2009 Finalists
- Industrial Eco-efficiency Award
- Corporate Sustainability Awards
- Innovation in Sustainable Technologies Award
- Sustainability Partnership Award
- Sustainability in the Built Environment Award
- Rural Sustainability Award
- ClimateSmart Leadership Award
Industrial Eco-efficiency Award
Awarded to a business for outstanding performance in eco-efficiency.
Mitchell Enviro Industrial Estate
The Mitchell Enviro Industrial Estate at Stapylton, south of Brisbane, is Australia's first industrial estate that is 100-percent self-sustaining and carbon neutral.
The estate receives no water, electricity, or sewerage bills as its water pumps, street lighting and security system are all driven by grid-connected on-site solar power. The property has a four mega litre dam, which is home to native wildlife and a recreation area for employees. All rainwater is collected and treated on-site for drinking water, while runoff from the road is stored in tanks and used for irrigation.
The warehouses' design reduces the need for artificial heating and cooling: they all face north, canopies protect the northern walls from the sun in summer, all western walls are insulated, and high quality translucent sheets provide natural lighting for all of the sheds.
Environmentally responsible materials have been used throughout, the buildings and fittings have been recycled, and all timber throughout the estate has been sourced from sustainable forestry plantations.
Fulton Hogan
International quarrying, concreting, and earthworks company Fulton Hogan, headquartered near Stapylton, has developed the first warm mix asphalt (WMA) plant in Australia. It uses 20 percent less energy than traditional hot mix asphalt, recycles old asphalt and reduces air emissions through state-of-the-art air pollution control technology.
The WMA plant considerably reduces the need for virgin quarried materials by recycling old asphalt - up to 40 percent - back into the mix. This also reduces the energy required to resize and transport the asphalt.
A 3000-litre tank will harvest rain water for use in the asphalt making process, saving about 55,000 litres. To make the plant zero discharge, Fulton Hogan is trialling a hydrocyclone/membrane technology to remove sediment and residual oil from catchment ponds. The water can then be reused for floor washing, general cleaning, dust suppression and truck washing.
Spick and Span Commercial Property Maintenance Pty Ltd.
Wynnum-based Spick and Span is a Queensland leader in eco-efficient commercial cleaning, developing innovative technologies in pressure cleaning, which saves up to 29 litres of water per minute, and graffiti cleaning machines that use crushed nuts instead of toxic solvents.
Spick and Span's cleaning products are created from bio-degradable non-toxic botanic extracts. Organic, hospital-grade disinfectants are used instead of harmful chemical bleaches, and the cleaning products are packaged in food-grade recyclable cardboard and plastic containers.
High-temperature steam pressure cleaners use compressed air rather than water. The company's pressure washers use between one and three litres of water per minute, compared with 15 to 30 litres per minute for regular cleaners.
Rather than using toxic solvents, Spick and Span's graffiti cleaning machine uses crushed walnut, macadamia, and coconut shell waste, exceeding all current Department of Envioronment & Natural Resources best practice guidelines.
Corporate Sustainability Awards
Awarded to an organisation for outstanding performance in making corporate sustainability the cornerstone of its business development strategy.
Brisbane Airport Corporation
Innovative waste-water treatment facilities are saving Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) millions of dollars in water and energy savings.
BAC, once among the top ten water users in Queensland, has cut its water consumption by adopting a Water Action Plan. Class A recycled water, from BAC's in-house waste-water treatment plant and now used for the terminal's cooling towers, will boost water savings to 78 percent for 2008-09 and 82 percent thereafter ”€ a cost saving of $2.3 million, increasing to $4 million by 2020.
Roof water tanks, stormwater detention lakes of 57 megalitres capacity, a stormwater treatment plant, and a recycled water distribution network have all been built under the action plan.
The implementation of recommendations from an energy audit has improved energy efficiency, with annual savings of 355 megawatts per year ”€ a cut of some 15 percent ”€ worth $21,000.
James Brockhurst The Good Guys Discount Warehouse
This Capalaba electrical store helps its customers make informed purchase decisions, by marketing its goods using ecoTips that show energy savings and water efficiencies. These demonstrate overall running costs as well as initial purchase cost - a better indicator of value for money than purchase price alone.
The store uses innovative product displays with buckets demonstrating water savings, signs showing energy efficiency, recycling programs, and knowledgeable 'eco-champions' encouraging sustainability on the shop floor. Shoppers can access a cost calculator to check appliance running costs.
Polystyrene waste from packaging is recycled, and a recent store refurbishment saw energy-efficient T5 and LED lighting replacing fluorescents . James Brockhurst The Good Guys is the first electrical retailer in Australia to develop a Sustainable Electrical Retailers Business Induction and Training Guide. Its sustainability program is being piloted across five other Good Guys stores before a national roll-out.
Queensland Complete Printing Services
Sunshine Coast-based QPrint uses environmentally safe soy-based inks and eco-sensitive chemicals, chooses papers from environmentally accredited suppliers, uses a chlorine-free production process and harvests sufficient rainwater for all of its printing needs.
QPrint helped develop the Sustainable Green Print program, an environmental accreditation system for the print industry based on their achievements.
All of QPrint's paper waste is recycled, and the factory runs on 100-percent Green Power from wind farms purchased by Origin Energy. Low-energy lighting used in the office and factory has reduced energy consumption by 50 percent.
Innovation in Sustainable Technologies Award
Awarded to an organisation or individual for the development of technology (systems, equipment and/or infrastructure) that delivers resource conservation and/or enable sustainability innovation in a business.
Cooee DustBloc
Sunshine Coast company Cooee has developed DustBloc, an environmentally friendly bitumen-water blend that mixes with water and can be applied to roads at mine sites to control dust, greatly reducing the amount of water normally needed for dust suppression.
Dustbloc can be stored, transported, and pumped at ambient air temperature without specialised equipment.
BHP Billiton, Xstrata and Rio Tinto in Australia, as well as companies overseas, are benefitting from the water savings that DustBloc delivers.
Mines apply up to 4 million litres of water each day to haulage roads to control dust and maintain safe visibility.
By using DustBloc, mine-site operators can cut water requirements by around 90 percent.
Wagners Composite Fibre Technologies
Wagners Composite Fibre Technologies (CFT) has developed a recyclable fibre composite material to replace hardwood in boardwalks, piers and decking that is six times stronger than steel and concrete at a fraction of the weight.
The fibre composite, used in parks and recreation reserves, is made from plastic polymers, reinforced with glass fibres. The material is easy to work and assemble, is flexible, durable and does not rot or rust.
Wagners' innovative boardwalk design allows structural fibre composites to be integrated into any type of pier, decking or handrail systems. One-piece composite boardwalks can be pre-fabricated, allowing faster installation and minimising environmental impacts.
Fibre composite products are completely recyclable, and Wagners CFT ensures that any other products used in construction are also recyclable, or made from recycled materials.
Anova Solutions - Twinpotâ„¢ Water Management System
Anova Solutions in Brisbane has created an innovative plant-pot design, a "pot within a pot," that saves water, avoids chemical run-off, and increases plant growth by 40 percent - a major cost-saving for nurseries.
The Twinpot system - a first for the wholesale nursery industry - stores water in the outer pot, and water from this outer reservoir is continually drawn up by the plant through a unique capillary tape. The dual pot design captures and stores excess water for later use, avoiding the loss of nutrients in run-off and water wastage.
Water levels in the reservoir pot are monitored with a dipstick or electronic sensor connected to an automatic irrigation system. Nutrients normally lost through drainage are conserved, saving as much as 30 percent in fertilizer costs.
Sustainability Partnership Award
Awarded to an individual or business for a sustainability outcome achieved in partnership with either a government (any level) and/or community organisation (non-government organisation).
NAPCO - Sustainability Partnerships Award
The North Australian Pastoral Company (NAPCO), one of Australia's largest beef producers, has forged a landmark partnership with nature conservancy Bush Heritage Australia (BHA) and the Queensland Government to develop, implement and promote sustainable land management practices on pastoral properties covering more than one million hectares.
NAPCO has also chosen to conserve more than 385,000 hectares of its land, most significantly the 215,000 hectare Mulligan River Nature Refuge, which will permanently protect the significant natural values of the area.
This partnership is a practical example of how pastoralists and the broader rural community can conserve environmental values while operating a successful rural enterprise.
Noosa Community Training Centre
The Brite Side Industries project, established by the Noosa Community Training Centre, is a recycled goods shop at the Eumundi Road Landfill Site that has saved 7498 cubic metres of material from landfill (equating to three Olympic-size swimming pools) and generated $1.8 million in second-hand product sales.
Bright Side Industries is open seven days a week to meet increasing community need to dispose of goods in an environmentally friendly way.
The service reduces waste going to landfill, while providing affordable goods to the wider community, generates local employment, educates the local community about recycling, and fosters collaborative problem solving within the community.
In 2003 Brite Side won the Sunshine Coast Environmental Award for Best Waste Minimisation Initiative. In 2007 the enterprise received a Highly Commended Award recognising Positive Contribution to Waste Minimisation.
Sustainability in the Built Environment Award
Awarded to an innovative organisation showcasing the sustainability business opportunity in urban development.
Arup - Bond University Mirvac School of Sustainable Development
Global engineering and design company ARUP has created the first education building in Australia to achieve a 6 Star Green Star rating. This represents 'World Leadership' as defined by the Green Building Council of Australia, as the design reduces the building's carbon emissions by more than 80 percent.
Bond University 's Mirvac School of Sustainable Development building minimises energy consumption through an innovative design that maximises natural light and combines natural ventilation with mechanical cooling. Water tanks and a greywater recycling system mean less reliance on the local water supply and photovoltaic solar cells produce about 27,000 kilowatt hours of energy each year.
State-of-the-art sustainability features include a rooftop weather monitoring station that adjusts air-conditioning, a one-kilowatt wind turbine, and a lift that uses regenerative lift technology to produce electricity as it descends.
Moreton Bay Regional Council
Moreton Bay Regional Council has made significant environmental savings through the sustainable reconstruction of the iconic Woody Point Jetty - rebuilt to mark the 150th anniversary of Queensland. The sustainable design and use of recycled materials has saved 1,000 tonnes of steel, concrete and timber waste from being diverted to landfill.
The jetty is 240 metres long and contains 200 cubic metres of recycled timbers. All steel and concrete, and 80 percent of the timber, has been recycled from the original structure. Timber from the old Mackay Wharf was sourced by a local recycled timber merchant.
To minimise any damage from extreme weather conditions, sections of the jetty are attached with shear bolts that break under excessive strain. This unique design feature means that if a section of the boardwalk were to break, only that section would sink, allowing it to be retrieved and reinstalled with minimal damage or loss of materials.
TrackStar Alliance
TrackStar Alliance is delivering a multi-million-dollar program of complex railway infrastructure projects across Queensland, including sustainable design features such as energy-producing solar cells, natural lighting and ventilation, and rainwater harvesting.
TrackStar's innovative cut-and-cover tunnel design uses transverse natural ventilation vents instead of mechanical exhaust fans, saving around $1 million in operating costs. Landscaping over the roof of the rail tunnel improves the surrounding natural environment.
Existing rail alignments have been straightened so that trains use less energy, and box culverts are being used in sensitive ecological areas to create crossings for local wildlife. TrackStar has also introduced elevated grades to the rail formation at stations, allowing trains to use less energy as they brake coming into the station and to help them gather speed as they depart. Urban life is also enhanced by reducing property resumption and operational noise.
Rural Sustainability Award
Awarded to a primary producer for sustainable primary production and stewardship of the natural capital underpinning the business.
Camreay Holdings Pty Ltd
Cane farmers, local council, and the greater Wide Bay community are benefiting from this Bundaberg-region compost business, which recycles sugar cane waste, effluent water and treats bio-solids to produce cane fertilizer.
Bundaberg Regional Council delivers effluent water and bio-solids that Camreay Holdings reuses, thermally composting the bio-solids with sugar cane waste.
The bio-solids replace traditional fertilizer, regenerate the soil and reduce demand for pesticides. And because carbon is sequestered in the soil, this reduces the need to irrigate.
To prevent treated effluent water travelling down the creek into the ocean, Camreay repositioned pipes and cane blocks so the water would irrigate the farm.
Since applying the recycled water and bio-solids, Camreay Holdings productivity in its own cane growing operation has been boosted by 50 percent.
Agforce
AgForce Queensland, a peak organisation representing Queensland's rural producers, is leading the way in sustainable agribusiness by encouraging and assisting its members to protect and viably manage their businesses under the Nature Refuges Program and its financial incentives, NatureAssist.
This has contributed to rural landholders protecting more than 730,000 hectares of land through nature refuges and more than $5m in NatureAssist funding has been allocated to the rural Queensland community for on-ground conservation work.
A nature refuge is a parcel of land that has been permanently protected under a voluntary commitment made by the landholder and binding under Queensland law, but the land can remain in production with appropriate management.
AgForce also supports the critical role of partnerships with conservation groups, government and non-government organisations and Natural Resource Management groups, in achieving harmony between production and conservation.
CSR Ethanol AgServices
CSR Ethanol AgServices is optimising environmental opportunities from its fertilizer business at its Sarina ethanol plant. CSR recycles the liquid waste from its ethanol production to create fertilizer to apply to cane onsite, and for sale to Central and North Queensland farmers. Profits are used to fund development of other environmentally friendly uses for the liquid waste, and to help growers develop practices to reduce nutrient runoff and improve their fertilizer placement.
CSR and Reef Catchments Mackay Whitsunday have been undertaking a "Precision Fertilizer Placement Project," using GPS to monitor and control the rate and placement of fertiliser to farms. More than 60,000ha of cane land will benefit, leading to better quality water runoff from cane farms.
CSR Ethanol Agservices also co-operates and shares knowledge with key scientific and agricultural bodies, government departments, and grower groups, and has helped develop the Reef Rescue Mackay Whitsunday Water Quality Improvement Plan.
ClimateSmart Leadership Award
Awarded to a business or individual for leadership and innovation in greenhouse gas emissions abatement and/or climate change adaptation as part of the business strategy.
Food Connect
This fresh food distributor makes sustainability a priority in every facet of its business, from paddock, through the organisation itself, to the communities Food Connect provides with local, in-season produce.
Food Connect pays farmers in advance, to encourage them to employ organic farming methods rather than use pesticides or other methods to reduce the risk of crop failure. Organic farming methods help reduce climate change impact; enhance soil structure, save water and help sustain biodiversity.
To minimise the greenhouse gas emissions from transport, supplier farms are all located within a four-hour drive from Brisbane and the food is delivered in fuel-efficient vans to "City Cousins" - volunteers who provide customer collection points.
The food is packed into recycled boxes using human power, eliminating the need for machines and providing local employment. Customers return the boxes to Food Connect for reuse. In fact, all recyclables and food scraps are recycled, with some excess produce used to make jams and pickles on site, and some donated to homeless charities. Spoiled or unusable products are composted in the on-site worm farm, and the compost is collected by farmers when they make their deliveries.
Gold Coast City Council
The Gold Coast City Council is leading the way in building infrastructure design standards with a process called the 'least environmental footprint'.
This scientific process measures each stage of a material's life from cradle to grave - from material manufacturing to end of life recycling.
As a result Gold Coast City Council infrastructure is constructed with high-resource efficiency - sourcing local materials that are non toxic. Their buildings have long term durability; low or no maintenance; high recyclable content and use minimal energy.
Educational signage on the new infrastructure educates locals and visitors about the carbon-cutting benefits of this type of infrastructure compared with traditional buildings.
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) has demonstrated its commitment to reducing carbon impacts by implementing eco-efficiencies throughout its business, and by helping its clients plan environmentally sustainable events.
BCEC saves or offsets 103 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year by purchasing green power, has recently reduced the energy required to run its escalators by 30 percent through sensor technologies, reduced air-conditioning by 28 percent and installed new recycling and composting systems.
The centre has introduced the first online event carbon calculator in an Australian convention centre, to help clients understand the full environmental impacts of planned events, and facilitate choices to minimise the carbon footprint. Designed with the Carbon Reduction Institute, the calculator measures greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts.
BCEC works with customers to plan events that are world-class, environmentally sustainable and where possible, carbon neutral, partnering with suppliers, setting up systems to monitor and track sustainability performance, and showcasing high-profile sustainable events.
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Last updated: 15 May 2009