Recycling Industry Investment Review part 2 (2009)

Executive Summary: Zero Waste SA (ZWSA) has sought an analysis of the capacity and capability of existing resource recovery infrastructure to accommodate current and future demand in the sector. Two earlier reports from this study have documented collated views on the subject from industry, plus analytical results of likely supply and demand scenarios. Now, this third report, with a focus on infrastructure in the metropolitan Adelaide region, sets out the findings of the study team on the priority investment program areas that ZWSA might consider supporting to boost resource recovery in South Australia. A key finding from this study is that South Australia is well positioned in respect of the availability of current, and near-term anticipated, resource recovery infrastructure to manage the supply of materials presenting for recycling, through to 2019-20. The resource recovery sector in South Australia, with considerable support from ZWSA, has managed exceptionally well to anticipate supply and demand for infrastructure. This has resulted in South Australia becoming one of the leading jurisdictions in the country when it comes to resource recovery and diversion of waste from landfill. There are however, opportunities where further investment offers potential to build on this impressive positioning and maintain South Australia in this leading position. Four key program areas for investment consideration have been identified: • support to improve the efficiency of primary sorting facilities, • facilities for sorting mixed residual waste prior to despatch to landfill, • support to achieve sustainable markets, and • support to improve the quality and quantity of material presenting for beneficiation. In each suggested program area, the investment opportunities lie primarily in refinement of practices, systems and technologies, rather than in large fixed items of infrastructure or facilities. These opportunities arise through a combination of circumstances, including: • changing regulatory conditions, • receiving market demands on product quality, • sector interest in productivity improvements, and • recognised benefits that arise with improved flexibility and innovation. This third stage report presents the case for a suite of potential investment program areas and sets out a comparative analysis of the areas so that the relative benefit of each might be compared against the other (potentially) competing opportunities. The report concludes by outlining an approach for moving forward with the sector to identify the specific opportunities in the program areas through a competitive proposal process and grant scheme. This includes indicating the expected cost range of investments that may need to be made by Zero Waste SA on a per project basis, which can be used to determine the total investment expenditure required depending on how many projects it wishes to fund in each of the program areas.