MEDIA RELEASE
11am Release May 24, 2023
Big environmental and corporate changes are happening at Adelaide’s largest waste management facility north of Adelaide at Lower Light, near Dublin.
SA Environment Minister Susan Close MP today launches the ‘Dublin Eco Hub’ to reflect broader recycling operations active on the site and will reveal a significant ownership change for the family-owned business, Integrated Waste Services.
In three decades since EPA approval of the IWS Northern Landfill, the facility has progressed beyond being ‘just a landfill’ with innovative development of multiple environmental projects.
Activities on the IWS Dublin Eco Hub now include:
- Opening of a new $10 Million investment of the IWS Secondary Processing Facility for recovering organics from MSW (general waste bin) to create a soil enhancer known as Compost Like Output (CLO). CLO supports the establishment of a native ecosystem at the IWS Dublin site. The IWS process promotes the highest order use of organic recyclables from MSW. CLO production is higher on the waste hierarchy than burning waste through a waste to energy plant. Three years of Uni SA research supports the use of recovered organics for site rehabilitation.
- IWS receives approval from the Federal Government’s Clean Energy Regulator’s for the CLO Alternative Waste Treatment process. This approval recognises the benefits to the environment of the IWS organic recovery process (CLO). The project is forecast to abate greater than a million tonnes of Carbon emissions over 13 years following. This project requires IWS to invest a further estimated $10 Million in additional infrastructure.
- IWS is launching Living Earth in Australia. Living Earth has over 30 years experience in New Zealand for the production and sale of commercial mulches and compost. IWS recovers up to 97% from FOGO (green bin) which will produce commercial mulches and composts for sale to the SA agricultural industry.
- IWS is partnering with our First Nations people. In conjunction with Red Centre Enterprises, IWS has established the state’s first Circular Economy Agribusiness on the Dublin site. This partnership supplies native plants and bush tucker products using IWS commercial composts.
- IWS establishes one of the state’s largest northern quarries which has supplied close to 1 million tonnes of raw materials to the growing northern development.
- IWS plans to go off the grid by the investment in power generators fuelled by methane recovered from the IWS Dublin Eco Hub.
IWS Commitment and future plans:
Chief Executive Joe Borrelli said the latest environmental developments were all a part of the IWS commitment to managing waste. He said the company had been “too quiet” about what it had achieved in the past 3 decades, but will now be telling the nation and the world about its achievements and innovative plans for the future.
“We summarise it with 5 words: Giving Waste a Second Chance. Our business is continually changing and growing to meet the future requirements of waste and recycling. Waste is no longer just an unlined hole in the ground. It has become a science that enables us to work towards a cleaner, greener future. By working with the community, industry and government, we can continue to provide the best possible solutions to effectively manage waste from a local, national and global perspective”.
Sale of IWS Group is now public
An announcement was made today on the sale of the entire family-owned IWS Group business to internationally renowned investment company Igneo Infrastructure Partners * a global company that invests with clients and management teams to create a more sustainable future, with a focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG). Senior management and staff of IWS will continue in the new business structure, with founding Borrelli family members staying for an extended time to assist the handover. * Igneo has existing major investments in South Australia. Visit www.igneoip.com
Commenting on the Igneo Infrastructure Partners due-diligence review of IWS operations. Mr Borrelli said: “The review was clinical by any standards as they verified that our business did more than ‘tick the box’ on environmental, social and governance (ESG) but also had the appropriate culture and mind-set to deliver tangible improvements. They checked us out like a team of doctors and at every level of our business and our people. And we passed all their tests”.
Over recent years IWS has achieved the following environmental outcomes:
- 6,000 SA students and teachers educated on waste management
- 30,000 native plants grown by our First Nations partners
- 250,000 tonnes of mulch & compost products
- 350,000 tonnes of contaminated soils treated and contained
- 400,000 tonnes of organics recovered from MSW
- 1,000,000 tonnes of carbon abated
- 1,800,000 tonnes of carbon abatement projects approved
Giving Waste a Second Chance
IWS through CLO (Compost Like Output process) is able to achieve up to 40% diversion of Residual MSW from landfill by recovering the organics. A cooperative study with University of South Australia and sustainable engineering firm WSP Golder is almost complete to verify the benefits of the recovery and use of CLO for landfill capping materials. Optimisation trials over the past 3 years have been undertaken to investigate the performance of the recovered landfill cap using various soil profiles to support native vegetation. The ability to target material that otherwise would be lost to landfill is an innovative approach committed by IWS to “giving waste a second chance”.
Turning Gas into energy
For over a decade, a landfill gas capture and energy production system has been successfully operating at the Wingfield facility, that recovers methane from the decomposing residual waste in the landfill and returns it as electricity to the main grid. A similar process is now being implemented at the IWS Dublin Eco Hub, where plans for an on-site power station to convert natural landfill methane to electricity will take the entire Dublin Eco Hub facility ‘off the grid’ with additional capacity to support other local businesses in the area.
Company History is 60 years and still involved...
The IWS story started with one truck and one man’s vision to succeed. In 1961, Italian-born entrepreneur Mr Pasquale Borrelli made a life changing decision, venturing to Australia, setting up a one-man, one-truck waste removal service in the western suburbs. Nearly 60 years later, this family business has grown into a major industry venture which sets the benchmark for environmentally friendly and cost-effective recycling and waste management solutions in Australia. IWS has a large site at Wingfield, SA, combining the Wingfield Transfer Station, IWS Head Office and IWS Recycling Centre.
The IWS Dublin Eco Hub is more than a landfill. Part of the processes of operating a landfill is to ensure that the surrounding area is re-vegetated and rehabilitated. An established revegetation programme combines the recovery of organics from waste and the collection of seeds from local flora. The Dublin Eco Hub is planted with native plants in conjunction with our First Nations partners. This creates a unique circular economy. Dublin Eco Hub revegetation supports the surrounding environment and provides security for the local fauna and the adjacent World Heritage Bird Sanctuary.
Where are we: Lemmey Rd, Lower Light SA From Adelaide via M2 North South Motorway and Highway A1.
MEDIA CONTACT: Grace Barila – Environmental Relationship Manager, 0406 001 216
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