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Aussie innovation turns waste into energy 'gold'

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06 Mar, 2024

This post was originally published on Sustainability Matters

The Australian-made innovation uses high temperatures without oxygen to make a carbon-rich product called biochar, which can be used in carbon electrodes for batteries and other advanced energy storage devices, or can act as a fertiliser or soil amendment.

The pyrolysis technology, known as PYROCO, thermally processes materials from waste streams, including treated sewage (biosolids) and food and garden organic materials destined for landfill, to remove pathogens, PFAS and microplastics, which can cause harm to humans and the environment. RMIT has filed patent applications to protect the technology that the team has developed.

Project lead Professor Kalpit Shah, from RMIT University, said the technology could help make the management of biosolids and other waste more environmentally sustainable and cost-effective.

“Around 30% of the world’s biosolids are either stockpiled or sent to landfill, which is a big challenge that PYROCO aims to address,” said Shah, Deputy Director (Academic) of the ARC Training Centre for Transformation of Australia’s Biosolids Resource.

RMIT and project partners South East Water, Intelligent Water Networks (IWN) and Greater Western Water have just completed the latest series of trials of the technology at the Melton Recycled Water Plant.

“The latest trials validated results of the first trials and showed further improvements,” Shah said.

During the first trials in 2021, the PYROCO demonstration unit turned biosolids into biochar and removed all pathogens, PFAS and microplastics.

The latest trials for PYROCO Mark 2 went further by using materials from other waste streams, and demonstrated enhanced safety features and automation.

“The Mark 2 unit processed food and garden organic waste as well as canola straw co-mingled with biosolids to create biochar,” Shah said.

“The trials we’ve just completed are an exciting step towards scaling up this innovative pyrolysis technology to prove the findings and operationalise it — this represents a real step-change in the field.”

The PYROCO Mark 2 pilot unit at Melton Water Recycling Plant. Image credit: Seamus Daniel

Following the latest trials, the partners are now progressing towards commercialisation.

South East Water General Manager Research, Innovation and Commercialisation Daniel Sullivan said the project could potentially address the water industry’s challenge of biosolids disposal, while also removing carbon from the atmosphere.

“We believe that this exciting technology has the potential to transform by-products of the wastewater process into a valuable resource, in a way that is the most carbon-efficient while maximising the quality of the biochar,” he said.

The Deputy Director (Industry) of the ARC Training Centre for Transformation of Australia’s Biosolids Resource, Dr Aravind Surapaneni, said the technology could help achieve progress towards Victoria’s net-zero carbon pledge.

“The European Union has highlighted the potential of biochar in breaking the carbon cycle, and we see this technology as an opportunity for the water industry to support the Victorian Government’s path to net-zero emissions by 2045.”

The Victorian Government, through the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action (DEECA), contributed $100,000 to the $1 million project. RMIT University, South East Water, IWN, Greater Western Water, Barwon Water, Westernport Water and East Gippsland Water co-funded the remainder of the project.

The PYROCO Mark 2 pilot unit was commissioned and installed at the Melton Water Recycling Plant. It was built using the funding received from Victorian Higher Education State Investment Fund (VHESIF).

Top image credit: Seamus Daniel

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Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

In June, I had the privilege of attending the 2025 E-Waste World, Battery Recycling, Metal Recycling, and ITAD & Circular Electronics Conference & Expo events in Frankfurt, Germany.

Speaking in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track on a panel with global Circular Economy leaders from Foxway Group, ERI and HP, we explored the evolving role of IT asset disposition (ITAD) and opportunities in the circular electronics economy.

The event’s focus on advancing circular economy goals and reducing environmental impact delivered a series of insights and learnings. From this assembly of international expertise across 75+ countries, here are some points from the presentations that stood out for me:

1. Environmental impact of the digital economy

Digitalisation has a heavy material footprint in the production phase, and lifecycle thinking needs to guide every product decision. Consider that 81% of the energy a laptop uses in its lifetime is consumed during manufacture (1 tonne in manufacture is equal to 10,000 tonnes of CO2) and laptops are typically refreshed or replaced by companies every 3–4 years.

From 2018 to 2023, the average number of devices and connections per capita in the world increased by 50% (2.4 to 3.6). In North America (8.2 to 13.4) and Western Europe (5.6 to 9.4), this almost doubled. In 1960, only 10 periodic table elements were used to make phones. In 1990, 27 elements were used and now over 60 elements are used to build the smartphones that we have become so reliant on.

A key challenge is that low-carbon and digital technologies largely compete for the same minerals. Material resource extraction could increase 60% between 2020 and 2060, while demand for lithium, cobalt and graphite is expected to rise by 500% until 2050.

High growth in ICT demand and Internet requires more attention to the environmental footprint of the digital economy. Energy consumption of data centres is expected to more than double by 2026. The electronics industry accounts for over 4% of global GHG — and digitalisation-related waste is growing, with skewed impacts on developing countries.

E-waste is rising five times faster than recycling — 1 tonne of e-waste has a carbon footprint of 2 tonnes. Today’s solution? ‘Bury it or burn it.’ In terms of spent emissions, waste and the costs associated with end-of-life liabilities, PCBAs (printed circuit board assembly) cost us enormously — they generally achieve 3–5% recyclability (75% of CO2 in PCBAs is from components).

2. Regulating circularity in electronics

There is good momentum across jurisdictions in right-to-repair, design and labelling regulations; recycling targets; and voluntary frameworks on circularity and eco-design.

The EU is at the forefront. EU legislation is lifting the ICT aftermarket, providing new opportunities for IT asset disposition (ITAD) businesses. To get a sense, the global market for electronics recycling is estimated to grow from $37 billion to $108 billion (2022–2030). The value of refurbished electronics is estimated to increase from $85.9 billion to $262.2 billion (2022–2032). Strikingly, 40% of companies do not have a formal ITAD strategy in place.

Significantly, the EU is rethinking its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management targets, aligned with upcoming circularity and WEEE legislation, as part of efforts to foster the circular economy. A more robust and realistic circularity-driven approach to setting collection targets would better reflect various factors including long lifespans of electronic products and market fluctuations.

Australia and New Zealand lag the EU’s comprehensive e-waste mandated frameworks. The lack of a systematic approach results in environmental degradation and missed positioning opportunities for businesses in the circular economy. While Australia’s Senate inquiry into waste reduction and recycling recommended legislating a full circular economy framework — including for imported and local product design, financial incentives and regulatory enforcement, New Zealand remains the only OECD country without a national scheme to manage e-waste.

3. Extending product lifecycles

Along with data security and digital tools, reuse was a key theme in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track of the conference. The sustainable tech company that I lead, Greenbox, recognises that reuse is the simplest circular strategy. Devices that are still functional undergo refurbishment and are reintroduced into the market, reducing new production need and conserving valuable resources.

Conference presenters highlighted how repair over replacement is being legislated as a right in jurisdictions around the world. Resources are saved, costs are lowered, product life is extended, and people and organisations are empowered to support a greener future. It was pointed out that just 43% of countries have recycling policies, 17% of global waste is formally recycled, and less than 1% of global e-waste is formally repaired and reused.

Right to repair is a rising wave in the circular economy, and legislation is one way that civil society is pushing back on programmed obsolescence. Its global momentum continues at different speeds for different product categories — from the recent EU mandates to multiple US state bills (and some laws) through to repair and reuse steps in India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Commission has done a scoping study to identify product groups under the Ecodesign framework that would be most relevant for implementing an EU-wide product reparability scoring system.

Attending this event with the entire electronic waste recycling supply chain — from peers and partners to suppliers and customers — underscored the importance of sharing best practices to address the environmental challenges that increased hardware proliferation and complex related issues are having on the world.

Ross Thompson is Group CEO of sustainability, data management and technology asset lifecycle management market leader Greenbox. With facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, Greenbox Group provides customers all over the world a carbon-neutral supply chain for IT equipment to reduce their carbon footprint by actively managing their environmental, social and governance obligations.

Image credit: iStock.com/Mustafa Ovec

“They’re Literally Making Gold from Thin Air”: Critics Slam Fusion Firm’s Wild Claim of Creating Millions While Powering the Grid

IN A NUTSHELL 🧪 The ancient quest for the Philosopher’s Stone may be realized through modern science with Marathon Fusion’s tokamak reactor technology. ⚙️ By converting mercury-198 into gold-197, the reactor achieves transmutation as a byproduct of energy production. 💰 The economic potential is significant, with the reactor capable of producing five tonnes of gold […]
The post “They’re Literally Making Gold from Thin Air”: Critics Slam Fusion Firm’s Wild Claim of Creating Millions While Powering the Grid appeared first on Sustainability Times.

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