A new facility is future-proofing recycling for the Northern Adelaide Waste Management Authority (NAWMA) with the completion of its $15 million Fibre Polishing Plant at Edinburgh in Adelaide’s northern suburbs.
With capacity to process 31,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard collected from hundreds of thousands of kerbside yellow-lid recycling bins across South Australia annually, or the equivalent of approximately 350 Olympic swimming pools, the plant reduces contamination to less than 2 per cent in mixed paper, and 1 per cent for cardboard.
The removal of contaminants from paper and cardboard, known as ‘polishing’, helps stop recyclable materials being lost to landfill and enables NAWMA to sell the materials interstate and overseas to re processors, where they are used to make paper-based packaging products.
Following a change in Australian Government regulations, recycled paper and cardboard can only be exported if it meets strict international trade guidelines (two per cent for paper and one percent for cardboard).
“Each year NAWMA processes 48,000 tonnes of recycling collected from yellow kerbside bins across half the state, about half of those materials are post-consumer paper and cardboard,” says NAWMA CEO Toby Terlet. “This plant will ensure that NAWMA recycles all that post-consumer paper and cardboard to the highest possible standard, which is not only better for the environment but unlocks a long-term revenue stream and reduces costs for our constituent and client councils.
“The plant means materials can be polished in Edinburgh to remove contaminants, then sold interstate and overseas where they’ll be used to make the paper-based shopping bags and packaging we know and use almost every day.
“By turning recycling into revenue, we’re reducing the need for forest-sourced paper and stopping materials from going to landfill because they don’t meet strict export guidelines.
“This plant not only helps futureproof NAWMA’s operations but sets a new benchmark for the resource recovery sector and reflects our focus on developing strategies and processes to transition to a circular economy.”
Paper and cardboard travels through an enclosed conveyor system where state of the art optical sensors detect contaminants and use high-pressure air jets to remove them from the paper and cardboard, which is then separated and individually baled.
The main contaminants removed by the Fibre Polishing Plant are soft plastics (such as chip packets and plastic bags) and textiles (such as clothing, rope and ribbon).
Other common contaminants, such as general waste, nappies, electronics and batteries, are removed in earlier stages of the sorting process at NAWMA’s Material Recovery Facility.
Paper and cardboard recycled at NAWMA’s Fibre Polishing Plant comes from its three constituent councils – City of Salisbury, City of Playford and Town of Gawler – and nearly 30 other metropolitan and regional councils in South Australia and Victoria.
When the change in regulations was first announced in 2020, NAWMA partnered with Green Industries SA to explore the business case for developing infrastructure that would support the ongoing, viable recycling of paper and cardboard.
A Fibre Polishing Plant was identified due to the availability of recyclables from NAWMA’s existing Material Recovery Facility. NAWMA was successful in securing co-funding totalling nearly $8 million towards the project, from the South Australian Government via Green Industries SA and the Federal Government, via the Recycling Modernisation Fund.
More than 100 jobs were created during the Fibre Polishing Plant’s construction, while the plant and NAWMA’s Material Recovery Facility employs 40 employees. The plant will operate five days per week, with two shifts per day (morning and evening).