Publications

In Australia in 2018/19, it is estimated that 1.16 Mt or 46 kg per person of glass waste was generated, up from 1.13 Mt in 2016-17. About 90% of all glass consumed is used in packaging, such as in food and beverage packaging. Overall recycling rates for glass are at about 59%. Increasing recycling rates further have been difficult due to breakage of glass in kerbside recycling collections, and the difficulty in sorting glass into colours.

New container deposit systems being rolled out across the country, and innovation in optical sorting technology at material recover facilities and advanced manufacturing is helping to boost recycling rates closer to the Commonwealth’s target of 80% recovery by 2030.

The AIEN was pleased to host this webinar to review innovation in glass collection, sorting, processing and manufacturing to help drive progress towards a circular economy.

As Australians, we can rightfully take some pride in our collective resourcefulness. There is a demonstrated Australian tradition of inventiveness and research endeavour. However, did you know these ‘beliefs’ can be supported by a strong body of evidence?

In many fields of endeavour including immunology, health, health research, medical/sensory aides, corporate governance, banking, astronomy, agriculture, mining, and more recently, space exploration, Australia’s skills and accomplishments are internationally recognised.

It is therefore disappointing that Australia often appears unable to demonstrate leadership in commercialising much of its inventiveness and research in the green/sustainability technology space. There are of course exceptions, but an appeal to the facts supports this general observation.

The webinar discussion included current case study feedback, explored various stakeholder perspectives and sought to identify opportunities to improve Australia’s competitiveness in the sustainability technology commercialisation space.

In Australia in 2018/19, it is estimated that 465,000 tonnes of tyres reached end of life. About 41% of these tyres were from passenger cars, 34% was truck tyres and 25% was off-the-road tyres*. In December 2021, the Commonwealth’s export ban came into effect, prohibiting the export of whole and baled tyres for processing and energy recovery overseas. Prior to the ban coming into effect, 56% of Australia’s end of life tyres were exported overseas.

Fortunately, domestic investment in new tyre processing and recycling infrastructure has occurred, reducing the nation’s dependence on export markets. Though there is a lot more to do to build robust domestic infrastructure and markets for tyre-derived products, to avoid the unlawful stockpiling of tyres and disposal in landfill.

This webinar explored some recent innovations in tyre recycling and markets for recovered tyre materials, to help build a local circular economy for this material. The webinar showcased new processing infrastructure, innovative market applications and whole of industry work to boost tyre recycling and markets for tyre derived products.

The H2AUS Forum aims to provide a platform for all interested parties and industries to discuss the development and vast potential for a new industry in hydrogen, building on Australia’s geographical advantages, export capabilities and strong relationships with key local and international energy markets, as well as creating a platform to view and share best practice techniques from around the world.

In this presentation, Marc Bacon, President and COO of OMNI Conversion Technologies will describe a new approach to making green hydrogen today at less than half the cost of electrolysis, all with a low or negative CO₂ footprint.

This is done by converting minimally prepared MSW, RDF, biomass, ICI, or C&D waste to a clean syngas tailored to end use, then using proven industrial processes to produce renewable hydrogen from the syngas.  The negative carbon footprint results from avoiding the anaerobic decomposition of waste in landfills.  Electricity consumption is about 1/6 that of electrolysis.

The OMNI process is supported by data from over a decade of demonstration at a commercial scale.  Delivery is de-risked by delivery in 200 tpd integrated shop assembled modular units with sufficient redundancy for high availability.

The States and the Commonwealth Government are currently investing record levels of funding to assist industry bring forward important waste sorting, processing, value-added manufacturing and energy recovery projects. In no time in Australia’s history has there been this level of funding to build the recycling infrastructure Australia needs now and into the future.

To help reach the 80% national recycling target by 2030 and drive progress towards a Circular Economy, all levels of government are dependent on efficient and effective infrastructure investments, largely led by the private sector and local government.

However, funding is limited, competitive and is dependent on applicants preparing a compelling business case that demonstrates a sound understanding of feedstock supply and end markets, waste supply and off-taker agreements, mature technology, a detailed understand of the project’s capital and operating funding requirements, planning and regulatory approvals and appropriate management of risk.

In this webinar, we have invited speakers from the Victorian, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australian and the Commonwealth Government to discuss current and future infrastructure programs, and what is needed to make a compelling business case that will help secure funding.

Brian Higgins, Director of Advanced Technologies for energy company Babcock & Wilcox (B&W), will discuss B&W’s BrightLoop chemical looping technology, which is a fuel-flexible advanced technology process to produce hydrogen or steam.

BrightLoop also produces a pure stream of CO2 which can be sequestered or utilized without being emitted to the environment. By using a waste or biomass feedstock, the production of hydrogen can be carbon negative.

Additionally, he will introduce B&W’s waste-to-energy technologies that have been installed globally to convert municipal solid waste to electricity. In the facilitated discussion, project financing and methods to monetize these decarbonisation technologies will be discussed, followed by a Q&A session.