Example work

"Waste Management solutions delivered as systematic resource recovery strategies"

The ability of Eco Waste to provide the depth and detail of understanding and advice on current waste management and resource recovery issues is supported by the experience and track (Linked to Track record and highlights) record since Eco Waste was founded in 1988/89.

Approach:
Nothing in Urban Waste Streams should be wasted, dumped, disposed or gotten rid of in a sustainable economy! With the prevailing resource depletion agenda, essential materials scarcities (Peak Oil, phosphorous and rare earth etc) in the face of exponential growth in demand, all spent, surplus or otherwise unwanted (by the current owner) materials must be streamed post discard for the next most valuable, reuse opportunity. EcoWaste is of the view that such custody transfers should be as efficient as possible and any residual cost (if any) bourne by the current owner/manager.

Examples:

• Eco Waste is available and uniquely placed to provide advise to parties wishing to develop the systems, facilities and infrastructure to achieve resource management outcomes; or available to co develop such facilities with suitable, skilled and motivated third parties.
  Much of the strategic planning from this period is articulated in a subsequent report for a Waste Management Association of Australia (WMAA) SPIG Working
• MSW Pre-treatment facilityThe MSW Pretreatment approach designed by Eco Waste and adopted by WSWB, underpinned a “streaming and cascading” framework for the management of urban wastes, such that “highest and best value” options were always available for the discarded materials leading to an, optimised resource recovery outcome for all defined material flows. For those materials that were discarded so as to miss out on the optimised resource recovery option, there was always a “next best” option available to ensure that at least most resource value was reclaimed and as little as possible lost to pure disposal options.

The following diagrammatic representation from the SPIG Discussion Paper #3 provides context (at 3 residuals).(Enlarge image: new page)

Key:

• 1 The productive economy – refers to all the collective activities that make up society's use or demand for goods and services as measured currently by GDP.
• 1a Primary industry refers to all the primary or original inputs into the productive economy
• 1b Manufacturing refers to the various converters, processors and value-adding processes
• 1c Consumer refers to both the individual consumer, and society as a whole
• 2 Point of discard for metropolitan solid waste (MSW)
• 2a Point of discard for commercial and industrial (C&I) waste
• 3 First point of receival for residual MSW
• 4 First point of receival for dry recyclables
• 5 First point of receival for organics
• 6 Return of materials into the productive economy — metals
• 7 Return of materials into the productive economy — inerts
• 8 Return of materials to the productive economy — mixed organics and biomass
• 9 Return of materials to the productive economy — high calorific and hydrocarbon-based materials
• 10 Return of materials to the productive economy — source-separated organics
• 11 Point of discard — occasional, bulky, valuable or hazardous materials
• 11a Point of discard — valuable or toxic C&I
• 12 Special value recovery facilities
• 13 Treatment and detoxification facilities
• 14 Return of materials to the productive economy — treated toxics and household hazardous
• 15 Return of materials to the productive economy — special value recove

In this scenario MSW Pretreatment Facilities would replace traditional “first point of receival” transfer stations, providing all the functions of a traditional transfer station, but with the product being partially separated into streams of recognisable material flows (moist organics, High Calorific materials, metal, inert mineral materials, HHW, dry recyclables etc), all destined for delivery to specialist secondary processing facilities, where benefaction, to attain marketable quality, would be achieved.

Eco Waste is available and uniquely placed to provide advise to parties wishing to develop such facilities in the future, or available to co develop such facilities with suitable, skilled and motivate third parties.

• Drive Through Recycling Centres (Enlarge image - new page)

• The Drive Through Recycling Centre concept was designed at this time to at as the first point receival for all post consumer discards that presented as too toxic or too inherently valuable (See 12 &13 on Diagram) as to be adequately/appropriately managed as part of standardised MSW residual
  processing options or the regular dry recyclables sorting systems.DTRC have been designed and established as financially viable where located conveniently on major thoroughfares and positioned to serve between 50-200,000 populations.Such facilities would be the most cost effective infrastructure response for widespread implementation of the full range of Product Stewardship Schemes in prospect.Eco Waste is available and uniquely placed to provide advise to parties wishing to develop such facilities in the future, or available to co develop such facilities with suitable, skilled and motivate third parties.