SMSP Waste Audit (March 23 through to Nov 23)
The initial Waste Audit conducted by CLES covered the period from Feb 22 through to Jan 23, the first 12 months of CLES contract with the ARDC as ‘Official Sustainability Partner’.
The initial waste audit covered the following:
- The general day-to-day functioning of the venue, and
- The input from major Events including:
- Powercruise ’23
- Supercars ’23
- World Time Attack ’23
- Shannon’s ’23
Waste Audit Results for 2022/2023
The waste audit delivered the following results:
- Total Waste treated 1783.63 m3
- Recycled 1233.38 m3
- General Waste (landfill) 550.25 m3
The equated to a recovery rate (% recycled) of 69.1%
Associated Programs running alongside with the day-to-day cleaning and waste process:
- Simply Cups (coffee cup recycling) – collected 65k+ cups
- Container Deposit Scheme – 130k+ units
After gaining an understanding as to how the venue works (after coming out of Covid), for the next year (period from 2023 to 2024) the main objective was to consolidate and improve the processes and procedures put in place in Year 1.
This doesn’t necessarily translate into a higher landfill diversion rate but means that the processes behind the scenes are becoming more sustainable and efficient.
Audit Results 2023/2024 (March 23 to Feb 24):
The waste results to date are running in line with 22/23 with a slight improvement in the recycled rate and significant improvement in the associated programs
The waste audit delivered the following results:
- Total Waste treated 1804 m3
- Recycled 1141 m3
- General Waste (landfill) 663 m3
The recovery rate (% recycled) for 23/24 is 63%
Associated Programs:
- Simply Cups – collected 65k+ cups (on par with 22/23)
- Container Deposit Scheme – 205k units (increase 75k on 22/23)
See Appendix 1 for year-on-year comparison of waste streams and quantities.
Key difference between Year 1 and Year 2
The decrease in the recycling rate (69% v 63%) was driven by several factors:
- Under estimation of audience attendance at several events which lead to under resourcing for the period and reduced capacity to sort waste streams driving additional landfill.
- Third party waste dumping on the precinct – straight to landfill
- Staffing shortages – the ability to find and retain staff on a long-term basis (industry issue)
Improvements between Year 1 and Year 2
One of the key initiatives for CLES in the past 12 months has been to improve the processes and procedures at SMSP to deliver a better outcome for the ARDC, the venue and its employees and for CLES staff.
To enable this, Closed Loop have brought in more experienced management to establish stronger relationship with SMSP operations management, improve communication, processes and procedures and to facilitate and improve the relationship between the parties.
To date this has enhanced the working relationship between the parties and the working environment for staff in areas such as rostering, WH&S and engagement.
This initiative will also fall in line and support one of the key objectives for the ARDC Board and management moving forward, to improve the venues SCI score for the Sustainable Motor Index (SMI).
As you will see from Appendix 1, we have added several new waste streams to ensure the disposal of the product meets CLES’s standards and are comfortable with the recycling/upcycling process to follow.
We have also collaborated with ARDC to determine the most efficient process for waste management of some streams, where ARDC manage the process and CLES tracks the outcomes i.e. tyres.
In addition, the bin specification in designated areas of the precinct has changed to ensure there are relevant bins specific to areas that generate specific waste streams – maintenance sheds, waste compound.
Appendix 2 gives a more detailed summary of this work to date and moving forward.
Other Initiatives
One of CLES’s key objectives is to seek continuous improvement on specific objectives year on year.
Working with ARDC staff the following initiatives will assist to improve outcomes and contribute towards a higher SCI score:
- The Sustainability Clauses added to the venue hire agreement will provide the opportunity to engage with hirers and other partners prior to events, to educate, engage drive down waste number and deliver more sustainable event for the hirer and their customers.
- Continuous exploration of how waste can be managed and processed more efficiently and sustainably on-site and areas of improvement
- Measuring contamination levels in each waste stream to better understand ‘lost resources’ in the landfill stream, and the quantity of non-recyclable material in the co-mingled recycling stream
- Assessing whether alternate resource recovery options should be investigated and the costs implications
- Continue wood pallet collections around SMSP and finalise options for recycling and sale
- Installation of a dedicated scrap metal skip (by Sell + Parker) to facilitate certified collection, reporting, and sale of all scrap metal from SMSP.
- Collection of E-waste (commenced November 2023) with viable disposal options currently under review.
- Enhance and improve on current 6S methodology towards 6S LEAN.
- Trialing a digital checklist app facilitating real-time tracking of (safety + quality + efficiency) KPIs into an all-in-one workplace operations platform (used by Toyota, MoneyGram Hass F1 Team).
- Phase out compostable packaging used by GEMA GROUP and food truck vendors.
Conclusion
Year 1 was used by CLES to primarily learn about the venue, build a relationship between the parties and deliver a better diversion rate for waste to landfill than previously achieved.
Year 2 CLES has begun the job of working on efficiencies through better processes and procedures, work with venue partners/suppliers and build a stronger relationship with better understanding with ARDC staff.
The focus of Year 3 is to work with the ARDC and Enovation Consulting to deliver on the SMSP Sustainability Improvement Approach project (1Q 2024), improve on-site education to attendees and work with ARDC marketing to deliver more innovative marketing program to add to the experience of the venue.
Appendix 1
Waste Audit Results – comparison between 22/23 and 23/2
Appendix 2
CLES having been actively working on the ‘behind the scenes’ processes and procedures to ensure that this work meets the criteria and supports the efforts to become more sustainable.
Below outlines the changes made from 2022/23 to 2023/24 across 8 activities, all of which will be relevant to the SCI score for the Sustainable Motor Index (SMI).
