Communities in Transition
for Queensland Communities
Indigenous Artist - Roel Wijnants | https://flic.kr/p/PYTzL
Lychees - CSIRO - Science Image - 2309
Lichen & street scene - Quest Media
Waste Markets
The waste and resource management hierarchy is a framework that guides the order of preference for managing waste. If the waste is avoided or reduced in the first place there is less to deal with. Then look for options to reuse the waste as it is before recycling (altering it for a different purpose) before disposal.
Waste and resource management hierarchy
Source: Queensland Government Draft Waste Management and Resource Recovery Strategy
Quick Links
Policy
Data
Regional waste
Reuse
Non-organic Recycling
Organic Recycling
Waste to Energy
Policy
2018 National Waste Policy
The National Waste Policy provides a national framework for waste and resource recovery in Australia. It outlines roles and responsibilities between Australian governments, businesses, communities and industries. It does not remove the need for governments, businesses and industries to implement tailored solutions in response to local and regional circumstances.
Draft Waste Management Resource Recovery Strategy, 2018, Queensland Government
Draft Waste Management Resource Recovery Strategy currently open for comment (until 5 April 2019) outlines the proposed management strategy for Queensland’s waste to provide economic growth and jobs and to turn waste into a resource. Currently there are approximately 3 jobs per 10,000 tonnes of waste sent to landfill while resource
recovery has the potential to support 9 jobs per 10,000 tonnes.
National Market Development Strategy for Used Tyres released, 2018
This report presents the findings of a review into the existing and proposed legislation in Australia looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the implications of the legislation for the organic waste processing industry.
Reducing waste, Australian Department of Environment and Energy
This website provides lots of handy tips for individual and businesses on how to reduce and recycle your waste.
Data
Queensland Waste Strategy – Key Performance Indicators, 2018, Queensland Government
Proposed KPIs adopted in the Waste Strategy for Queensland 2018-2050 (Waste Strategy)
Regional waste
Solutions for waste management in regional and remote Australia A compilation of case studies, National Waste Policy Regional and Remote Australia Working Group
Case studies that will provide a valuable resource to assist regional and remote communities with the planning and improvement of their own waste management, based on lessons learnt from past projects. It is also envisaged that the case studies will foster the establishment of waste management networks between communities throughout Australia who share similar challenges due to their remote locations.
Municipal organics management in regional Australia, Regional Waste Management Coordinator for the Central Local Government Region of South Australia
Research and interviews with municipal waste officers from across Australia, seven case studies were selected to be part of this report. These represent a broad cross‐section of the many different approaches taken by regional councils in dealing with organic waste and will hopefully inspire local councils to consider how they might foster organics recycling in their own communities.
Reuse
From waste to flour: Queenslanders find new market for unwanted produce, 2018, Courtney Wilson, ABC News
Due to a glut in the sweet potato market, when spuds were being left to rot in the paddock and disced back into the ground, the Watkins from far north Queensland trialled transforming the surplus spuds into flour. 10kg of sweet potato make 1kg of powder due to the high water content. The Watkins had spent the previous 5 years commercialising banana flour from green bananas but were able to turn the potatoes into flour within 30 minutes. They are looking at the viability of using the process for other surplus foods giving farmers options during tough times then allowing them to send their product to market during the good times.
Non-organic recycling
Case Studies
Beauty products to playgrounds
Garnier Recycled Playground Competition encourages the collection and recycling of beauty products that generally go to landfill. These are then melted down and turned into playground equipment.
Recycled glass turned to rail project
Recycled glass sand was used for bedding fill combined services and backfill a drainage pipe on a rail project.
Media
Lithium battery recycling in Australia: problem, or opportunity?, 2019, Power Technology
As the demand for lithium battery technology continues to grow, recycling schemes are needed to avoid huge amounts of waste ending up in landfills as a new report by Australia’s CSIRO outlines.
Resources
Lithium Battery Recycling in Australia, 2019, CSIRO
How can we best address Australia's annual 3,300 tonnes of lithium-ion battery waste?
Organic recycling
Composting
Opportunities for the use of Recycled Organics in the Bioremediation Industry, Australian Organics Recycling Association
Compost Markets - Australian Organics Recycling Association Resources
Case Studies - Community
Brisbane City Council Community Composting
BCC has partnered with a number of community gardens around Brisbane to help residents turn kitchen scraps into nutrients for soil.
Share Waste
Community sharing platform where people can sign up to take household organic waste from their neighbours
Business Case for Councils to Undertake Co-Collection of Food Waste with Garden Organics, Zero Waste SA
Northern Rivers (NSW) organic waste program Biocycle system
At the Lismore Recycling & Recovery Centre kerbside organics bins are brought to our facility where the material is stockpiled into rows on the composting pad. Food and garden waste is shredded and then processed on an Aero-sorb system. The composted material is then graded and screened to remove plastics and other inorganic materials, and is tested for quality assurance before being released for sale.
Organic certification of compost
Lismore City Council is the first council in Australia to achieve organic certification for compost made from kerbside food and garden waste. It was achieved by putting in place new screening processes to remove plastics and other inorganic materials from the kerbside waste as well as stringent product testing and cleaning/hygiene controls. This means organic producers from right across the Northern Rivers can purchase compost from us to utilise on their crops while maintaining their organic certification status.
CEFC finance composting facility for Melbourne councils, 2019, Waste management Review
Clean Energy Finance Corporation finances a fully-enclosed, in-vessel aerobic composting and maturation plant for Melbourne Councils.
Case Studies - Agriculture
CQ Compost, Emerald, Qld
CQ Compost manufactures high quality composts and soil conditioners for the agricultural, horticultural and degraded land rehabilitation markets. The compost facility is based on an integrated industrial ecology approach, whereby waste organic materials from agriculture and industry are composted.
Gaia Farms, South Johnstone, Qld
Farm produces our own compost late in 2008. Raw materials are sourced locally from the waste/by-products of sugar milling, fish and chicken farming and green waste. Through trial and development they have produced a product that meets the nutritional needs of a wide range of tropical crops.
Media
2016
Compost venture: turning waste into profit in Central Queensland , Grain Central
2018
Council’s compost bin subsidy a big hit with residents, Townsville Council
Legislation amended to allow farmers to legally manufacture organic composts on-farms, The Weekly Times
QFF welcomes farm compost exemption, Queensland Farmers Federation
Organics other
Environmental assessment of food rescue Environmental benefits of rescuing un-sold food in Adelaide SA, 2010, Zero Waste SA / OzHarvest
Waste to Energy
Waste to energy is not just about incinerating waste. Options to generate electricity, heat, steam or solid fuel from an energy-rich waste stream through processes such as incineration, gasification, pyrolysis and methane-capture. The use of reprocessed fuels and organic sources of material should all be considered.
Should Australia explore more waste-to-energy options?, 2019, Cris Andrews, Engineers Australia
As Australia’s waste piles up, the country is finding itself in serious need of new, sustainable solutions. Could converting the garbage into electricity be the answer?
Biomass Producer is the place to start your search for information about bioenergy as it relates to primary industries in Australia – in particular, information about the types of biomass that can be used to create bioenergy.It is designed for:
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primary producers and their advisors
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regional economic developers
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policymakers.
Biomass feedstocks (Video)
Opinions on Biomass Feedstocks from a group of presenters at the Bioenergy Australia 2012 national conference.
Australian Energy Resources Assessment, Geoscience, Australian Government
Series of national assessments of Australia's energy resources which provides a snapshot of Australia’s energy resources and the demand for them in both domestic and international energy markets. This includes bioenergy derived by burning or decomposing biological materials (biomass), either directly or after conversion to a secondary fuel.
Waste to fuel
Queensland Biofutures 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan, 2016, Advance Queensland
Development and manufacturing of products from sustainable organic and/or waste resources, rather than fossil fuels. It encompasses a spectrum of innovative scientific and industrial technologies designed to convert sustainable feedstocks or waste into a diverse range of bioproducts. Agriculture, plantation forestry, algae, organic and carbon-rich ‘waste’ streams could all be used as feedstocks in the future to generate a wide range of sustainable chemicals, fuels, synthetic rubber, cosmetics, detergents and textiles.
Case Studies
Green Distillation Plant, Toowoomba
Green Distillation Technologies has achieved an Australian world technological breakthrough by effectively and profitably recycling end of life car and truck tyres (ELTs) into saleable commodities of oil, carbon and steel.
Northern Oil Refinery at Yarwun, near Gladstone,
The Northern Oil Refinery at Yarwun, near Gladstone, is the only facility in Queensland capable of recycling waste lube oil back into base lube oil.
Southern Oil Refining turning wastewater biosolids into oil, 2018, Waste Management Review
A new plant that aims to turn biosolids from waste water treatment sewage into renewable crude oil is being built in Gladstone, Queensland.
Dalby Bio-refinery Ltd. 2017, Advance Queensland
United Petroleum’s biorefinery in Dalby (DBRL), is one of three commercial bio-refineries currently operating in Queensland and is Australia’s first grainto-ethanol facility.
Southern Oil trials renewable diesel fuel from old tyres
An Australian-first trial using 100 percent renewable diesel from old vehicle tyres, agricultural and forestry waste, biosolids and plastics, to fuel a Scania test engine is underway.
Maximising sugar mill revenue in Mackay, Biomass Producer
The sugar mills burn bagasse (waste sugarcane fibre) to produce steam and electricity, and turn molasses into ethanol. Up to 6 million tonnes of cane is processed every year in Mackay. Of that, 1.8 million tonnes of bagasse fibre is left over from the milling process. 150,000 tonnes of bagasse per year is enough to operate the Racecourse refinery for most of the non-crushing part of the year.
Rainbow Bee Eater converts wheat straw to gas fuel, Biomas Producer
New technology that converts wheat straw and other agricultural residues to high quality gas and biochar through the process of pyrolysis (heating with low oxygen levels).
Fuel, heat and power from mustard and canola seeds, Biomass Producer
Victorian mixed farmer Steven Hobbs has reduced his on-farm consumption of mineral diesel by 80% by using biodiesel produced from his mustard and canola crops.
The changing face of mallees, Future Farm
Using mallees for oil extraction, carbon sequestration, energy and natural resource management.
Licella™, NSW
Our unique hydrothermal upgrading platform, the Cat-HTR™ (Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor), can rapidly and economically transform a wide range of biomass, waste plastic and industry residues into biocrude to produce biofuels and chemicals .
Straw for Biomass Energy (Video )
Colin Peace at the Bioenergy Australia 2012 national conference talks about the use of straw for biomass energy in both Australia and internationally.
Greenham Meats fuels it's cookers with pyrethrin marc briquettes, Greenham (Video)
Meat processor Greenham Tasmania burns pyrethrum briquettes (waste from local pyrethrum insecticide plant ) to power the main steam boiler at its Smithton export abattoir, accounting for up to 30% of its energy demands.
Waste for power
Case studies
Power plant that turns green waste into energy could solve power reliability in regions, 2019, Joanna Prendergast, ABC News
Rainbow Bee Eater has developed a biomass fuelled power plant that is cost effective without the need for government subsidies or grants. IT uses building wood waste to create hot water, electricity, carbon dioxide and biochar. The carbon dioxide is pumped into a neighbouring glasshouse to increase plant yields. Biomass fuels could include woodchips, baled straw, poultry litter and help regional communities struggling with power reliability issues.
Bundaberg Sugar - macadamia nut shells to power the sugar mill
Australia is the world’s first ever plant to produce electricity from waste macadamia nut shells. The plant is located adjacent to Suncoast’s macadamia nut processing facility in Gympie.
Kwinana Waste to Energy Project - powering an alternative tomorrow, 2018, Rivers Regional Council, WA
Kwinana Waste to Energy Project is a proposed 36MW moving grate combustion technology plant to divert 400,000 tonnes of household, commercial and industrial waste from landfill. This baseload energy is sufficient for the electricity needs of more than 50,000 households. It is set to be fully operational by the end of 2021.
Rocky Point Cogeneration Plant at Woongoolba
The use of green waste and bagasse to produce energy for the neighbouring sugar mill.
Grape power fuels manufacturer Australian Tartaric Products, Luke Malpass
A Victorian manufacturer has saved millions of dollars on gas and electricity in the past year alone by powering the factory with grape waste from the wineries of three states. Australian Tartaric Products (ATP) in Colignan, near Mildura, installed the grape biomass boiler 2014.
Mt Romance boiler burns blue gum wood chips to produce sandalwood oil, Video
Sandalwood factory in Albany, WA uses wood chip produced in plantations to power a large boiler which provides steam for the production of Sandalwood oil products.
Waste for gas
List of biogas plants in Australia
Global food waste management: An implementation Guide for Cities, 2018, World Biogas Association
This report intends to be a guide to assist the decision-makers in cities that recognise the challenges of food waste management and wish to find sustainable and effective solutions. The report discusses food waste prevention, waste collection (many examples from around the world) and food waste technologies.
Decarbonising Australia’s gas distribution networks, 2018, Deloitte Access Economics
Deloitte Access Economics was engaged by Energy Networks Australia to identify a practical approach for sustainably decarbonising gas distribution networks to provide low-emissions gas for direct use by Australian households and businesses.
Food Waste Digestion Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste for a Circular Economy, 2018, Banks, C.J., Heaven, S., Zhang, Y., Baier, U. IEA Bioenergy Task 37
There is increasing awareness of the quantities of food that are lost every year across the globe; while the quality of available data varies, estimates suggest the total is around 1.3 billion tonnes. These losses occur at all stages of production, from pre-harvest on the farm through to post-harvest losses during processing, distribution, retailing and consumption. This report considers only those harvested food materials that are never consumed, but ultimately find their way into the waste stream.
Case studies
Go to agricultural case studies methane capture and reuse
Waste for heat
Piggery waste to heat worth $30,000
In a pilot project at Grantham, Queensland, biogas collected from a covered anaerobic effluent pond was combusted for the purpose of heating piggery sheds, resulting in potential savings in LPG consumption of around $30,000 a year.
Beaufort Hospital – heat from sawmill residue, Biomass Producer
Biomass boiler system to heat the hospital that uses Pyrenees Timber sawmill
Gelliondale Nursery uses wet sawdust to heat greenhouses, Biomass Producer
Gelliondale Nursery uses a biomass heating system to heat its 4,700 square metre glasshouse nursery in Alberton, Victoria delivered from the local sawmill
Media
2017
Biomass could be one solution to Australia's energy problems: CEFC, 2017, Angela Lavoipierre, ABC News
CEFC wants to review the use of biomass as a baseload energy source.
2018
How biomethane can help turn gas into a renewable energy source, The Conversation
Turning waste into power: the plastic to fuel projects, 2018, Power Technology
Options and opportunities to turn plastic in to various fuels.
