Environmental Treatment Solutions (ETS) has secured a major community recycling contract which will see ETS collect and treat 200 tonnes of hazardous waste per year.
Awarded by the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA), the contract sees ETS handle hazardous household waste such as chemicals, paints, gas cylinders and batteries from 38 EPA-run Community Recycling Centres across the state’s Murray Darling, Riverina and Central and Far Western regions.
The multi-million-dollar contract is for four years, with an option to extend for a fifth year.
It is one of the biggest geographical undertakings of the EPA’s Community Recycling Centre program.
ETS Manager Michael Oxman said the work being done was a win for households and the environment.
“The number one aim is stopping hazardous waste going to landfill, or worse, being illegally dumped,” Mr Oxman explained.
“We use our specialised expertise to give such waste second lives once residents drop it at collection centres. One example is hydrocarbon and paint waste streams being converted as an alternate fuel to offset reliance on natural gas in industrial cement kiln. Another is reclaiming mercury from fluorescent lamps through a distilling process.
“By tapping into the best international technology and practice we’re able to offer the most advanced and cost-effective recycling solutions for hazardous waste.”
A recent ETS innovation is the installation of a RUNI de-packaging unit at the company’s Blayney (NSW) facility, which rapidly separates paint from tins, enabling faster recycling and re-use.
ETS has employed an additional three staff to manage the new operations and ordered new equipment including a rigid truck and a semi-trailer combination with rear-mounted forklifts.
