A team of engineers from the University of Sydney may be one step closer to cleaning up heavily contaminated industrial wastewater streams. By using electricity to clean up heavily polluted industrial wastewater the team hopes the findings will help wineries, pharmaceutical manufacturers and other industries that must comply with strict wastewater regulations.
The ACT Government introduced the Plastic Reduction Bill in the Legislative Assembly on December 2, 2021. Debate and passage of the Bill is expected to occur early next year with the Bill drafted to commence on July 1 2021.
A new translucent barrier paper, Sylvicta has been developed by Arjowiggins, a Scottish independent paper manufacturer as a sustainable alternative to plastics in packaging.
Through precision fibre refining, Arjowiggins’ research and development teams have developed the translucent paper with a natural bonding without the need of any harmful chemicals. The result is a paper with a barrier to oxygen, aroma, mineral oils, and fatty foodstuffs.
According to Spicers, by answering the market need for sustainable alternatives to single-use packaging and flexible laminates, Sylvicta offers brands a high-quality barrier packaging solution that enables brands to reduce or even eradicate the use of plastics in their packaging.
Circular Economy
The company considers Sylvicta as a solution for creating a globally sustainable, circular economy, especially as it can integrate into existing recycling schemes. Sylvicta’s has a high barrier to oxygen which is the leading cause of food spoilage. This means it can also reduce food waste by prolonging shelf life.
Meanwhile, Arjowiggins is working with packaging converters to open up what it says is an endless array of applications from pouches for dry fruits, bags for salads, sachets for solid soap, sacks for pet food and flow-packs for chocolate bars, through to metallised versions of Sylvicta for butter or margarine packaging.
Sylvicta was created as part of the Arjowiggins mission to help create a circular economy society.
In evidence of its sustainable properties, the paper is fully recyclable, compostable, marine degradable, and made from renewable raw materials.
Spicers general manager supply chain and product segments Ken Booth said that despite the ongoing global movement towards more sustainable packaging solutions, plastics still make up a significant proportion of the market, largely for practical reasons.
“Until now, most of the existing offer, mainly in single-use packaging, use unrecyclable, multi-layered laminates incorporating plastics or aluminium foil.
“With Sylvicta, the majority of current plastic or foil packaging needs can be turned into an environmentally friendly, fully recyclable, compostable and biodegradable paper-based packaging solution.”
Sylvicta benefits from the environmental standards set by Arjowiggins Translucent Papers business and is FSC and PEFC-certified, produced on a site that is ISO 14001-compliant and is carbon-offset through the World Land Trust’s Carbon Balanced programme.
A Memorandum of Understanding has been entered into by Citywide to explore participation in a state-of-the-art Energy from Waste (EfW) facility in Victoria. This follows the signing of an agreement with the project’s participants.
The ‘APCO Action Plan for Problematic and Unnecessary Single-Use Plastic Packaging’ has been designed by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) to support Australia’s packaging supply chain and phase out problematic single-use plastic packaging.
CSIRO is co-hosting the 2021 India-Australia Circular Economy Hackathon in collaboration with the Government of India.
The Morrison Government is backing a new era of environmental science, announcing the universities and research centres that will host four ‘mega’ research hubs in the next phase of Australia’s National Environmental Science Program (NESP) This includes the Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub.
Brussels will introduce mandatory recycling targets for battery makers including electric car manufacturers from 2030. The move comes as the EU attempts to meet growing demand for vital raw materials without undermining its ambitious environmental goals.
Unprecedented waste and recycling laws that cement Australia’s seven national targets for waste by 2030 were passed this week, however an amendment by the Greens to reduce single-use plastics or meet plastic packaging recycling targets wasn’t included.
Northern-Ireland company Kiverco has been chosen to design, build and install a waste recycling plant that will help recycle all construction waste from the The Red Sea Project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.