Smelter in the Park

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Smelter in the Park

• A Plan for environmental care at Portland
  Aluminium Smelter
• Waste minimisation program

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Waste minimisation

• Rather than building a new facility, they set
  about
• Reusing, recycling and reassigning their waste
  products.
• Minimising and eliminating waste creation through
  cleaner production programs.

• In 1989 employees came to a stunning realisation.
  The landfill constructed within the smelter
  grounds designed to sustain waste to landfill for
  25 years would last for only 15 years. At this
  time, 13,000 cubic meters of waste was going to
  landfill.
• An unsustainable amount!
• And a major problem!

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Waste to Landfill Zero waste

• Waste to landfill has been reduced from
• - 1,300 m3 per month in 1989,
• - to 416 m3 per month in 1990,
• - and 1.82 m3 per month in 1996.

• Between 1989 and 1999, the Smelter was considered
  Industry leaders in waste reduction and waste
  management.

Thats 4 wheely bins per week of general waste to
landfill (the equivalent of 4 households)!! The
next challenge is to have ZERO waste.
Graph supplied by PA
1 m3 1 tonne
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Reusing, recycling and reassigning waste products

• On site, wastes are separated into processed
  wastes and general waste (eg. household waste
  from offices).
• Part of the old landfill has been rehabilitated
  to a wetlands. The remainder is used for storing
  and separating processed waste.

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The Material Recovery Facility

• All general waste goes to a recycling depot
  called the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) for
  further separation.

Rubber and plastic is separated but cannot be
recycled. Instead, it is mulched up and used as
soft fall under playgrounds. This is
distributed to the community within a 100km
radius of Portland
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End point for wastes
PA gets no return for the recycled products. Ian
Webber from Green Triangle Recyclers receives a
service fee for removing all products except for
scrap steel.
These are separation bins where the rubbish from
the smelter is separated and then sent to
different places.
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Recycling paper and cardboard
A shredder reduces all paper and cardboard. This
is then bailed and removed for recycling
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Different products
These paper overalls are sent for recycling
All oil filters from Smelter vehicles are drained
of remaining oil which then becomes prescribed
waste. The oil filter is put through an oil
filter press. Green Triangle receives 1 per
filter.
This area is looked after by Winward Industries,
a program set up for people from the local
disability centre, Kyeema. Every day this oil
absorbent material called Colsol is bagged into 2
litre bags and sent back to be used through the
site. Colsol can be used a number of times to
absorb oil spills until it becomes saturated. It
is then put into the compost/worm farm.
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Mulch and Worm Farm
Food scrap, garden clippings, paper towel and
other biodegradable matter from the office bins
are put through this mulcher. The mulch is added
to the worm farm
The rich soil is used on the gardens around the
site and in the nursery at Salmon House.
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Recyclable items 2002 Weight (Tonnes)
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Cleaner production for existing products and
processes
Cleaner production has led to significant gains
in all aspects of the business. Some of the
programs that Portland Aluminium are involved in
include
Photo supplied by PA