Waste Management

<html><body>
<p class="legacy">GUEST OBSERVATION</p>
<p><em>I was in Switzerland recently and discovered that they haven’t had any landfill since the early 2000s, because all of their waste is either recycled or incinerated to produce electricity. How “green” is it to incinerate waste in order to produce electricity? Is it something New Zealand should consider, so that 1) we have no more landfill, and 2) we can replace our fossil-fuel power stations with power stations that incinerate waste?</em></p>
<p>Burning rubbish to generate electricity or heat sounds great: you get rid of all your waste and also get seemingly “sustainable” energy. What could be better?</p>
<p>Many developed countries already have significant “waste-to-energy” incineration plants and therefore less material going to landfill (although the ash has to be landfilled). These plants often have recycling industries attached to them, so that only non-recyclables end up in the furnace. If it is this good, why the opposition?</p>
<p>Here are seven reasons why caution is needed when considering waste-to-energy incineration plants.</p>
<p><strong>Stifling innovation and waste reduction</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>Waste-to-energy plants require a high-volume, <a href="http://www.seas.columbia.edu/earth/wtert/sofos/Rodriguez_thesis.pdf" target="_blank">guaranteed waste stream</a> for about 25 years to make them economically viable. If waste-to-energy companies divert large amounts of waste away from landfills, they need to somehow get more waste to maintain their expensive plants. For example, <a href="https://www.thelocal.se/20181112/sweden-imports-british-waste-to-heat-homes-but-wheres-the-post-brexit-solution" target="_blank">Sweden imports its waste from the UK</a> to feed its “beasts”.</li>
<li>The waste materials that are easiest to source and have buyers for recycling - like paper and plastic - also produce most energy when burned.</li>
<li>Waste-to-energy <a href="http://knowledgeauckland.org.nz/assets/publications/TR2019-009-CBA-on-waste-diversion-from-landfill-homes-land-community-Auckland.pdf">destroys innovation</a> in the waste sector. As a result of China not accepting our mixed plastics, people are now combining plastics with asphalt to make roads last longer and are making fence posts that could be replacing treated pine posts (which emit copper, chrome and arsenic into the ground). If a convenient waste-to-energy plant had been available, none of this would have happened.</li>
<li>Waste-to-energy <a href="http://knowledgeauckland.org.nz/assets/publications/TR2019-009-CBA-on-waste-diversion-from-landfill-homes-land-community-Auckland.pdf" target="_blank">reduces jobs</a>. Every job created in the incineration industry removes six jobs in landfill, 36 jobs in recycling and 296 jobs in the reuse industry.</li>
<li>Waste-to-energy works against a circular economy, which tries to keep goods in circulation. Instead, it perpetuates our current make-use-dispose mentality.</li>
<li>Waste-to-energy only makes marginal sense in economies that produce coal-fired electricity – and then only as a stop-gap measure until cleaner energy is available. New Zealand has a green electricity generation system, with about 86% already coming from renewable sources and a <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/nz-embracing-renewable-electricity-future" target="_blank">target of 100% renewable by 2035</a>, so waste-to-energy would make it a less renewable energy economy.</li>
<li>Lastly, burning waste and contaminated plastics creates a greater environmental impact than burning the equivalent oil they are made from. These impacts include the release of harmful substances like dioxins and vinyl chloride as well as mixtures of many other harmful substances used in making plastics, which are not present in oil.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Landfills as mines of the future</strong></p>
<p>European countries were driven to waste-to-energy as a result of a <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32006L0012" target="_blank">2007 directive that imposed heavy penalties</a> for countries that did not divert waste from landfills. The easiest way for those countries to comply was to install waste-to-energy plants, which meant their landfill waste dropped dramatically.</p>
<p>New Zealand does not have these sorts of directives and is in a better position to work towards reducing, reusing and recycling end-of-life materials, rather than sending them to an incinerator to recover some of the energy used to make them.</p>
<p>Is New Zealand significantly worse than Europe in managing waste? About a decade ago, a delegation from Switzerland visited New Zealand Ministry for the Environment officials to compare progress in each of the waste streams. Both parties were surprised to learn that they had managed to divert roughly the same amount of waste from landfill through different routes.</p>
<p>This shows that it is important New Zealand doesn’t blindly follow the route other countries have used and hope for the same results. Such is the case for waste-to-energy.</p>
<p>There is also an argument to be made for current landfills. Modern, sanitary landfills seal hazardous materials and waste stored over the last 50 years presents future possibilities of landfill mining.</p>
<p>Many <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-environment-waste/tracking-europes-waste-theres-gold-in-them-landfills-idUSKBN1F61YH" target="_blank">landfills have higher concentrations of precious metals</a>, particularly gold, than mines and some are being mined for those metals. As resources become scarcer and prices increase, our landfills may become the mines of the future.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128630/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;"></p>
<p><em><strong>Jeff Seadon</strong>, Senior Lecturer, Auckland University of Technology.</em></p>
<p><em>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-seven-reasons-to-be-wary-of-waste-to-energy-proposals-128630" target="_blank">original article</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>Main photo: Many developed countries already have significant waste-to-energy operations and therefore less material going to landfill. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jeff-seadon-790599" target="_blank">Jeff Seadon</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/auckland-university-of-technology-1137" target="_blank">Auckland University of Technology</a>  <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/" target="_blank">CC BY-ND</a>.</em></p>
</body></html>

j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

Climate explained: seven reasons to be wary of waste-to-energy proposals

<html><body>
<p>EXPERT OBSERVER</p>
<p>Discussion of the environment is embedded in our culture as public awareness over issues such as climate change and plastic pollution has grown. Advertisers are not shy about tapping into this concern for their own benefit.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/767/Culture_on_Twitter.pdf#page=9" target="_blank">Twitter analysis last year</a> revealed that in the UK at least, the environment was a current and growing issue. Between January 2015 and March 2018, discussion on Twitter about single-use plastic, for example, increased by an incredible 5,543%.</p>
<p>Advertisers are already highly skilled at the power of narrative: reducing complexity and helping us make sense of their message. This power is amplified when the narrative taps into culture. A brand message, if successful, then becomes part of people’s conversations rather than interrupting them with ads they <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/advertisers-should-remember-ordinary-people-dont-care-about-advertising-504672" target="_blank">don’t care about</a>.</p>
<p>Advertisers who tell a good story can persuade the public of all sorts of things. Some messages are positive and constructive. But a few are disingenuous and misleading.</p>
<p>The latter is especially true in the case of recycling, where advertisers often imply that consumers, not corporations, are responsible for the huge amounts of plastic waste a product creates.</p>
<p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292529/original/file-20190916-19035-m5srig.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""><br><span class="caption">A CocaCola recycling campaign that ran in the 2019 European summer.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied by author</span></span></p>
<h2>Plastic pollution is a big deal</h2>
<p>Australia’s <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/7381c1de-31d0-429b-912c-91a6dbc83af7/files/national-waste-report-2018.pdf" target="_blank">National Waste Report last year</a> found 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste was generated in 2016-17 - or 103kg for each person. Most of it was only used once, and just 12% was recycled.</p>
<p>Coca-Cola says by the end of 2019, <a href="https://www.ccamatil.com/-/media/Cca/Corporate/Files/Media-Releases/2019/Coca-Cola-Australia-and-Coca-Cola-Amatil-announce-a-major-increase-in-recycled-plastic.ashx" target="_blank">70% of its plastic bottles in Australia</a> will be made entirely from recycled plastic. The company in August released a video in Australia thanking people for recycling.</p>
<p>It follows a European campaign <a href="https://www.beveragedaily.com/Article/2019/06/10/Don-t-buy-Coca-Cola-if-you-re-not-going-to-help-us-recycle" target="_blank">launched by the company in June</a> with the tagline “Don’t buy Coca-Cola if you’re not going to help us recycle”.</p>
<p>Absolut Vodka this year launched a new <a href="https://www.absolut.com/en/products/absolut-comeback/" target="_blank">limited edition bottle</a> made of 41% recycled glass - like all of its bottles - accompanied by a “Guide to a Circular Living Together”. The company told customers: “Now’s your time to shine on stage - rocking the recycling lifestyle as a true #RecyclingHero!”</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AeF8dp0rz2Q?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" width="440" height="260"></iframe> <br><span class="caption">Coca-Cola Australia | Thanks For Recycling Campaign, 2019.</span></p>
<p>On the face of it, such campaigns might seem virtuous, especially following <a href="https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/your-environment/recycling-and-reuse/response-to-china-national-sword" target="_blank">China’s 2018 policy</a> limiting the import of low-quality mixed recyclables. But in fact they continue a long history of framing consumers as the main waste culprits.</p>
<p>The practice began in the US in the 1950s when <a href="https://www.kab.org/" target="_blank">Keep America Beautiful</a> was formed. The non-profit consortium included Coca-Cola and tobacco manufacturer Phillip Morris, among others. Its campaigns, such as the 1971 “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Suu84khNGY">Crying Indian</a>” ad, tapped into a shared cultural guilt for polluting the environment and, in this case, mistreating native people.</p>
<p>Such tactics have been mirrored by <a href="https://kab.org.au/past-campaigns/litterers-anonymous-2/" target="_blank">Keep Australia Beautiful</a> campaigns.</p>
<p>But guilt is not a good predictor of people’s behaviour. A 2001 <a href="http://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2001_KoestnerHoulfortPaquetKnight_JASP.pdf" target="_blank">study</a> found individuals must feel ethically validated, not guilty, to behave in an environmentally friendly way.</p>
<h2>Consumers are not the villains</h2>
<p>Manufacturers of consumer products obviously play a <a href="https://www.eco-business.com/news/what-are-the-worlds-biggest-plastic-polluters-doing-about-the-problem/">major role</a> in the growing plastic problem. This is reflected in the <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.packagingcovenant.org.au/documents/item/1091" target="_blank">Australian Packaging Covenant,</a> an agreement between government and industry.</p>
<p>It says responsibility for packaging should be shared by companies throughout the supply chain. Consumers, waste service providers, recyclers and governments also have roles to play.</p>
<p><a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/more-recycling-wont-solve-plastic-pollution/" target="_blank">Researchers have noted</a> that a permissive legal framework has allowed plastic pollution to rise despite the obvious harm it causes to communities and marine life.</p>
<p>As Recycled Plastics Australia general manager Stephen Scherer <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-14/recycling-industry-demands-federal-action-as--waste-piles-up/10993218" target="_blank">told the ABC this year</a>:</p>
<p>…the federal government has been absent from the conversation about waste, while Australians are operating in a culture where ‘we don’t do what we’re not forced to do’.</p>
<p>Plastic waste is on the radar of Australian governments. State and federal environment ministers <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste-resource-recovery/plastics-and-packaging/packaging-covenant" target="_blank">last year set a target</a> that all packaging be recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2025 or earlier.</p>
<p>But critics say rather than set targets, the federal government must mandate the use of recycled plastic in packaging to ensure the waste problem is addressed.</p>
<p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298443/original/file-20191024-119433-97l2iz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""><br><span class="caption">Fish swimming along a coral reef near a water bottle label and a plastic bag off the coast of the Red Sea resort town of Naama Bay, Egypt.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mike Nelson/EPA</span></span></p>
<h2>Recycling campaigns done right</h2>
<p>Companies such as Coca-Cola are embracing the concept of sustainability to some extent. But better still, other brands have sought to fix recycling systems themselves.</p>
<p>In February Unilever “paid” people in Buenos Aires, Argentina for their <a href="https://www.unilever.com/news/news-and-features/Feature-article/2019/how-were-helping-buenos-aires-residents-make-recycling-a-habit" target="_blank">household recyclables</a> with discount coupons redeemable against its products at selected retailers.</p>
<p>In the UK, Burger King last month announced it was scrapping plastic toys from kids’ meals and invited the public to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7lmk-V6p6Q" target="_blank">bring in old plastic toys</a> from any restaurant meal. The plastic will be remade into “interactive play opportunities” for families at their restaurants.</p>
<p>In Australia, superannuation fund Australian Ethical ran its latest campaign on <a href="http://www.adnews.com.au/campaigns/new-australian-ethical-campaign-uses-100-recyclable-billboards" target="_blank">100% recyclable billboard skins</a>.</p>
<p>Consumers do have a role to play in waste reduction, including by recycling or demanding that companies find alternatives to single-use plastics. But if companies want to respond meaningfully to the plastic crisis, they must accept ultimate responsibility for their packaging and work towards zero-waste.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123579/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;"></p>
<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sergio-brodsky-738470" target="_blank">Sergio Brodsky</a>, Sessional Lecturer, Marketing, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063" target="_blank">RMIT University</a></em></span></p>
<p>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/stop-shaming-and-start-empowering-advertisers-must-rethink-their-plastic-waste-message-123579" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
</body></html>

jrobinson-rf4aSBido9

Stop shaming and start empowering: advertisers must rethink their plastic waste message

<html><body>
<p>This week Alastair sits down with Jo Garretty, Managing Director at Salt3 to talk traffic and waste management.</p>

<p><iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="300" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/455444280&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=true&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true&amp;visual=true" width="100%"></iframe></p>
</body></html>

urban.com.au

Weekly Podcast: Episode 17 - Jo Garretty from Salt3 discusses traffic and waste management

<html><body>
<div>
<span id="0.3507483844166873" class="highlight"><span id="0.3507483844166873" class="highlight">PUF </span><span id="0.4401440880589861" class="highlight">Ventures </span><span id="0.36930186618324146" class="highlight">Australia </span>has formed an alliance with </span><span id="0.9034843005667308" class="highlight">Utilities </span><span id="0.19043540415429205" class="highlight">Group</span>, a private company which operates proprietary bioHubs which turn manure, sewage, crop <span id="0.42063115596249656" class="highlight">and </span>food processing waste into renewable energy <span id="0.9717913798776278" class="highlight">and </span>bioproducts. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>The Casino bioHub project is already in early stage planning.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<span id="0.10067107891766236" class="highlight">Utilitas</span> <span id="0.3385402730669983" class="highlight">Group</span> is working with ASX-listed DomaCom <span id="0.722223700707296" class="highlight">to</span> raise the $4.3 million needed <span id="0.4059400485061402" class="highlight">to</span> develop the project.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The bioHub will transform organic waste <span id="0.8160708033686138" class="highlight">and</span> waste water from the <a href="https://www.domacom.com.au/public-crowdfunding-campaigns/commercial-properties/casino-biohub/" target="_blank">Richmond Valley region</a> into energy, clean water <span id="0.0412911128421074" class="highlight">and</span> other valuable bio-products. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>PVA has plans <span id="0.6156462890644552" class="highlight">to</span> construct a one million-square-foot greenhouse operation, with large scale manufacturing, processing <span id="0.31212363441230573" class="highlight">and</span> office facilities for the cultivation, production <span id="0.5634772070536042" class="highlight">and</span> manufacture of medical <span id="0.30211167085346435" class="highlight">cannabis</span> <span id="0.9320184942014166" class="highlight">and </span>associated products near the <span id="0.4012500842082166" class="highlight">to</span>wn of Casino, in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, <span id="0.5260940157465658" class="highlight">Australia</span>.  </div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<span id="0.8224645162870325" class="highlight">Utilitas</span> <span id="0.17405803312179824" class="highlight">Group</span> is developing a bioHub, near the same location which will transform organic waste <span id="0.8320929208677138" class="highlight">and</span> waste water from the Richmond Valley region into energy, clean water <span id="0.19724853698667477" class="highlight">and</span> other valuable bio-products. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Through the alliance, PVA will have long term access <span id="0.402826894961265" class="highlight">to</span> stable environmentally friendly energy, nutrients <span id="0.5332031142890685" class="highlight">and</span> reclaimed water generated by the <span id="0.02999512868617804" class="highlight">Utilitas</span> bioHub. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>“There are significant economic <span id="0.10331436628680102" class="highlight">and</span> environmental benefits <span id="0.33865584439056073" class="highlight">to</span> be gained through the alliance with <span id="0.4430892412799936" class="highlight">Utilitas</span>,” said Horsfall, CEO of <span id="0.6334990389522337" class="highlight">PUF</span> <span id="0.9212509937381036" class="highlight">Ventures</span> <span id="0.5551710540855558" class="highlight">Australia</span>.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>“The <span id="0.5978493212740785" class="highlight">Utilitas</span> bioHub in Casino, New South Wales, has been designed <span id="0.2701549258110658" class="highlight">to</span> create dispatchable renewable electricity, green natural gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), valuable nutrients <span id="0.2407472023055317" class="highlight">and</span> reclaimed water as part of a closed-loop resource recovery process. These are all critical inputs for a large greenhouse operation. “ </div>
<div> </div>
<div>“<span id="0.9419152782798413" class="highlight">To</span>gether with <span id="0.29345141606674174" class="highlight">Utilitas</span>, we can create the world’s first closed-loop, resource recovery, <span id="0.9048854972826851" class="highlight">medicinal</span> <span id="0.8321461772491631" class="highlight">cannabis</span><span id="0.33345762156011005" class="highlight">facility</span>, utilising the huge local biomass from the agricultural <span id="0.764731060949256" class="highlight">and</span> food processing industries <span id="0.3183689459153467" class="highlight">to</span> pioneer world-leading clean technologies.”  </div>
<div> </div>
<div>“I give high praise <span id="0.5351781782604934" class="highlight">to</span> the Richmond Valley Council for its proactive efforts in securing such a high value anchor tenant like <span id="0.24306221055054056" class="highlight">PUF</span> <span id="0.23680617625135347" class="highlight">Ventures</span> <span id="0.11453965537341682" class="highlight">Australia</span> <span id="0.6326805741728797" class="highlight">to</span> co-locate with the Casino bioHub,” said Fiona Waterhouse, CEO, <span id="0.921094449372801" class="highlight">Utilitas</span> <span id="0.3763358618107515" class="highlight">Group</span>.  </div>
<div> </div>
<div>“Securing <span id="0.03637551127565464" class="highlight">PUF</span> <span id="0.36368270022165616" class="highlight">Ventures</span> <span id="0.16966252744579458" class="highlight">to</span> have local, affordable clean energy <span id="0.13721195454247848" class="highlight">and</span> nutrients <span id="0.21745883975367042" class="highlight">to</span> <span id="0.1005996427238689" class="highlight">grow</span> healthy plants <span id="0.30097421886517506" class="highlight">and</span>affordable long-term price is a win for the region, community, <span id="0.06294752527201464" class="highlight">and</span> environment. It’s also going <span id="0.48294089420485276" class="highlight">to</span> create new, local employment, <span id="0.10217744855783273" class="highlight">and</span> reduce environmental impacts from waste <span id="0.9434875991119068" class="highlight">and</span> emissions.”  </div>
<div> </div>
<div>The long-term success of any licensed <span id="0.40445228230614005" class="highlight">cannabis</span> producer is the ability <span id="0.19185778140506193" class="highlight">to</span> leverage economies of scale in its <span id="0.10207844194045224" class="highlight">grow</span> operations <span id="0.27686546488957153" class="highlight">and</span> be a low-cost producer with a premium product. Those companies with state-of-the-art operations with long term access <span id="0.9083844190410602" class="highlight">to</span> affordable energy <span id="0.7032968578475469" class="highlight">and</span> nutrients, which are critical cost drivers, will be successful.  </div>
<div> </div>
<div>About <span id="0.045736149097148515" class="highlight">Utilitas</span>  <span id="0.36285407455886176" class="highlight">Utilitas</span> is on a mission <span id="0.9309976714410885" class="highlight">to</span> unleash the power of bioHubs <span id="0.36173929333535193" class="highlight">to</span> fuel industry, support networks <span id="0.8332291960170481" class="highlight">and</span>energise communities by delivering 100MW of dispatchable, reliable, local electricity <span id="0.6661161727983025" class="highlight">and</span> other bioproducts from 100 bioHubs in 100 regional communities by 2025. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<span id="0.7619801409150396" class="highlight">Utilitas</span> originates, designs, <span id="0.8037956779021169" class="highlight">build</span>s <span id="0.6493054184075404" class="highlight">and</span> operates the bioHubs, contracting with large organic waste producers <span id="0.46370663561678926" class="highlight">and</span> energy consumers <span id="0.9464834915716271" class="highlight">to</span> treat their waste <span id="0.11706739414616663" class="highlight">and</span>supply back energy (electricity, gas, fuel) <span id="0.9626273823826139" class="highlight">and</span> other valuable bioproducts at locked in long term prices.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<span id="0.41093404540980893" class="highlight">PUF</span> <span id="0.9053526033880774" class="highlight">Ventures</span> <span id="0.7267435227016549" class="highlight">Australia</span> PTY LTD <span id="0.37404385119080696" class="highlight">and</span> <span id="0.22753686620614066" class="highlight">PUF</span> <span id="0.12043982373433115" class="highlight">Ventures</span> Inc have formed a strategic partnership with the Richmond Valley Council, New South Wales, <span id="0.4564599494213164" class="highlight">Australia</span>, <span id="0.24112759215897595" class="highlight">to</span> construct a 1 million-square-foot greenhouse operation, with large scale manufacturing, processing <span id="0.973614643016692" class="highlight">and</span> office facilities for the cultivation, production <span id="0.358634222223151" class="highlight">and</span> manufacture of medical <span id="0.4630125389479033" class="highlight">cannabis</span> <span id="0.8394143949464004" class="highlight">and</span>associated products in <span id="0.8165941904596953" class="highlight">Australia</span>. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<span id="0.7426807079561905" class="highlight">PUF</span> <span id="0.3088715123805237" class="highlight">Ventures</span> Inc. owns a majority interest in AAA Heidelberg Inc., a private Ontario company that is an advanced applicant for an ACMPR license from Health Canada.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Through an exclusive joint venture agreement with Canopy <span id="0.1339480105025741" class="highlight">Grow</span>th Corp, the Company will join CraftGrow, a collection of high-quality <span id="0.9086436294480039" class="highlight">cannabis</span> <span id="0.007566648782408314" class="highlight">grow</span>n by a select <span id="0.33417831293673783" class="highlight">and</span> diverse set of producers, made available through the Tweed Main Street website.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>DomaCom is a <a href="https://www.domacom.com.au/public-crowdfunding-campaigns/commercial-properties/casino-biohub/" target="_blank">fractional property investment</a> platform.</div>
</body></html>

Utilitas Group working with DomaCom to raise $4.3 million to develop Casino bioHub project 

<html><body>
<p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/82644/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1"></p>
<p>GUEST OBSERVER</p>
<p>One of the byproducts of landfill is “landfill gas”, a mixture of mostly methane and carbon dioxide generated by decomposing organic material.</p>
<p>Methane is a particularly potent greenhouse gas, but it can be captured from landfill and used to generate clean electricity.</p>
<p>Methane capture is a valuable source of power but, more importantly, it can significantly reduce Australia’s methane emissions. However the opportunity to produce energy from waste is largely being squandered, as up to 80% of the potential methane in waste is not used. </p>
<p>If more councils were prepared to invest in better facilities, Australians would benefit from less waste in landfill and more energy in our grids. Even the by-product from using state-of-art processing methods can be used as a bio-fertiliser.</p>
<p>And while these facilities are initially more expensive, Australians are generally very willing to recycle, compost and take advantage of community schemes to reduce waste. It’s reasonable to assume that a considerable percentage of our population would support updating landfill plants to reduce methane emissions. </p>
<h2>Recycling in Australia</h2>
<p>Australia may have a bad rap when it comes to waste recycling, but there are plenty of positives.</p>
<p>Australians produce approximately 600 kilograms of domestic waste per person, per year – no more than most northern European countries, which set the benchmark in sustainable waste management. </p>
<p>Looking at kerbside bins we, on average, recycle 30-35% of that waste, saving much of our paper, glass, aluminium and steel from landfill (which also saves and reduces emissions). </p>
<p>Although the household recycling rate in Australia is less than the best-performing EU recycling rates of 40-45%, this is primarily due to a lack of access to (or awareness of) schemes to recycle e-waste and metals. Data therefore suggests that at the community level, there is a willingness to minimise and recycle waste.</p>
<p>Between 55% and 60% of kerbside waste sent to landfill in Australia is organic material. Over 65% of this organic fraction is food waste, similar to the make-up of the EU organic waste stream, comprised of 68% of food waste. </p>
<p>Despite this large fraction, approximately half of the household organic we produce – mostly garden waste – is separately collected and disposed, again demonstrating high participation by the community in recycling when collection and disposal options are available. </p>
<h2>Turning waste into energy</h2>
<p>Energy recovery from waste is the conversion of non-recyclable material into useable heat, electricity, or fuel. Solid inorganic waste can be converted to energy by combustion, but organic waste like kitchen and and garden refuse has too much moisture to be treated this way. </p>
<p>Instead, when organic waste is sent to landfill it is broken down naturally by microorganisms. This process releases methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. </p>
<p>Around 130 landfills in Australia are capturing methane and using it to generate electricity. Based on installed power generation capacity and the amount of waste received, Australia’s largest landfills use 20-30% of the potential methane in waste for electricity generation. </p>
<p>Ravenhall in Melbourne processes 1.4 million tonnes of waste per year, and proposes to generate 8.8 megawatts (MW) of electricity by 2020. Roughly 461,000 tonnes of waste goes to Woodlawn in NSW, and in 2011 it generated 4MW of electrical power. Swanbank in Queensland receives 500,000 tonnes a year and generates 1.1MW. </p>
<p>The remainder of the methane is flared due to poor gas quality or insufficient transmission infrastructure, is oxidised as it migrates towards the surface of the landfill, or simply escapes. The methane generating capacity of waste is also diminished because organics begin composting as soon as they reach landfill.</p>
<p>But there are more efficient ways to capture methane using specialised anaerobic digestion tanks. The process is simple: an anaerobic (oxygen free) tank is filled with organic waste, which is broken down by bacteria to produce biogas. This is similar to the natural process that occurs in landfill, but is much more controlled and efficient in a tank.</p>
<p>The biogas can be combusted to produce electricity and heat, or can be converted to pure biomethane to be used either in the mains gas grid, or as a renewable transport fuel. In contrast to landfills, 60-80% of the methane potential of waste is used to generate electricity in anaerobic digesters, with most of the remainder used to power waste handling and the digestion process. </p>
<p>The nutrient-rich sludge that remains after anaerobic digestion, called digestate, is also a valuable biofertiliser. It can support food production, and further reduce greenhouse gases by decreasing our reliance on energy-intensive manufactured fertilisers. </p>
<p>The use of food waste as a feedstock for anaerobic digestion is largely untapped in Australia but has huge potential. A site in Sydney’s geographic centre (Earth Power Technologies) and Richgro’s Jandakot facility near Perth are part of a handful that are converting food waste to energy using this technology.</p>
<h2>The future of organic recycling</h2>
<p>Local council recycling and waste infrastructure is typically not a priority election issue, except for those close to existing or proposed landfills. </p>
<p>Ratepayers are generally not informed of the possibility of separately collecting food waste, either for industrial-scale composting or methane capture. We have the right to this information, with costs and benefits presented in the context of the costs we already pay for waste management, and relative to the environmental performance of landfill.</p>
<p>As an example, landfill operators often promote the number of homes they power by electricity generated from methane as a key measure of sustainability. But how does this compare to the electricity and heat that might be obtained from an anaerobic digester that processes the same waste? </p>
<p>Given the choice, the Australian community may have an appetite to extend organic recycling beyond well-established garden waste composting. They only have to be asked.</p>
<p><span class="fn author-name"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/william-clarke-380521" target="_blank">William Clarke</a> is p</span>rofessor of waste management, The University of Queensland.</p>
<p><span class="fn author-name"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/bernadette-mccabe-147872" target="_blank">Bernadette McCabe</a> is </span>Associate Professor and Principal Scientist, University of Southern Queensland.</p>
<p>Both are authors for <a href="https://theconversation.com/au" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</p>
</body></html>

Waste Management

Editor's Picks

Have something to contribute?

Developments

New apartments

New townhouses

News

Waste Management

Editor's Picks

Receive the latest news stories to your inbox

Have something to contribute?

Developments

New apartments

New townhouses

News