Flyers produce crushed glass at the bar
A bottle crushing machine has enabled the Melbourne Qantas Club lounge to lift glass recycling rates from 10% to 80%, with the National Packaging Covenant claiming the machine has potential to lift recycling across the hospitality industry.
About 5,000 to 7,000 members visit the club lounge every day, leaving Qantas staff with thousands of bottles to deal with. Looking to increase recycling, Qantas staff came across a trial funded by the National Packaging Covenant (NPC) and the Packaging Stewardship Forum (PSF) and supported by Melbourne City Council, which offered hospitality venues a free two-month trial to use the BottleCycler machine.
The machine, supplied by Australian company BottleCycler, reduces bottle volumes by 80% by crushing them into a consistent size for recycling.
The club lounge took up the trial offer and has continued to lease the machine since starting the trial in August. Since then, the BottleCycler machine has processed more than 361,000 bottles, diverting 72 tonnes of glass from landfill.
Some 80 other venues have taken up the two-month trial offer in Melbourne and the program is about to commence in Sydney, with the Department of Environment and Climate Change also coming on board to support the project with the PSF and NPC. From www.EnvironmentalManagementNews.net Pigs might not fly but fat can become fuel!
Multinational food manufacturer Tyson Foods has formed alliances with energy companies to produce biofuel from animal fat within the next three to four years, according to its 2007 sustainability report.
A Tyson Renewable Products unit has been set up to pursue ways to convert by-products such as animal fat into renewable energy. Through alliances with other companies, Tyson plans to produce up to 250 million gallons (946 GL) of biofuel a year from animal fat within the next three to four years.
The Tyson Renewable Products group struck a deal with energy company ConocoPhillips to produce renewable diesel fuel from beef, pork, and chicken fat. The companies anticipate production of 175 million gallons (662 GL) of renewable diesel fuel per year by 2009.
Tyson has also entered into a joint venture with Syntroleum Corporation, a synthetic fuels technology company. The partnership, named Dynamic Fuels, will target the renewable diesel, jet, and military fuels markets. When the first standalone production facility is completed in 2010, the companies anticipate production of 75 million gallons (284 GL) of synthetic fuels annually.
The sustainability report for 2007 can be found on the Tyson Foods website. www.tyson.com
Biobag’s big bag claim
With the potential phasing out of plastic bags on the Australian political agenda, BioBag claims to be the world’s largest brand of 100% biodegradable and 100% compostable bags and films made from the material, Mater-Bi. All products contain GMO free starch, biodegradable polymer and other renewable resources. No polyethylene is used in the production process. For more www.biobaganz.com
Cleaner coal with pure oxygen?
The Queensland Government has invested $10 million in an oxy-fuel project being developed by CS Energy near Biloela in central Queensland. The project involves using a conventional power station and burning the coal in pure oxygen, which makes it easier to capture the CO2. When deployed on a large scale, the technology is expected to reduce emissions by up to 90%.
Construction of the $206 million Callide oxy-fuel project will start early next year with the 30 MW power station scheduled to start producing electricity by the end of 2010. The project is being funded by the Federal Government, the Queensland Government and CS Energy, along with the Australian Coal Association's COAL21 Fund, Xstrata Coal, Schlumberger, the Japanese Government and Japanese participants - JPower, Mitsui & Co and IHI Corporation.
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