin Trim Round 4

Vacuum innovation sets new standard for beach polystyrene clean-ups

Vacuum innovation sets new standard for beach polystyrene clean-ups

TOMRA Cleanaway returns as NSW CDS Network Operator for another 4 years

TOMRA Cleanaway returns as NSW CDS Network Operator for another 4 years

Lesser-known waste management solutions

Lesser-known waste management solutions

‘Operation Collect’ sweeps 100,000 tonnes of waste from flood-impacted Brisbane

’Operation Collect’ sweeps 100,000 tonnes of waste from flood-impacted Brisbane

A day in the life of a ‘Grasshopper’

A day in the life of a 'Grasshopper'

Cleanaway’s Perth MRF wins the 2021 Star Award for Team

Cleanaway's Perth MRF wins the 2021 Star Award for Team