Contrary to recent comments to the ABC that, “.. the bulk of the containers that are going into the (NSW) container deposit scheme are containers that would have ordinarily been recycled anyway,” in fact the NSW return and earn scheme has already more than doubled container recycling in the state, according to the Australian Council or Recycling (ACOR).
Colin Elkins from global enterprise application company IFS has gazed into his crystal ball for the process manufacturing industry and made some bold predictions for 2019.
What do a cow, a suitcase and a waste truck have in common? At first glance, these three things may seem totally unrelated but in fact, they all represent the future trends in weighing technology.
On October 26, the NSW EPA released the Mixed Waste Organic Material (MWOO) – Regulatory Change, withdrawing the Resource Recovery Order and Exemption to end the application of processed organic material derived from residual municipal waste to land.
According to the 2016 National Waste Report, commercial and industrial waste (C&I) represents 20MT of the 53MT of waste generated in Australia (or 40 per cent of generation).
Drinking straws are just the literal tip of humanity’s plastic addiction. In 2016 global plastic resin production reached nearly 335 million metric tons. By some estimates, it could grow to approximately 650 million metric tons by 2020, roughly 100 times the weight of the Pyramid of Giza. Read more
This unprecedented move is in response to strong backlash by customers who are struggling to switch to reusable bags.
Read more: Why plastic bag bans triggered such a huge reaction
We know that offering free lightweight plastic bags causes excessive plastic use. We also know that banning lightweight bags can increase the use of heavier plastic bags (such as bin liners). Coles’ decision brings out the worst of both worlds: giving out heavier plastic bags for free. Read more
The dramas continue for Coles as the supermarket giant has come under fire for its reversal of its decision to stop providing free reusable bags to shoppers.
Thinking that the carbon forcing factor of methane from landfill (25 times CO2) would render that claim incorrect, I thought I should go back and check the maths.
The answer was so startling I wrote this article. Read more
Incinerators work by combusting waste thus creating an exothermic reaction between the waste and oxygen from the air. The end products of combustion are molecularly stable despite the fuel source (waste in this instance) differing in element such as gas, wood, coal, liquid petrol, municipal solid waste, medical waste, or hazardous waste).
Well-designed incinerators have a flame zone that is hot enough to break down organic and inorganic molecules in order for reactions to occur between volatile compounds of the waste and the oxygen and nitrogen present in the air. Two predominant reactions occur during combustion which are between carbon and oxygen which produced carbon dioxide, and between hydrogen and oxygen which produced water in the form of vapour. Read more