Waste generation and resource recovery in Australia

18.Data summary tables (2010/11)

a)Data sources for jurisdictions’ data sections 10 – 18
ACT	Communications with jurisdictional representatives, jurisdiction website, ABS (2012a, 2012d), ACT Government (2012a, b), Australian Packaging Covenant (APC) (2007, 2009, 2010), Australian Government (2012), DSEWPaC (2011), Plastics and Chemicals Industry Association (PACIA) (2008, 2010, 2011) and Recycled Organics Unit (ROU) (2007, 2009, 2010).
NSW	Communications with jurisdictional representatives, ABS (2012a, 2012d), Ash Development Association of Australia (ADAA) (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), Australian Government (2012), Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) (2004), Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) (2011), Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) (2011, 2012), O'Farrell (pers. comm.), PACIA (2008, 2010, 2011), ROU (2007, 2009, 2010), Waste Management Association of Australia (WMAA) (2008) and the websites of AWT operators.
NT	Communications with jurisdictional representatives, ABS (2012a, 2012d), ADAA (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), Australian Government (2012), DSEWPaC (2011), National Environment Protection Council (NEPC) (2011), O'Farrell (pers. comm.) and ROU (2007, 2009, 2010).
Qld	Communications with jurisdictional representatives, ABS (2012a, 2012d), ADAA (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), Australian Government (2012), Campbell (pers. comm.), DSEWPaC (2011), PACIA (2008, 2010, 2011), ROU (2007, 2009, 2010) and the websites of AWT operators.
SA	Communications with jurisdictional representatives, ABS (2012a, 2012d), ADAA (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), Australian Government (2012), Campbell (pers. comm.), DSEWPaC (2011), ResourceCo (2012), ROU (2007, 2009, 2010), Zero Waste South Australia (ZWSA) (2007a, 2009, 2010, 2011), the websites of AWT operators, and the websites of ResourceCo., SITA and Adelaide Brighton Cement.
Tas	Communications with jurisdictional representatives, ABS (2012a, 2012d), ADAA (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), Australian Government (2012), DSEWPaC (2011), O'Farrell (pers. comm.), PACIA (2008, 2010, 2011) and ROU (2007, 2009, 2010).
Vic	Communications with jurisdictional representatives, communications with Boral and GeoCycle, ABS (2012a, 2012d), ADAA (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), Australian Government (2012), PACIA (2008, 2010, 2011), ROU (2007, 2009, 2010) and the websites of AWT operators.
WA	Communications with jurisdictional representatives, ABS (2012a, 2012d), ADAA (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), Australian Government (2012), DEC (2007), DSEWPaC (2011), ROU (2007, 2009, 2010), Waste Audit & Golder (2007), Waste Authority (2008, 2009, 2010, 2012) and the websites of AWT operators.

19.Organic waste data analysis

Organic wastes form a significant portion of waste generated and an even more significant portion of waste sent to landfill. Degradation of organics in landfills generates the potent greenhouse gas methane, and also produces potentially polluting leachate.
This section considers the composition, sources and management pathways of solid organic waste.
A broader definition of ‘organic waste’ is applied here than in the main data collation. Firstly, this section considers paper and cardboard to be organic wastes, whereas in the main data collation they are reported separately. Secondly, in addition to considering organic waste from MSW, C&I and C&D sources, this section provides information about the recovery of primary industry organics for which data is readily available and publically reported. The expanded scope in this section provides a fuller picture of the capacity and outputs of organic waste recovery operations.,
Organic wastes considered in this section include:

food organics

garden organics

woody/timber from secondary and tertiary (not primary) industry and urban use

cardboard and paper

biowaste (materials containing a mixture of garden and food organics)

the organic component recovered from MSW through AWT facilities

the organic component of waste in landfill effectively recovered through the recovery of biogas to energy.

Recovery pathways include:

recycling to new products (paper/cardboard, timber)

composting (which is considered a form of recycling in this report)

energy recovery

thermal

biodigestion

biogas energy recovery from landfill

land-farming.

The main sources of data used in this analysis are:

State and territory jurisdictional data and estimates derived from such data. These are derived from a range of data gathering methods, and chiefly capture organics recovery from municipal and some industrial sources. The methods for classifying materials and gathering data vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

Annual surveys of the recycled organics industry conducted by the Recycled Organics Unit (ROU), a private institute formerly attached to the University of NSW. These surveys mainly capture recovery from identified organics recovery businesses. ROU surveys include data on recovery of organic wastes from primary industry sources and information about the products manufactured from recovered organics. The mainland states and the ACT are surveyed. Data from Tas and the Northern Territory are not collected. Some jurisdictions do not collect data on organic waste recycling, but rather rely on the ROU survey.

Estimates of biogas energy recovery attributable to particular materials types. Biogas energy recovered from landfill is considered in this report to represent recovery of landfilled organics. There are challenges associated with estimating biogas energy recovery on an annual basis. Because organics in landfill degrade over decades, the amount of biogas energy recovered in a year can represent many years of landfilled organics. Seasonal conditions and management of landfills will influence the quantities of biogas generated and captured in a particular year. The establishment of AWT facilities in some capital cities and regional centres has presumably reduced the methane generation potential of landfilled residuals, which may result in a decline in biogas recovery in these locations. For the purposes of analysis it has been assumed that nationally, the annual rate of biogas energy recovery is directly related to the annual quantity of organics landfilled, and can therefore be treated as an annual quantity of organics recovered.

Different data sources do not always contain identical figures. Where there are discrepancies, jurisdictional data are generally relied upon throughout this section and the rest of the report.