news, local-news, central waste

There's no denying Australia has a problem with waste management - it is even the subject of a recently-announced Parliamentary inquiry. Since the introduction of China's National Sword Policy - which was implemented to prevent contaminated recyclable waste from entering the country - a great deal of material that was destined for recycling has been stockpiled or is ending up in landfill. A Kurri Kurri resource recovery facility has an idea in the pipeline that could play a part in solving Australia's problem with plastic. Central Waste Station plans to establish a solid recovered fuels (SRF) facility on site. The facility would turn residual plastics from the waste that is processed at the plant into a "high-end" fuel, which could be used in cement kilns and brickworks as an alternative to fossil fuels. Central Waste Station co-owner and director Kevin Daly said it will allow the Kurri Kurri facility to deal with plastic waste on site. The facility currently processes construction and demolition materials and commercial and industrial waste - separating materials such as metals and concrete that might end up in landfill from non-recyclable waste - and is always looking for new ways to reuse and recycle material. "The addition of the SRF facility will cause a have a compounding benefit, as the materials left after we've recovered the recyclables will be turned into fuel," company director Michael Rogers said. "The plastic needs to be dealt with here in Australia." Mr Daly - who started working the waste industry in Ireland 20 years ago - said that the use of SRF as a fossil fuel alternative, is a common practice in Europe, but that Australia is an "emerging market". Central Waste Station's environmental manager Jack Roxburgh said Australia should focus on using the example set by European waste management. "I don't think we need to reinvent the wheel, but spend time focusing on how it is done in Europe and start to develop our own domestic markets," he said. "This includes developing facilities that can process the waste for new products. Australia doesn't currently have the domestic market for recycled products, which is why our recycling was sent overseas for processing. "We can't make our waste other peoples' problems - the solution needs to start here in Australia." Central Waste's SRF facility (which will be known as Central Fuels) would be a $15-18 million project and would potentially double the staff at the Kurri Kurri business, which currently employs more than 50 people across the plant, yard and office. A development application has not yet been submitted, and Mr Daly said it could happen sometime in the next three years. Central Waste has, however, recently applied to council to expand its processing capacity to 90,000 tonnes a year. The application is being assessed by the Hunter and Central Coast Regional Planning Panel.

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Kurri Kurri business Central Waste Station plans to expand and establish solid recovered fuel facility Krystal Sellars