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I was honored to have the opportunity to participate in the AORA conference this year, after winning the Komptech Young Professionals Scholarship. My goal was to improve my knowledge on organic recycling and the circular economy.
The AORA demonstration day was proudly hosted by Repurpose It, and it was a great success. Approximately 20 pieces of machinery were on site including high-speed grinders, shredders, screens, JCBs, loaders, and excavators. It was fascinating to see Terra Nova subsoil amelioration machine which was an eye-catching machinery that was demonstrated to give a hint of real-life compost application in a farmland.
The second day of the AORA Conference, opened with AORA NEO John McKew’s welcome speech and something he mentioned really caught me, “if you are not part of the solution, maybe you are part of the problem”. This got me thinking as in my experience from the agriculture industry, I have been exposed to various agricultural practices that are less sustainable and can be improved in many ways. I believe since I started working at Repurpose It and have attended the AORA conference, my perspective has changed. I want to change the direction of agriculture industry for a more sustainable future.
The second day of the AORA conference was all about understanding the policies and government involvement in the organic recycling industry. A few speakers represented the state government’s vision, the current policies in place and where the gaps that the industry need to fill in.
MP Nina Taylor’s speech was very informative on current policies and opportunities that the government has already invested toward the organic recycling industry, including an investment of 0.3 million on the circular economy markets fund is a program which provide jobs, increase organic waste collection, and produce high-quality organic recycled material.
Hon. Penny Wensley talked about how to improve unmanaged organic waste material and what are the new possibilities/opportunities in the growing waste management industry. Her approach was more towards how to use the end products, such as compost and mulches, to improve Australian soils.
Micheal Dosser’s natural branding speech was my favorite speech of the day. He explained that Eco Mark labeling technology is the future of natural branding and how safely it creates high-resolution laser to remove colour from the outer layer of fruit and vegetables. This will reduce the use of nondegradable stickers/packaging which are a contamination issue for organic recycling.
The third day of the conference covered what is happening in the recycling industry and how the recycling industry is contributing to the circular economy. These discussions were mainly about how different businesses are involved in producing organic recycling material, the art of making good compost for Australian soils, the improvement of modern technology related to organic recycling, and how to reduce the contamination levels in FOGO.
Lawrence Di Bella demonstrated how the sugar cane business is utilizing its end product (sugar mud) as a soil amendment in farmlands over the last decade. His data showed that this practice has improved the soil amelioration giving positive results over time. This is a great way of putting carbon back into the soil ecosystem.
Bill Grant and Stephen Ockerby explained how important to add organic material to ameliorate Australian soils and how to keep microbes happy and alive. This will maintain the soil ecosystem by managing available nutrients for plants.
At the conference, we constantly talked about how to reduce the contamination levels. What I learnt was that educating the community could be the key to changing their behavior. For example, where I work at Repurpose It, we have a series called Living with Purpose hosted by Jamie Durie. This shows the community how to take part in the circular economy. Once people understand recycling it could lead to behavior change and eventually it could reduce the contamination levels in our FOGO bins. This will make sorting easier for industrial composters and allow the community to make the right choices on what goes in which bin. As a result, this could reduce the amount of material going in to landfills and complete the circular economy.
Thank you for the opportunity to attend the conference, it was a great experience!
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