The ongoing 10-year collaboration between Veolia and the Department of Defence continues to deliver benefits not just for the environment, but also for the broader Australian economy.
In implementing over 50 different waste and recycling waste streams across Defence sites nationally, Veolia has sought and identified locally made solutions that are boosting local manufacturing.
From composting products, worm farms and soldier flies, to onsite technology such as digestors and dehydrators, the collaboration is delivering for the environment and the Australian economy.
Anthony Roderick, Veolia’s chief operating officer for environmental services, said connecting with local manufacturers has been especially valuable in maximising the social and environmental benefits of Veolia’s best-practice waste optimisation program.
“If there’s one thing we know about waste is that we all need to work together to deliver impact at pace,” he said. “Veolia is proud to be teaming up with a range of like-minded, Australian-owned businesses to provide tailored food waste solutions to tackle the challenges head-on. In doing so, we’re not only diverting waste from landfill, but supporting local jobs and manufacturing, promoting operational efficiencies for Defence and reducing the organisation’s costs.”
Anthony said Veolia provides each Defence site with bespoke solutions that maximise both resource recovery and broader sustainable outcomes.
“This is particularly true in remote locations where the collaboration is amplifying the impact, which we know is important to Defence.”
According to Anthony, the result hasn’t only been a winner for the environment, but it has also delivered mutual benefits for Veolia, Defence and the businesses themselves.
“We can achieve ecological transformation and boost local manufacturing at the same time, making the transition towards the circular economy all the more rewarding,” he concluded.
Collaborating for ecological transformation
- Green Eco Technologies (GET) manufactures the WasteMaster food waste recycler in Australia which Veolia uses as an on-site solution to divert food waste away from landfill and is now being rolled out across regional Defence sites in Victoria. Through the support provided by Veolia and Defence, GET has been able to optimise its product and enhance its capability.
- To create a localised circular economy on the Defence estate, Veolia commissioned food processing units from Enrich360® to convert food waste into a product that provides nutrients to both soil and water. As valuable byproducts, they can be captured for beneficial reuse on the land without the need for transport off site.
- In identifying an opportunity to convert food waste into feedstock for local farmers in the Albury-Wodonga region, Veolia engaged Goterra. The company uses black soldier flies to convert food waste into larvae and frass (soil conditioner) in approximately 14 days which is then used on local farms for remediation purposes, strengthening the circular economy.
- In implementing its innovative waste optimisation program on behalf of Defence, Veolia was then able to support Source Separation Systems to bring the manufacturing of its recycling bins back to Australia and make them with 100% post-consumer recycled content.
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Further Reading
Veolia brews up waste minimisation success for Defence with coffee cup recycling trial
Explore our sustainability reports
Protecting our troops and the environment
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Dan Pagoda, external relations manager | +61 408 753 982 | [email protected]
Veolia Group aims to become the benchmark company for ecological transformation. Present on 5 continents with nearly 220,000 employees, the group designs and deploys useful, practical solutions for the management of water, waste and energy that are contributing to a radical turnaround of the current situation. Through its 3 complementary activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, to preserve available resources and to renew them. In 2021, the Veolia Group provided 79 million inhabitants with drinking water and 61 million with sanitation, produced nearly 48 million megawatt hours of energy and recovered 48 million tonnes of waste. Veolia Environnement (Paris Euronext: VIE) achieved consolidated revenue of 28.508 billion euros in 2021. www.veolia.com/anz
Green Eco Technologies is an Australian owned company working to cost-effectively help businesses minimise the environmental impact of their organic waste. A winner of the 2022 Australian Export Award for small business, the company is developing, supplying and managing innovative, efficient and beneficial solutions on site, avoiding transport costs. Visit www.greenecotec.com.
Enrich360® in Yarraville is committed to a more sustainable future where everyone can benefit from recovering resources, reducing landfill and using nutrient rich organic fertiliser. Food waste processed in the company’s fully automatic dehydrators produces between 7 and 20 kilograms of organic fertiliser for every 100 kilograms of input. Visit www.enrich360.com.au.
Goterra is a Canberra-based business that is reimagining a future where nature and automation work in tandem to solve complex problems like reducing food waste. It supplies modular waste management units like insect farms to convert food waste into sustainable protein and fertiliser, diverting the waste away from landfill. Visit www.goterra.com.au.
Source Separation Systems is based in New South Wales and is focused on connecting Australians to a more sustainable world. The company manufactures a range of products to help individuals and businesses recover waste sent to landfill, including colour-coded bins for easy source separation, all at its Booraloo factory. Visit www.sourceseparationsystems.com.au.