Recycling operation to reap large dividends from China Sword
THE waste plant owned by three northern councils is set to emerge a big winner from the recycling crisis involving China, receiving a $250,000 grant to upgrade its machinery.
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A RECYCLING plant owned by three northern councils is set to emerge a big winner from the recycling crisis involving China.
The Northern Adelaide Waste Management Authority (NAWMA) has received a $250,000 State Government grant to help upgrade its machinery for processing dumped cardboard and paper.
Most of Australia’s cardboard and paper was being sent to China for processing until the country banned its importation over the level of contamination with glass.
NAWMA processes recycling collected by Salisbury, Playford and Gawler councils at a plant at Edinburgh North. Its workload has substantially increased since the Chinese ban – known as China Sword – took effect earlier this year.
East Waste – which collects rubbish, green waste and recycling for six councils – has terminated its contract with a Victorian company, SKM Recycling, and will soon issue an open tender for its recycling.
NAWMA is expected to become a leading contender for the contract, which involves more than 26,000 tonnes of recycling – the most lucrative of which is cardboard and paper because it can be pulped and reused by manufacturers.
One recycling processor, Visy, was collecting paper and cardboard from several Adelaide councils for free but recently told them it wanted to be paid.
The government grant given to NAWMA will enable it to expand its capacity to process paper and cardboard, which is manually separated from plastics and glass before being baled and sent to pulp mills as raw material.
Chief executive Adam Faulkner said NAWMA had employed 20 new workers in the past month to help cope with its increasing workload.
Mr Faulkner said the future was looking positive for the authority, with extra recycling already flowing from the contract disputes between other councils and their processors.
He estimated it had doubled from 30,000 tonnes to 60,000 tonnes in recent months. “We’re quite excited about the future,” he said.
“I think we are in a great position as the only local government-owned recycling plant in South Australia.”
Mr Faulkner said NAWMA had identified new markets for its recycled paper and cardboard because of China Sword – with most of it going to Australian pulp mills.
He appealed to residents to minimise contamination of the paper and cardboard in their recycling bins to ensure the best return for ratepayers.
