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Waste not want not: Boosting the sustainability credentials of timber and forestry

AgriFutures Australia has embarked on an exciting new initiative, known as the Pre-Farm Gate Waste Program, to facilitate better environmental outcomes, as well as increased productivity and profitability within Australia’s rural industries.

The pre-farm gate phase covers all rural industry products up to the point at which they have been harvested and prepared for sale.

The Pre-Farm Gate Waste Program has been developed with guidance and input from a specially formed reference group, of which FWPA was part, alongside representatives from other Research and Development Corporations (RDCs).

The purpose of the program is to align the agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sectors with Australia’s National Waste Policy.

The program has been designed to look beyond existing national initiatives to address pre-farm gate waste and help to further minimise:

  • Organic waste including animal and plant organic matter, such as manure from farms and intensive animal systems, harvest waste, pruning and other organic matter.
  • Plastic waste including soil mulch films, nets and mesh, piping and irrigation, poly tunnels and silage wrap.
  • Workshop waste including fencing wire and treated timber, tires, oils, machinery, and other inert and hazardous waste.

In May, the first round of program findings was launched including five research reports containing baseline data on Australia’s current pre-farm gate waste. The goal of these reports and the data contained within them is to help inform and guide improved management practices, policies and investment in this area going forward.

As the industries involved set waste reduction targets and consider waste management in their sustainability frameworks, they can use the data in these reports to track their progress against stated targets.

The reports are accompanied by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry National Waste and Resource Recovery Roadmap, developed in partnership with industry with the aim of guiding the creation of improved pre-farm gate waste outcomes within Australia’s rural industries.

Developed by RM Consulting Group the roadmap is available for use by industry leaders, including RDCs, industry representative bodies and policy makers in state and federal government. It highlights the existing barriers to implementation of improved waste management practices, and identifies the support required while considering specific industry needs, different waste streams and regional variance.

The reports, roadmap and other helpful information has been combined to create the Pre-Farm Gate Waste Toolkit, which is available for industry to download at the AgriFutures website.

AgriFutures Australia is also seeking producers who would be interested in becoming involved as case studies to showcase how this program of research can be adopted on the ground. If any FWPA members are willing to support the initiative in this way, please contact:

Jane Knight

Manager, National Rural Issues

M: 0438 495 325

E: jane.knight@agrifutures.com.au  

Finding new uses for treated timber

Another key research project with a sustainability focus considers how the environmental profile of timber might be improved by identifying alternative purposes for preservative treated timber (PTT) and Engineered Wood Products (EWPs).

Preservative treatments of timber for durability and longevity can limit opportunities for the use of waste material resulting from processing and manufacture, or further use beyond initial application.

The Timber Circularity Project, which commenced in January and will run until the end of 2026, is a collaboration between the FWPA-supported Centre for Timber Durability and Design Life and the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC), with support from a consortium of timber producers and users, as well as chemical suppliers.

Dr Pene Mitchell, Research Fellow at UniSC who is leading this work, said while wood has a myriad of positive circular economy attributes, these can be marred by the issues associated with treatments and resins.

“Finding ways to circulate PTT and EWPs safely through multiple life cycles will therefore be hugely beneficial in keeping timber in use for longer, and leaving freshly harvested wood for higher value applications,” Mitchell said.

By conducting surveys, site visits, direct discussions, and literary reviews the researchers will characterise Australia’s waste and end-of-life PTT and EWPs, understand its condition, model collection, sorting and transportation logistics, and identify effective repurposing processes that consider all regulations and policies.

Based on their findings the team will create a geospatial map including locations of waste streams, recycling companies and facilities, and other opportunities around the country.

Posted Date: August 24, 2023

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