Waste management in a new business environment

THE push for environmentally sustainable waste treatment solutions in Australia is paying dividends for two companies operating in Perth, with AnaeCo Ltd and SITA Environmental Solutions announcing progress on their projects this month.

However, the gap between community aspirations and reality has continued to cause difficulties for a third municipal waste treatment facility, run by the Southern Metropolitan Regional Council in Canning Vale.

Bentley-based AnaeCo plans to officially open its first DiCOM bioconversion plant in Shenton Park later this month.

The stock market-listed company has also announced a memorandum of understanding with Victoria-based Citywide Service Solutions Pty Ltd to investigate the feasibility of a DiCOM waste processing facility in Melbourne, while exploring opportunities to jointly develop other facilities in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

AnaeCo managing director Tom Rudas told WA Business News that while the company was pleased with the new opportunities interstate, it was also looking at a number of projects in the UK, Europe and South-East Asia.

"We are delighted about this new opportunity to develop a DiCOM facility in the inner Melbourne area, as well as developing a long-term relationship with Citywide," Mr Rudas said.

Also making news is waste management company SITA Environmental Solutions, which is moving forward on the development of its jointly owned Resource Recovery Facility, with parts of what will be Australia's biggest composting drums delivered to the Neerabup site last weekend.

The facility, which is being developed by Mindarie Regional Council, is part of an $80 million waste management facility, with the project due for completion in the first half of 2009.

The four sections needed for the two giant drums weigh more than 600 tonnes, with each section more than 33 metres long and five metres high.

"Delivery of the drums is an important milestone for this state-of-the-art composting facility, which will treat up to 100,000t of household waster annually, converting the organic matter into compost," SITA project manager Mr Fontana Giusti said.

"The facility will see Perth become one of the most sustainable cities in the world from a recycling and waste management perspective.

"Composting organic matter such as food scraps and garden clippings, instead of sending it to landfill substantially reduces the greenhouse gas emissions emitted from landfill sites."

Meanwhile, the long-running odour issues at the South Metropolitan Regional Council's (SMRC) Regional Resource Recovery Centre at Canning Vale continue, with the Department of Conservation (DEC) demanding odour reduction work to be carried out at the site.

A report handed down by the DEC last month stated that, following repeated community complaints, an investigation into air quality found that odours from the site were unreasonably affecting the community, ordering the SMRC to prepare an odour abatement plan within 21 days.

DEC deputy director General Robert Atkins said while odour reduction works in 2006 reduced the problem to an extent, it failed to properly resolve the issue.

"DEC recognises that the facility provides an important waste management service for its member councils, but the SMRC needs to reduce odour emissions to ensure its continued operation and acceptance by the local community," Mr Atkins said.

However, SMRC chairman Doug Thompson has called for an independent review into the DEC report due to its "flawed scientific approach".

In a statement, Mr Thompson criticised the DEC for showing bias by placing too much credibility in complaints by a series of "serial complainers".

Mr Thompson has called for Premier Colin Barnett to intervene in the issue, while saying the DEC survey of 265 residents was too small to be reliable and tainted by its association with the department.

While developments for companies such as AnaeCo are encouraging, the experience of GRD Ltd subsidiary, Global Renewables, shows the challenges ahead.

Global has experienced problems in making its Sydney based facility profitable, despite the $75 million plant running for more than four years.

It is believed the low costs associated with landfill in Australia have made it difficult for other, more environmentally sound waste management solutions such as composting to be economically viable.

Global Renewables recorded a $9 million loss in late 2008, prompting GRD to seek a strategic partner for the business.