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22 September 2008
"Mature industry, light smoker, likes an occasional drink,
seeks meaningful relationship with like-minded industrial
neighbour, with a mind to exchanging industrial by-products to the
mutual benefit of each."
High impact industries in Australia’s most concentrated
industrial areas have been urged to adopt the speed dating approach
to improve outcomes for the communities in which they
operate.
Speaking at the Minerals Council of Australia’s SD08 conference in
Darwin this month, GHD principal sustainability consultant Dick van
Beers said increased collaboration among heavy industries,
particularly the minerals processing industry, had the potential to
reduce waste to landfill, increase energy and water efficiency and
reduce emissions.
He identified Port Kembla in New South Wales, Gladstone in
Queensland, Whyalla and Port Pirie in South Australia, and Laverton
in Victoria as areas that could benefit from industrial speed
dating. Mr van Beers said industry collaboration in the Kwinana
Industrial Area (KIA), 40 km south of Perth, had resulted in
improved environmental, social and economic outcomes for the
companies involved and the region as a whole.
"Kwinana is the heaviest industrial area in Western Australia,
but it is a world leading example of the benefits of industry
collaboration. The industries there have established meaningful
relationships, with the implementation of up to 50 regional
synergies," Mr van Beers said.
Examples of collaboration in the KIA include the re-use of
limekiln dust for desulphurisation and re-use of gypsum for soil
amendment, as well as shared wastewater reuse and cogeneration
facilities. "Industrial by-products are not waste. They should be
regarded as valuable resources available for re-use," Mr van Beers
said.
The Kwinana Regional Synergies Project, led by Mr van Beers in
his previous role at the Curtin University of Technology, is an
initiative of the Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing
(CSRP). Both GHD and Curtin are participants in the CSRP, which
also involves major companies including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto,
Xstrata and Newmont.
Mr van Beers said the best opportunities for collaboration were
in areas where heavy industries were already highly concentrated,
however he said there were significant opportunities to develop new
eco-industrial parks – both in Australia and overseas – with a
focus on resource-sharing and industry collaboration.
Mr van Beers said strong leaders were needed to champion the
industrial speed dating cause and move beyond the “low hanging
fruit” to more sophisticated methods of collaboration, such as
joint industry energy recovery and the processing and re-use of
high volume inorganic by-products.
"The Kwinana Industries Council has been an important catalyst
for the development of a number of these synergies in the KIA," he
said.
He said the realisation of successful synergies was dependent on
three things – a convincing business case, proven technology and a
licence to operate, with government endorsement and community
support the key.
For further information, contact:
Sonia Adams