Waste Management Strategies at Lucas Heights: A Report

This report provides an overview of waste management practices at the Suez Lucas Heights Resource Recovery Park. It begins with an introduction to waste management, covering collection, transportation, treatment, regulation, and recycling. The report details the types of waste accepted, including electronic waste, metal waste, and organic materials. It explains the organic waste management process, where organic materials are diverted from landfills and processed into conditioners and composts. The report also outlines the modes of payment accepted for waste disposal services and concludes with future plans for waste management, focusing on reducing waste volume and eliminating discharges harmful to the environment. References to supporting literature are also included.

Running Head: WASTE MANAGEMENT
Waste Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
1. Types of Waste Accepted...................................................................................................2
2. Organic Waste Management Process.................................................................................3
3. Modes of Payment..............................................................................................................4
4. Future Plans for Waste Management..................................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................5

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Introduction
Waste disposal or waste management refers to the activities and actions that are necessary
for managing waste from its very inception right up to its final disposal. Waste management
includes among other things the collection, transportation and treatment of waste along with
regulation and monitoring (Brunner and Rechberger 2015). Waste management also
encompasses the regulatory or legal framework relating to waste management, while
encompassing guidance on recycling at the same time (Edjabou et al. 2015). This essay
outlines the waste management strategies undertaken by the Suez Lucas Heights Resources
Recovery Park and mentions some of the park’s future plans for waste control.
1. Types of Waste Accepted
The waste management practices that are carried out by Suez Lucas Heights Resources
Recovery Park, are those that can be availed by small businesses, councils and householders.
There is a public drop off area for wastes at the Suez Lucas Heights Resources Recovery Park
site and organic resource recovery facility exists over here for organizing the waste disposal
process and executing this to perfection. The different types of waste that are accepted over
here for disposal are electronic wastes, gas bottles, metal wastes, liquid wastes, lead acid
batteries, demolition and construction wastes and asbestos. Wastes like soil, tyres, waste oil,
cardboard and paper, old clothing, non putrescible and mixed putrescible are also accepted
for immediate disposal. Additionally, natural wastes like wood waste, garden vegetation and
virgin excavated natural materials are accepted for disposal and recycling too. It is important

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to note that for wastes that cannot be re-used or recycled, there are large sized bins in place
which are used to collect the waste and then sent over to landfills for disposal.
2. Organic Waste Management Process
The Suez Lucas Heights Resources Recovery Park is serviced by an organics facility
that helps in diverting all the organic materials from making their way into the landfills by
processing these into conditioners and composts, while producing seedlings and recycling
timber that is untreated into bio fuel and mulches for the purpose of land rehabilitation
(Suez.com.au 2018). The organics facility is capable of handling as much as 50,0000 tones of
organic material in a single year. A wide range of mulch and compost products for
horticultural uses and for landscaping are first produced at the site and then sold off to
retailers. This is a site that is also open to accepting clean and untreated timber and recycling
this into bio-fuel and mulch.
The incoming feed stocks tend to be blended very carefully into proportion to make
sure that the resulting compost actually meets all the end use requirements. Some of the
parameters that are taken into consideration in the process include ratios of phosphorous and
nitrogen and correct moisture content (Suez.com.au 2018). The mixed organics tend to be
composted via a transparent windrow composting process. This enables the moisture levels
and the temperature in the compost to be controlled and monitored, thus optimizing the
breaking down of organics while destroying pathogens at the same time (Laurent et al. 2014).
Once all the windrows mature, the compost is put through a screening process after which it
is tested for sale. The Suez Lucas Heights Resources Recovery Park is also known to produce
different products for horticultural and land uses such as Rehab –ARRT Compost and Lawn-
Art Organic Top Dress.

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3. Modes of Payment
The payment methods for waste management practices are fairly flexible. Customers
looking to get their waste disposed quickly and effectively can pay for such services using
cash, mobile payment or contactless cards (Suez.com.au 2018).
4. Future Plans for Waste Management
The Suez Lucas Heights Resources Recovery Park will undertake the following strategies
to manage waste successfully in the future
 It will design as well as manage processes and products for systematically avoiding as
well as eliminating the toxicity and the volume of waste materials, while conserving
and recovering resources instead of burning or burying these.
 Discharges to air, land or water will be eliminated if these are found to be a threat to
human, plant or planetary health in general.

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References
Brunner, P.H. and Rechberger, H., 2015. Waste to energy–key element for sustainable waste
management. Waste Management, 37, pp.3-12
Edjabou, M.E., Jensen, M.B., Götze, R., Pivnenko, K., Petersen, C., Scheutz, C. and Astrup,
T.F., 2015. Municipal solid waste composition: Sampling methodology, statistical analyses,
and case study evaluation. Waste Management, 36, pp.12-23.
Laurent, A., Clavreul, J., Bernstad, A., Bakas, I., Niero, M., Gentil, E., Christensen, T.H. and
Hauschild, M.Z., 2014. Review of LCA studies of solid waste management systems–Part II:
Methodological guidance for a better practice. Waste management, 34(3), pp.589-606.
Suez.com.au. (2018). Lucas Heights Resource Recovery Park - SUEZ. [online] Available at:
https://www.suez.com.au/en-AU/who-we-are/SUEZ-in-Australia-and-New-Zealand/our-
locations/waste-management-lucas-heights [Accessed 9 Oct. 2018].