Waste Recovery

Resource recovery is the reclaiming of

"garbage" materials for a new use. It includes
collecting, sorting, and processing materials
that are traditionally viewed as waste and
transforming them into the raw inputs used to
create new products. Recycling and
composting are among the best known
resource recovery practices.
Resource recovery is the practice of reclaiming
materials that were previously thought of as
unusable. It is not managing waste, which is
the standard for most garbage companies.
Traditional waste companies collect and move
wasted materials to large-scale, single-use sites such as landfills or incinerators. Unlike the management of
waste, resource recovery recognizes that there is still value in those materials. Recology facilitates
extracting the remaining value of these materials through our progressive programs, facilities and
technologies.
The intention of resource recovery is always to make the best and highest use of all materials, and
landfilling only those materials for which there is currently no use. Over time, we expect the volume of
landfill-bound material to shrink to a negligible amount as a result of our creative resource recovery efforts.
Recology is actively pursuing that goal.
Resource recovery is an important aspect of environment sustainability. Resources such as food scraps,
yard trimmings, discarded paper, plastic, and fabrics are removed from the category of unusable materials,
and recovered for their reuse while preserving the use of virgin materials. These are just a few examples of
reusable materials that benefit the agricultural and manufacturing industries throughout the world.
According to Wikipedia, it is the selective extraction of disposed materials for a specific next use, such as
recycling, composting or energy generation in order to extract the maximum benefits from products, delay
the consumption of virgin resources, and reduce the amount of waste generated. Resource recovery differs
from the management of waste by using life-cycle analysis (LCA) to offer alternatives to landfill disposal of
discarded materials. A number of studies on municipal solid waste (MSW) have indicated that
administration, source separation and collection followed by reuse and recycling of the non-organic fraction
and energy and compost/fertilizer production of the organic waste fraction via anaerobic digestion to be the
favoured alternatives to landfill disposal.
Similarly, in the context of sanitation, the term "resource recovery" is used to denote sanitation systems that
aim to recover and reuse the resources that are contained in wastewater and excreta (urine and feces).

These include: nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), organic matter, energy and water. This concept is also
referred to as ecological sanitation or productive sanitation.
Challenges in Recovering Waste Resources
Resource recovery often goes beyond the simple principles of reduce, reuse or recycle. Often municipal
entities such as local councils, as well as governments and environmental bodies are facing many
challenges on how best to not only minimize waste, but to ensure that their stakeholders see the inherent
value in waste materials. These challenges include

Cross jurisdictional regulatory environment

Cost vs. environmental benefit

Engagement of local residents and constituents

Education and behaviour

Limited infrastructure

Commodity price instability

Resource Recovery Facilities (At Veolia)

Waste-to-Energy
Veolia owns and operates waste to energy infrastructure throughout the region.
Facilities including Woodlawn and TiTree Bioenergy facilities take putrescible
collected from council regions in NSW and QLD and utilise methane generated
the decomposing waste as fuel in the generation of
electricity. Whilst Veolia encourages waste
minimisation and recycling, we also recognise that
residual waste must be managed. This residual
waste, through our network of bioenergy facilities
technologies, is helping to create a viable source of
energy. Theoretically, returning a valuable product back to the very homes
the waste used to create this energy was generated.

waste
from

and
where

Water Recycling and Reclamation

Recycling water is another aspect of water resource management, increasing overall water
availability by providing an alternative and additional water supply. Veolia is a world leader in
designing, constructing and operating wastewater recycling plants, treating wastewater and
creating purified recycled water. In Australia, Veolia has successfully implemented water recycling

contracts and large scale water recycling projects for irrigation in agriculture, to water parklands
and for use in industry.

Materials Recovery Facilities

Veolia operates a number of materials recovery facilities (MRF) across Australia. These facilities
specialise in the sorting and collection of recyclable materials, which are then forwarded onto a
number of recyclers who convert these materials back into useable products. Veolias materials
recovery facilities ensure viable materials such as plastics are not sent to landfill, but rather reused
within the consumable market. Other such materials sent to materials recovery facilities include
Paper and cardboard, Glass bottles and containers, Aluminium and steel cans, Plastic bottles and
containers

Organics and biosolids recovery

It is estimated that more than half of all waste discarded within Australian households is comprised
of food and other organics materials. With this in mind, Veolia in collaboration with invessel
composting technology developer CR Hudson and Associates, operates Natural Recovery
Systems (NRS) in Dandenong, Victoria, and has recently opened Bulla Organics Recover Facility,
also
located
in
Victoria.
Food and green waste from commercial and municipal collections is sent to these locations where
it undergoes rapid degradation within an enclosed, controlled and monitored aerobic environment.
The consequential by-product is nutrient-rich compost which can be used in the horticultural
market. Similarly Ballarat North Water Reclamation Plant and Reuse Plant, Victoria is capable of
treating 8.4 megalitres of wastewater per day while improving the quality of treated water
discharged to the environment. It also includes a thermal sludge dryer which produces biosolids to
a standard suitable for beneficial land based reuse, such as fertiliser.

References:

Resource Recovery. http://www.recology.com/index.php/resource-recovery. Last Access: 17

March 2015

Recovering Resources from Waste. http://www.veolia.com.au/municipal-residential/recoveringresources-from-waste. Last Access: 17 March 2015