Project Plan for an EPS Recycling Initiative

Project Plan for an EPS recycling initiative

Name of your organisation

This is a hypothetical Project Plan for a mythical NSW Council. It is provided in the Guide to assist those planning to introduce EPS Recycling to consider what might be in their plan. While it is written from the perspective of a public landfill operator, the way it is constructed and the issues it raises will provide a useful example for other key people in the various target audiences for this Guide. It follows the worked example for the Business Case. If you have completed a Business Case for this project, you will have identified much of the material required for your Project Plan.

Holberg Shire Council is situated in the Central West of NSW. The Shire has a population of 9,200 with almost 15% of these being from the indigenous community. Population is 68% urban, spread across one main urban centre and four villages. 32% live and work on the land, outside of the urban areas. Provided that rain is regular, this is a thriving community with an economy based primarily on agriculture and tourism. There is also one large mine in the LGA. Holberg Shire is situated within 60 km of a major regional centre, Booring City Council (population 55,000).

As far as waste management is concerned, Holberg Shire offers no kerbside recycling service, but it does offer a weekly garbage collection service in the main urban centre only. People in the villages and on the land manage their own waste, in the main through regular visits ‘to the tip.’ Holberg landfill, near the major urban centre, has recently been converted into a Materials Transfer Facility (MTF) under license by the Environmental Protection Authority. Work is progressing to establish Material Transfer Facilities at two other landfills located near two of the villages. For the time being, the remaining landfill in the LGA will remain just as a landfill.

Using a series of drop off cages, sited before the landfill fence itself, Council collects the following for recycling:

-  Metal. Steel, steel frames tables and chairs, tanks, drums, bikes, wire and netting (posts to be removed), fridges etc, excluding timber, household rubbish, brick and rocks.

-  Green waste. By ute or trailer load.

-  Hardfill bricks, concrete, dirt etc. By truck or trailer load

-  Plastics

-  Paper and cardboard

-  Glass and aluminium

-  eWaste

The following rules apply:

-  All loads must be covered, including caged trailers. Uncovered loads will be refused entry or a penalty of $650 may be imposed.

-  Illegal dumping is not permitted on the site, and across the LGA and Council has a strong enforcement team in place to discourage illegal dumping. It remains a problem though, especially around the villages and near the outlying landfill sites, especially outside of their business hours.

-  Tipping vehicles are required to separate their load, so that recyclables can be separated.

-  Collection of green waste is restricted to car trailer or ute-loads.

-  The MTF operates from 7am to 3pm daily.

Arrangements are in place with Booring City Council to transfer recycled materials to their facility for aggregation and sale. Holberg Shire green waste is mulched and on-sold in Booring City. The remainder of the recyclable material is transported by the Booring City waste contractor to various markets. Holberg Shire pays for this arrangement by paying 50% of income generated for Holberg recyclables to Booring City. Holberg Shire is responsible for transporting all recyclables to Booring City, and it does this fortnightly. Holberg Shire uses waste collection personnel and vehicles on days when garbage is not collected. This process will be extended when the two additional MTFs open.

Overview - Summary
A plan for Holberg Shire to introduce an EPS Recycling Service at its MTFs
Summary
The Holberg EPS Recycling Initiative is to conduct a 12 month pilot project to:
-  collect EPS from each of the three MTFs by the use of bag and frame
-  strongly promote this facility across the whole community
-  transport EPS from the two outlying MTFs into the town centre MTF
-  (through the lease of a compactor, held at the town MTF) compress all EPS into 15 kg ingots. Hold these on-site until they are in sufficient quantity to transport
-  transport the compacted EPS to Booring City for inclusion in their supply chain (at a similar costing arrangement to that used for other recyclables)
Key Stakeholders
The key stakeholders for this Initiative are:
-  Residents in the main centre of the Shire of Holberg and in the four outlying villages
-  Businesses in the town centre
-  Councillors of the Shire of Holberg
-  Staff at the MTFs for the Shire of Holberg
-  Staff at the waste depot in Booring City
-  The company leasing the compactor
Purpose
The purpose of this Initiative is to collect at least 3 tonnes of EPS packaging and builders’ waste per year from residents and businesses in the Shire and to sell this material to EPS recyclers.
Barriers
List of key barriers and strategies to address these barriers
1.  EPS not a priority: Communicate the benefits of the Initiative both within the Council and Shire residents and businesses.
2.  Underestimating the complexity of the project: Complete the business case and the project plan and consider all aspects of the project.
3.  Overestimating the yield: Complete Step 1 Research, so that you have a more accurate estimate of expected yield of EPS.
4.  Lack of control over communication: Work closely with the Communications staff in Council and develop and Comms/Education Plan.
5.  Equipment problems: Select a company which can provide either a reliable repair service or a replacement machine as a part of the contract, should the original machine break down.
6.  No buying system in place at the start of the program: Ensure that Booring City has a buyer in place and that contractual arrangements are established.
7.  Transporting issues: Plan this carefully with the staff at Booring City Council.
Goals or objectives
1.  To collect at least 3 tonnes or EPS waste per year, compact it and transport it to the waste depot at Booring City Council
2.  To reduce the amount of EPS litter that is dumped each year in the Shire by 50%, by weight
Sources of EPS
The sources of EPS waste in the Holberg Shire:
-  Packaging from fruit, fish and vegetables
-  Packaging for electronic goods and white goods
-  Builders’ EPS waste
Logistics (equipment, infrastructure and processes)
What collection containers will you need? (e.g. bag and frame, skip, cage, container)
A two cubic metre, calico bag and frame at each of the three MTFs.
Collecting EPS
We will need at least one bag and frame at each MTF, with spare bags at each.
Residents and businesses will reach these containers at the drive-through drop-off centre at the MTFs. Each bag and frame will be have a simple shelter, constructed by council staff..
We will use the signage provided on the Educology website attached to each frame.
The bags of uncompacted EPS will be taken by truck to the town MTF where the contents will be processed through the compactor. The compacted EPS will be stored on site until the load is of sufficient size and there is opportunity to move it to Booring City. Check options where there are existing truck movements, including logistics companies.
Compacting EPS for transport
We will lease a XYZ brand compactor from ABC compactors. We will lease one that can process at least 100 kg per hour, to minimise labour costs.
We could even start such a small trial without a compactor and just stockpile full bags of EPS – and then transport uncompacted EPS to Booring until quantities can be established. The Shire would be unlikely to generate >1t/month, so a compactor is probably a last resort. Only if all logistics options are prohibitive, should we contemplate a compactor.
The compactor will be stored in the shed at the town MTF. This will provide protection from the elements, security (as the shed is locked at night), power (both two phase and three-phase power is available) and has an industrial extraction fan to remove any odours. The blocks will be stored on pallets prior to transporting them to Booring.
Training on use of compactor
We will engage the leasing company to train personnel in the use of the compactor, and they will provide suitable safety equipment. We will communicate about any hazards to all other personnel on the site about the new compactor. Only trained personnel will be able to operate the compactor. We will use existing underutilized labour on-site so there will be zero marginal cost of labour.
Sale of EPS collected
The compacted EPS will be transported to the waste depot in Booring City where it will be sold to the same buyer that buys Booring City’s EPS.
Transport of EPS to buyer
The pallets of compacted EPS will be transported, as required, with other recyclables on a council truck that regularly transports cardboard. This is a distance of 60 km each way. There will be no additional cost for this.
Budget
Costs / $ / Income/Savings / $
Infrastructure
1.  Bag and frames at MTFs [3]. Shelters Constructed by Council [one off cost] Bag and frames can be reused after pilot]
2.  Lease of small compactor (1year only) / $1,500
$7,500 / Sale of recycled EPS at contract price to Booring City. Three tonnes at $500 per tonne (50% only as per arrangement with Booring City). / $750
Promotion/comms – direct costs of signage to bag and frames.
An alternative and more comprehensive Communication (Marketing) and Education plan is included an Appendix to this plan. The estimated budget for this Plan is $5,000. / $400 / Savings to landfill (at $2,520/tonne) / $7,560
Transport within Holberg (estimate) / $1,000 / Savings to current clean-up (dumping costs). / $400
Labour (will use existing underutilized labour) / 0
Miscellaneous / $500
Total Expenditure Year 1 / $10,900 / Total Income Year 1 / $8,710
This budget indicates a loss of $2,190 for Year 1 operations. This would need to be funded by Council as a start-up cost. If the project continues beyond the pilot, outgoings would be reduced because bag and frames would be re-used on-site and additional costs would not be needed. Accurate tonnage data would be available etc. The pilot model will allow for all costings to be verified during the Year 1.
The best case scenario is that the program will continue and seed funding will be paid back of by Year 5.
Resources
Human resources
-  Manager of the Initiative – Manager of the Town MTF
-  Training of operators – Leasing company
-  Building of shelter for bag and frame at each MTF – Council staff
-  Operating the compactor – trained MTF staff (who will compact the material for 6 hours a fortnight during quiet times at the MTFs)
Installation and maintenance of machinery
If leased, the company selling us the compactor will install and maintain the compactor during the warranty period.
Outside the warranty period, the equipment will be checked and maintained by the Council Works Engineers.
The anticipated life of the compactor is 10 years (according to the companies we have spoken to about leasing a compactor).
Approvals
The Waste Services Manager of Holberg Shire has the Authority to sign off of the project.
Communications, Marketing and Education
To communicate about the service, We will use materials based the NSW EPA EPS Pilot Program (see attached)
Initially:
-  Signs for bag and frames
-  Information sheet
-  PowerPoint for induction of MTF personnel and to inform Councillors
Later, we may consider:
-  Postcards for residents, electrical retailers and builders
-  Fridge magnets
Refer to EPS Recycling Communication, Marketing and Education Plan in Appendix 2 for a more extensive potential plan.
Risk Assessment
Occupational, Health and Safety
OH&S plan will be prepared in collaboration with the OH&S officer, and This will include risks identified, mitigation measures and rating based on likelihood and magnitude of risks.
Financial
Drop in the price for compacted EPS – try to arrange for a fixed-price contract with the buyer
Increase in lease fee – try to arrange for a fixed-price contract with the buyer
Logistical
Equipment failures – contract to include minimum repair times and replacement equipment if the problem cannot be rectified within xx days.
Buyer stops purchasing material – have an alternative buyer as a contingency plan.
Monitor, Evaluate and Report
Benchmark data about volumes of EPS in the waste stream have been collected as for the end of June 2014. See attached.
Monitor
-  total EPS in landfilled waste
-  reports about EPS as litter in the community
-  progressive data about EPS recycled (e.g. monthly)
-  complaints from residents before commencing the EPS recycling program compared to after it has been rolled out
Evaluate
-  intended outcomes (tonnages, dollars spent and earned, volume of EPS recycled, community behaviour, EPS litter dumped)
Report
-  outcomes to Waste Services Manager
-  feedback to community via notice board at the MTFs and in Council newsletter
Timeline
Commence set up of project – 1 July 2014
Ready for collection – 1 September 2014
Ready for compaction – 1 October 2014
Key Tasks
Refer to EPS Recycling Summary of Key Tasks Template in Appendix 1.