NPA has a long history of recycling initiatives which now form the foundation for our more recent recycling efforts and our target of diverting more than 70% of our waste from landfill.
As a key stakeholder in the invention of polymer banknotes, it was another innovative development for NPA to start recycling its own production waste more than 20 years ago, driven also by the RBA’s move to recycle 100% of its unfit notes. This benefit alone has added to the sustainability credentials of polymer by diverting waste from landfill decades ahead of paper banknote substrate which today still struggles to find an effective recycling methodology.
In 2012, NPA introduced another major recycling initiative with the introduction our Hirec UF (ultrafiltration) system that recycles wastewater from the intaglio printing process in which a wiping solution is used to clean and prepare the plates. This initiative reduced the amount of wastewater from 30,000L/day to 4,000L/day by extracting ink solids from the water, an output called filtercake. In another initiative to divert waste from landfill, this filtercake is purchased by a firm called Geocycle and used as a high thermal energy fuel.
When our Environmental Officer Aninah Chua joined our business, she quickly helped move NPA into a new phase of work on waste management through recycling and diversion from landfill, initiating a number of pilot programs that have directly addressed the most vexing waste issues this business faces. In addition to the current staff awareness training in waste segregation, this includes several exciting trial programs in soft plastics recycling and PE Foam sheet re-use.
More recently, the hiring of our Sustainability Manager Hiru Jayatunge has been an important strategic investment in NPA’s future sustainability. Hiru is also working in collaboration with Aninah to support some of these programs of work.
“We’re running a lot of initiatives that are good for the environment and our business. This involves discussion with a number of different companies that can provide solutions. Premier Waste has been very supportive in helping develop these relationships,” says Aninah. “Our staff across operations have been proactive about letting me know of waste streams in their areas which enables me to start thinking about solutions for that particular type of waste.”
In regard to the current soft plastics trial, after starting the collection of soft plastic in Passports, the trial has now been extended to Finishing and Print Hall. The Finishing department is collecting shrink wrap waste and Print Hall is collecting soft plastic carrier waste as well as bubble wrap.
Another waste element connected to the OptiNota H are the polyethylene foam sheets which are used as foil packaging. Anyone visiting the Stores department will likely see up to 13 pallets of foam sheets that need to be collected in the dock in order to make transport/collection economical. One delivery has been completed to date and this waste diversion initiative produces a product called Resin8 an eco-aggregate that replaces sand in the construction industry.
Furthermore, a trial program is planned for June with Geocycle in which salvage intaglio ink is currently being collected by the Orloff team. The trial involves sending eight drums of salvage ink (a total of 825kg of ink waste) which was collected across six weeks from 14/3 to 26/4 to Geocycle for processing. Considerations in this trial include security of inks being vital and an intrinsic part of the trial. Data will be collected during this trial which will conclude at the end of June.
Caption: Rinse…Recycle…Repeat. Wayne Jinks, NPA’s Trade Waste Senior Operator, stands between two storage tanks that are part of the HIREC Ultrafiltration System that recycles wiping solution from its intaglio presses.