Signatory Name: Veolia Environmental Services (Australia) Pty Ltd

Transcription

1 Signatory Name: Veolia Environmental Services (Australia) Pty Ltd The question numbers in this report refer to the numbers in the report template. t all questions are displayed in this report. Status: Complete The content in this APC Annual Report is hereby endorsed by the Chief Executive Officer, or equivalent officer of the organisation Industry sector (please select 1 only): Brand Owner / Wholesaler / Retailer Packaging Manufacturer Waste Management Other - Commercial Organisation Community Group Industry Association Government Raw Material Supplier Other: Please indicate your organisation's reporting period: Financial Year: 1 July June 2015 Calendar Year: 1 January December 2015 Was your action plan extended or updated to cover the APC transitional year (01/07/ /06/2016)? If yes, what is the period of your extended or updated action plan? Start Date: End Date: 01/10/ /06/2016

2 Goal 1: Design KPI 1: % of signatories with documented policies and procedures for evaluating and procuring packaging using the SPGs or equivalent. 9. Does your company have documented policies and procedures for evaluating and procuring packaging using the SPGs or equivalent? 10. Of the types of packaging existing at the beginning of the reporting period, what percentage had been reviewed using the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines (SPG) by the end of the reporting period? 1 Have any new types of packaging been introduced during the reporting period? 12. Provide details of policies and procedures Where appropriate, Veolia assesses the environmental and social credentials of suppliers. Since 2011, Veolia includes the Sustainable Procurement Matrix in its tenders, this matrix incorporates questions about waste reduction. However, as a service provider Veolia are not required to procure packaging so this KPI is not applicable to our organisation. 100 % If yes, of the new types of packaging introduced during the reporting period, what percentage have been reviewed using the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines (SPG) by the end of the reporting % 13. Please indicate your progress this year towards achieving your annual targets and milestones for KPI Roll-out State based Sustainability Action Plans to implement national sustainability strategy Implementation of the Green Procurement policy matrix to include (but not limited to) a questionnaire that requests information from suppliers to assist in answering questions in the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines Distribute information to relevant customers regarding Sustainable Packaging Guidelines and its benefits Complete. Veolia s state based business plans (formerly Sustainability Action Plans) include an environmental pillar which feeds into National Sustainability KPI s. These are managed by the states and are monitored by a network of state-based Sustainability Champions. The roll-out of state based business plans was completed in In 2015, the Sustainability Champions worked on its implementation and continuous improvement. Complete. Where relevant, Veolia assesses potential suppliers against multiple social and environmental criteria by using its 'Sustainable Procurement Matrix'. Tenders include questions related to sustainability, carbon footprint and waste reduction. Many of Veolia's clients are significant users and producers of packaging. Veolia endeavours to discuss with them about packaging recycling options. Veolia has introduced several national clients to the APC and assisted them in gaining grants for public place recycling. Veolia promotes the fact that we are a signatory to the APC whenever possible (e.g. response to tenders) as improving packaging recycling performance is a challenge for many of our clients. In addition, the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines are available from Veolia s website: mental-compliance/sustainable_packaging_ guidelines.pdf

3 14. Describe any constraints or opportunities that affected performance under this KPI Veolia solves its client's biggest environmental challenges through its expertise in water, waste and energy management. Unlike other signatories involved in the Australian Packaging Covenant we are not a primary source of packaging waste. Therefore, our ability to undertake packaging design changes is limited. In saying this, as an end of life service provider we are able to raise issues and that can drive changes within external organisations and therefore play an important role in assisting external organisations to reduce the amount of packaging waste sent to landfill. We operate bioreactors that create bioenergy and material recycling facilities to recover packaging for recycling or to create energy from packaging. Currently, Veolia is investing in a new Recycling Centre at Camellia which will process up to 150,000 tonnes per annum of commerical and industrial non-putrescible mixed solid waste. This facility will divert packaging such as paper/cardboard, plastic and timber to secondary markets and away from landfill. It will also include a resource recovery and recycling education centre that will promote the recycling of packaging material. Goal 2: Recycling KPI 3: % signatories applying on-site recovery systems for used packaging. 15. Do you have on-site recovery systems for recycling used packaging? at all facilities/ sites at some, but not all facilities/ sites 16. Please indicate your progress this year towards achieving your annual targets and milestones for KPI 3 Development of communications team in 2011 with a focus on improving existing recycling (internal and external) gains and to inform on Sustainable Packing Guidelines and other policies relevant. Complete. Veolia s Communications team was established in 2011 to improve internal and external communication. In 2015, Veolia s Communications team continued to engage internal staff and the broader community on the importance of litter reduction and recycling by building on its existing robust platform of information across social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogs. Several campaigns were also run throughout 2015 to engage internal staff including World Environment Day and National Recycling Week. Green Teams have also been established in each state to drive local behavioural change. Veolia has also produced a new set of materials for our customers and the general public, entitled Ready, Set, Sort! Resources including fact sheets, games, posters and stickers are available. With variations to suite schools, businesses and councils, these resources encourage individuals to recognise the role they have to play in protecting the environment by recycling wherever possible and reducing packaging waste. Veolia has also partnered with the Sanitarium Weet- Bix Kids TRYathlon to roll out a campaign entitled TRYrecycling. Through the campaign, including its own established website and social presence, Veolia looks to educate and encourage children, their families and event suppliers to improve their packaging and recycling practices.

4 17. Describe any constraints or opportunities that affected performance under this KPI As a waste management company Veolia produces a very limited amount of packaging material. Nevertheless we 'walk the talk': our office buildings provide staff with separate paper and cardboard, recyclables, batteries (RecyclePak), mobile phones (MobileMuster) and general waste bins. The kinds of packaging materials collected in our offices includes paper, cardboard, plastic, metal, glass, and tetrapak. In 2015, projects have been undertaken around office packaging, Nespresso packaging and increasing recycling levels across Veolia sites. We also assist our clients in tracking and improving their packaging recycling performance by providing them with monthly reports that include KPIs such as % of waste recycled and "% of waste diverted from landfill". KPI 4: Signatories implement formal policy of buying products made from recycled packaging. 18. Does your company have a formal policy of buying products made from recycled packaging? Provide details of policies and procedures (including names of policies/ procedures) Australian purchasing officers consider the environmental and social implications of Veolia's activities and incorporate them into the management of their specific purchasing areas by including Veolia's 'Sustainable Procurement Matrix' in requests for tender. In addition, Veolia's international head office developed the Suppliers Charter ( which reflects Veolia s commitments, particularly with regard to corporate social responsibility, provides guidance on matters such as the purchasing process, the Group s commitments and what it expects from its suppliers. It is made available to all sourcing managers and promotes the procurement of environment-friendly products. 19. Is this policy actively used? 20. Please indicate your progress this year towards achieving your annual targets and milestones for KPI 4 Review of internal Environmental KPIs to include existing recycling rates and improvement in process Complete. Veolia have conducted a variety of initiatives including: - In 2011 Veolia engaged Deloitte to conduct a third party review of Veolia's Environmental KPI's. Following this review a material recovery rate target of 30% was chosen by Veolia. - In 2012, the Victoria Green Team conducted waste assessments, set recycling targets, implemented new bins, removed desk bins and displayed monthly diversion rates on screens at key sites to increase their recycling rates. This resulted in a diversion rate improvement. - Similarly in NSW they did a waste assessment, implemented waste recycling stations, removed bins from under people s desks and put up educational posters. From doing these initiatives they were able to increase recycling.

5 2. Provide regular support to customers through the national accounts and business development, PR, general marketing communications, and internal communications functions to further promote our recycling services through RecyclePak. Veolia is committed to providing regular support to customers through the national accounts and business development, PR, general marketing communications, and internal communications functions to promote our recycling services. Some examples of this commitment are listed below: - Since 2011 Veolia has been providing a fully interactive web-based education and training system, aptly named the Learning Portal for Waste and Recycling. Throughout 2015 Veolia has been working to update and expand this portal to meet the growing needs of its customers. - In 2015, Veolia was again awarded an Australian Business Award for Sustainability. This award recognises organisations that execute initiatives that demonstrate leadership and commitment to sustainable business practices which is shown by Veolia through a commitment to environmental solutions to waste management, and continued investment in process and technologies improvements. - Veolia has sponsored and supported a range of sporting activities with Adelaide United FC and Essendon Football Club that increase the community's exposure to Veolia's waste management services including recycling. In 2015, Veolia continued to partner with Adelaide United FC to become their front of shirt sponsor for the Hyundai A- League 2014/15 season. Through our support for Adelaide United, Veolia has played a major role in community development in South Australian and rthern Territory, participating in community campaigns that have further enhanced the sport within these States. In 2014 through the Bright Futures Program, Veolia also started a 3 year partnership with Essendon Football Club to promote/support employment and training opportunities for indigenous communities in Melbourne's rth West. This is in addition to Veolia being an Official Community Partner of the Essendon Football Club. - In 2015 Veolia entered into its second year of a national partnership with Conservation Volunteers Australia. This partnership allows Veolia to work closely with a wide range of communities and allow all staff access to participate in volunteer programs across Australia, to clean up local areas, dispose of packaging pollution and restore the environment through sustainable practices. 2 Describe any constraints or opportunities that affected performance under this KPI Around the office Veolia utilised 50% recycled paper at all printers and chooses to purchase a selection of stationary items that contain recycled materials.

6 Goal 3: Product Stewardship KPI 6: % signatories with formal processes to work collaboratively on packaging design and / or recycling. 22. Does your company have formal processes in place for collaborating with other companies or organisations on improved packaging designs and/or recycling which aims to reduce or eliminate waste? Provide details of policies and procedures (including names of policies/ procedures) Veolia account managers hold customers meetings on a monthly basis which provides an opportunity to discuss new recycling options or ways to improve packaging recycling. In addition, customers are provided with a monthly report showing the breakdown of the company's actual diversion rates [diversion rate = (material recycled + energy recovery + organic recovery)/total waste collected]. This detailed site level data is extremely powerful in giving customers transparency and control to create recycling baselines, set recycling targets, track their recycling performance and manage their waste. This sophisticated reporting is underpinned by Veolia's unique integrated system where collection trucks weigh the waste and automatically upload the data into a centralised database. ( 23. Please indicate your progress this year towards achieving your annual targets and milestones for KPI 6 Implementation of a Project Development team to focus on opportunities to develop recycling facilities Complete. In 2012 Veolia appointed a new 'Resource Recovery Director' who works across all states to drive the resource recovery action plan which focuses on developing future resource recovery facilities, such as Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) facilities and advanced recycling facilities. In 2014, he was replaced by the 'General Manager - Sustainability' who works on improving Veolia' s recycling capacity as part of the broader sustainability strategy. In 2015, Veolia has been developing a new MBT facility near Goulburn, New South Wales. It will utilise advanced resource recovery technology, to extract organic content from mixed waste streams received from across wider Sydney and to produce compost. It will also include a Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) facility that will divert residual inorganic waste from landfill such as packaging materials like plastics. This facility is a result of an agreement between Veolia and 8 Sydney councils that form part of the Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC); this agreement is expected to see up to a 60% reduction in waste to landfill across Greater Southern Sydney. Veolia continuously aim to partner with councils to improve waste recovery. In September 2015, Veolia signed an agreement with 5 rthern Sydney councils to divert 280,000 tonnes of waste from landfill and convert them into compost and fuel. In late 2015, Veolia also reopened a cardboard baling facility in Melbourne. The facility processes cardboard from commercial customers.

7 2. 3. Investigate refinements to MRF process and gains in tonnages recovered On-site recovery systems for recycling used packaging Complete. In an effort to increase its recycling capability, Veolia progressed in 2015 on its Camellia Recycling Centre project (CRC). This new MRF is designed to process up to 150,000 tonnes per annum of commercial and industrial nonputrescible mixed solid waste. Veolia anticipates the CRC will have the capacity to segregate and recover from a mixed waste stream paper/cardboard, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, aggregate material, plastics and timber. The proposed facility will help support the NSW governments aims in achieving a recovery target for Commercial & Industrial waste of 63%. Simultaneously, Veolia aims to improve the recovery of organic waste. In Victoria, Veolia has now commissioned its 'Bulla' composting facility that can process up to 85,000 tonnes of organic waste a year. The compost product from Bulla is used in a variety of applications such as viticulture (compost mulching under the vines), horticulture (compost mulching under tree) and fodder/silage/broadacre (compost soil incorporation to increase microbial activity). Further to this, Veolia has recently won a contract for additional organics processing in South East Melbourne. Complete. Our offices include recycling stations which allow employees to separate recyclables from general waste. These systems were recently completed at key sites: - Nespresso Pod Recycling programs and Mobile Muster collection points (in some offices), - In 2015, we had an awareness campaigns called the 4C s of change, where we encourage employees to make sustainable choices around Consuming less, Conserving, Commuting and Communicating. This campaign was used internally and at customer sites. 4. Percentage of customers with a packaging waste recycling service In 2015, the percentage of Veolia customers with a general waste service also using a Recycling Service remained consistent with last year. 24. Describe any constraints or opportunities that affected performance under this KPI Veolia partners with its customers to help them improve recycling. In the beginning of 2015 before Veolia began operations at the Mars Wendouree site, Mars was sending out thousands of tons a year of waste to landfill. Three months after contract commencement in March 2015, Veolia provided a solution to Mars that aggressively reduced the amount of waste diverted from landfill. By the third month into Veolia s contract, the Wendouree site achieved zero waste-to-landfill. Veolia s solution included the installation of a closed loop organic composter and the implementation of a source segregation system at the point of disposal. Veolia has also developed many initiatives for its clients to improve awareness on best practice recycling habits. For instance, The Getting Wise about Waste program is encouraging the right behaviours with the right key stakeholders to improve recycling and improve waste-to landfill diversion rates. Also, Veolia have developed extensive educational materials (posters, pamphlets) on waste and recycling that are used across its customer base.

8 KPI 7: % signatories showing other Product Stewardship outcomes. 25. Please indicate your progress this year towards achieving your annual targets and milestones for KPI 7 2. Develop formal waste audit process to assess customer and internal waste composition. Perform lifecycle assessment of Veolia facilities. Complete. When customers request a waste assessment to develop relevant waste management plans, Veolia refers them to dedicated waste assessment specialists within Veolia or at a partner consultancy. Waste assessments involve high health and safety risks, therefore they should only be performed by specialists who have been trained and know the appropriate health and safety procedures. Veolia did not perform life cycle assessment (LCA) of its Australian facilities in However, through its parent company in France, Veolia participates in fundamental research carried out on an international scale to improve the LCA method or adapt it to the specific characteristics of its businesses. 26. Since the beginning of the reporting period, has your company had any other outcomes related to product stewardship? If yes, please give examples of other product stewardship outcomes Veolia supports product stewardship through a range of initiatives: - All of Veolia's waste sites are certified under ISO14001 Environmental Management Systems. - The Company provides a range of services to help customers reduce resource use such as: Hubgrade that collects and analyses current and historic energy demand data to uncover opportunities for customers to minimise energy usage, maximise savings and reduce their carbon footprint; Water services that focus on customer needs to maximise reuse of water and minimise impact on the local environment and waterways; and Waste services to divert waste from landfill through material recycling, energy recovery and organic recovery. - Internally Veolia is focussed on product stewardship. For example our offices ran programs designed to reduce waste both in home and at work. These included running clothes drive with the Salvation Army in which over 57 kg clothes were collected from one office and diverted from landfill for reuse, establishing Nespresso Pod Recycling Programs, participating in Business Clean up Australia Day and eliminating the use of unsustainable wet wipes in the toilets to prevent build up in sewerage systems. - More broadly, Veolia advocates and participates in a range of bodies that promote product stewardship and recycling such as the Australian Council of Recyclers, Waste Contractors and Recyclers Association and the Australian Water Recycling Centre of Excellence. 27. Describe any constraints or opportunities that affected performance under this KPI

9 KPI 8: Reductions in packaging items in the litter stream. 28. Please indicate your progress this year towards achieving your annual targets and milestones for KPI 8 2. Include specific sustainability questions and requirements into procurement tenders. Employ dedicated Recycled Material Sales professional to develop market contact and establish markets for recovered products. Complete. Veolia attaches its Sustainable Procurement Matrix to its tenders. The matrix includes questions regarding the preservation of natural resources, carbon footprint and social responsibility such as: How do the proponent propose to reduce waste production as much as possible?, and Does the proponents transport of the product have the lowest possible carbon footprint? Complete. Veolia continues to employ dedicated Recycling Material Sales professionals to develop market contacts and establish markets for recovered material. In Victoria, our team developed various markets for the compost product produced from our resource recovery activities. In 2015, the compost was used in a variety of applications including broad acre farming, vineyards, fruit growing, site bioremediation and landfill rehabilitation. 29. Describe any constraints or opportunities that affected performance under this KPI Veolia encourages its employees to participate in events such as the Business Clean Up Day or in local clean-up initiatives: -The roads near Luggage Point, on the east side of the Brisbane Airport are cleaner, thanks to a team of committed staff at Veolia. They have adopted a 3km stretch near their workplace and have conducted quarterly litter clean-ups for 2 and a half years as part of the Keep Queensland Beautiful Adopt-a-Spot program. In 2015, their effort was recognised by the Cleaner Communities Brisbane Awards program as they won the Litter Prevention Award in the business category. - In 2015 Veolia entered into its second year of a national partnership with Conservation Volunteers Australia. This partnership allows Veolia to work closely with a wide range of communities and allow all staff access to participate in volunteer programs across Australia, to clean up local areas and restore the environment through sustainable practices. Veolia also helps its clients to prevent littering and encourage recycling at events. Veolia developed an in-kind partnership with Sanitarium and the Australian Packaging Covenant to deliver TRYrecycling, a community campaign aimed at delivering new dialogue around environmental impacts of waste whilst reinforcing that simple participation or trying recycling can make a big difference to the environment. In association with the delivery of this broad-based community education program, Veolia also delivered contra waste and recycling services to the 12 events held around Australia in TRYrecycling 2015 successfully diverted 55% of all waste generated to recycling. This is a 67.7% improvement from 2014 where only 33% of waste was diverted to recycling. Veolia believes this success can be directly attributed in great part to improved bin signage (bin covers) and environmental education on the ground. For an example of some of the educational material please refer here: and here:

10 Your Experiences This section lets you share with us any achievements, good news stories and areas of difficulties in making progress against your plan and the Covenant goals and KPIs. 30. Key achievements or good news stories As a collector and recycler of consumer packaging, Veolia recognises the major role we play in the packaging chain by closing the loop between disposal and reuse of materials. In light of this role, we are continually working towards: - encouraging recycling among many of our customers, - investing in the development of a wide range of innovative recycling facilities to providing customers with a superior service, and - raising recycling awareness among our stakeholders. In 2015, Veolia was awarded an Australian Business Award for Sustainability. Veolia works with many of Australia s largest food and beverage companies and assists them reduce their waste to landfill and implement innovative recovery solutions for problematic waste streams including contaminated food packaging. 3 Areas of difficulties in making progress against your plan, Covenant goals or KPIs The goals and eight key performance indicators of the Covenant have not been developed for a service provider such as Veolia. Unlike most of the APC signatories, Veolia does not procure packaging and does not sell packaged products or packaging materials. This makes it challenging for a waste management company to report against some of the KPIs.