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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-10-28 Daily Xml
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INTEGRATED WASTE STRATEGY

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (14:37): Is the Minister for Urban Development and Planning aware of the integrated waste strategy for metropolitan Adelaide? Will he provide an update on how developments in this strategy are helping ease urban blight in the city?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Premier in Public Sector Management) (14:37): I am aware of the integrated waste strategy for metropolitan Adelaide published some 14 years ago by the EPA and Zero Waste. The objective of this strategy was to establish a new generation of waste disposal to replace Adelaide's main landfill north of the city at Wingfield. This strategy initiated the Dublin project, first approved as a major development back in 1998 after undergoing an environmental impact statement process.

This new generation of landfill incorporated best practice design by using an engineered impermeable lining and leachate collection system. Using the state's first bale-filling machine, household waste is baled into bricks after going through a resource recovery centre at Wingfield. The bales are then transported to Dublin and stacked in landfill cells. The bale-filling technique has been taken a step further through the development of the EnviroBale system, where baled waste is enclosed within a bag to give total litter control. This technology, I am advised, is now exported to Integrated Waste Systems' customers in the United States, Canada and Europe.

During the past few years approvals have been granted for the disposal of a wider range of waste types, including low level contaminated waste in specially designed cells that include a double liner system, which was another best practice design. It was with pleasure last night that I was invited to officially open the latest IWS facility, which allows the landfill to treat and dispose of high level contaminated waste. This $3 million, state-of-the-art, fully enclosed facility will enable highly contaminated soils to be treated using various bioremediation techniques and be disposed of on site. Alternatively, soil may be cleaned to a level that enables it to be re-used within the landfill or elsewhere.

Facilities like this enable contaminated sites to be remediated more effectively, often a key requirement for urban regeneration or infill developments that are currently being encouraged by the 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide. Whether it is the old rail yards site that is being developed for the new RAH and the South Australian Medical Research Institute or some other degraded industrial sites that will be added to our land supply as part of the 30-year plan to increase urban infill, this facility provides an opportunity to remediate contaminated soils here in South Australia, rather than incurring the expense of shipping them elsewhere.

Development approvals for the Dublin landfill have been granted over the years through the EIS process to ensure the highest level of assessment of environmental, social and economic impacts. This has been achieved through a long partnership with the state government, particularly through the work of the EPA and Zero Waste.

Last month my colleague Paul Caica, Minister for Environment and Conservation, opened the company's new $4 million recycling centre at Wingfield. Integrated Waste Systems (IWS) is a South Australian family business. The Borelli family have been operating in South Australia for more than 47 years. They were founded on a business begun by Pasquale Borelli after his arrival from Italy back in 1961. Today IWS has grown into a multi-million dollar operation at the forefront of waste disposal in South Australia. They are now in a venture with Veolia—the 140th largest company in the world, as they said last night.

The business continues to lead with investment in new technology to ensure that its operations are of a high standard. I wish them every success with their new facility at Dublin and look forward to the role the company will play in allowing Adelaide to grow up rather than grow out in a manner that will reduce some of the urban blight that develops our inner suburbs. We do want to create a more vibrant, liveable city that makes the most of its road and rail corridors, so having a facility like this that can effectively deal with contaminated soil will help us achieve that objective.

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