Industry’s Environmental Synergies

Kwinana Industry in full production mode

Kwinana Industries Synergies Project (KISP) Project summary

The Kwinana Industries Synergies Project (KISP), instigated by the Kwinana Industries Council and conducted in partnership with Curtin University’s Centre for Sustainable Research Processing, enables the industries of Kwinana to achieve greater efficiencies in energy, water and materials consumption and reductions in waste and emission generation. These efficiencies, reductions and concomitant savings and environmental benefits can be measured in the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of waste and gases and multiple gigalitres of water each year. The project provides practical support to the companies of the Kwinana region: helping them develop, evaluate and implement environmentally beneficial synergy opportunities. Since its inception the synergies created by KISP have resulted in continuing: • water savings of 8,200 gl/year, • energy savings of 3,750 tj/year • waste reductions of 421,600 tonnes/year, • gas emission reductions of more than 134,000 metric tonnes per year. • carbon dioxide emission reductions the equivalent of removing 73,000 cars from the road. These savings are generated by 32 by-product and 15 shared utility synergies which would not have been realised without KISP. The future has great potential for further environmental savings: an additional 127 possible synergies have been identified by the project, creating the stage for an even greater reduction in industry’s environmental impact. Any one of the synergies cited in this briefing would be worthy of consideration in its own right as a significant contributor to improving the environment of Western Australia. As an omnibus collection under the auspices of KISP, they represent a massive contribution: providing Australia with a world best example of corporate business leading by example – on a colossal scale.

Organisation profile

Kwinana Industries Council (KIC) was formed in 1991 with the original purpose of organising air and water monitoring for the industries in the Kwinana Industrial Area (KIA). Since then it has expanded its responsibilities to the point that it manages industrial hazards programs, air- and watershed monitoring and protection, and has co-ordinated industry’s efforts to reduce industry emission impact on the sensitive marine environment of the adjacent Cockburn Sound. KIC addresses a broad range of issues common to Kwinana’s major industries and seeks to foster positive interactions between member companies and between industry and the broader community. It consists of 12 major industries as full members and 29 other industries (predominantly medium sized operations and service providers) as associate members of the KIC. Employees of the member companies act as voluntary delegates to its various committees and working groups – making it as much a voluntary (industrial) community group as an industry representative body. KIC would not function without the voluntary involvement of scores of member company delegates.

Aims and objectives

The Kwinana Industries Synergies Project aims to improve the economic and environmental outcomes of industry by: • converting by-products currently going to waste into value added products; • reducing the overall generation of wastes; • reducing greenhouse gases by improved energy efficiencies (examples cited the equivalent of removing 73,000 cars from the road); • reducing industry’s use of scheme water; • reusing treated wastewater, • reducing waste water discharges into Cockburn Sound; and • reducing transport traffic and heavy haulage (thus saving resources and decreasing vehicle emissions)

Pretty clean for a working harbour

Lobbyer or Leader?

At its most simplistic, the Kwinana Industries Council could simply act as an industry representative body which lobbies on behalf of its members to achieve legislative and regulatory benefits and create a positive public image. Instead, the majority of the work carried out by KIC through its six committees (Eco-Efficiency, Environment and Planning, Workforce and Education, Community Health, Public Safety, and Public Affairs and Communications Advisory) exerts effective peer pressure on members to improve their operating practices. The work of its prime environmentally-focussed committees – EcoEfficiency and Environment and Planning – has led to KIC’s member companies adopting the synergies recognised, identified and scoped by the Kwinana Industries Synergies project. Without the central guiding influence of and the co-ordination undertaken by KIC, it is highly unlikely the regional synergies which are unique to the Kwinana Industrial Area and make it a world’s best practice model would have been established.1 The tight collaboration and integration existing among KIC members is a direct result of the initiatives and the high level of peerto-peer discussion among member delegates at KIC committee sessions over many years.

Implementation

KISP is directed by Kwinana Industries Council and researched and implemented by Curtin University of Technology through its Centre of Excellence in Cleaner Production (CECP), which is funded by the Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing2. Primary industry contributors to the project are the Kwinana Industries Council, Alcoa, BHP Billiton Nickel West, Rio Tinto, and the Western Australian Government. Progress of KISP is reported bi-monthly to the Kwinana Industries Council’s Eco-Efficiency Committee, which has oversight for the entire project and is responsible for ensuring identified synergies are taken up 1 See Bossilkov, A., R. van Berkel, and G. Corder. 2005. Regional Synergies for Sustainable Resource Processing: a Status Report. Perth, Western Australia: Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing (CSRP), Curtin University). 2 For a full report on the synergies, download the 2008 draft CSRP report from www.kic.org.au/documents

by industry members. This committee comprises senior management level representatives of core operating companies in KIA, including CSBP, Alcoa, BP, Tiwest, Verve Energy, Water Corporation, BHP Billiton Nickel West and Coogee Chemicals. The Eco-Efficiency Committee is currently chaired by Dr. David Cooling (Alcoa’s Research Program Manager, Technology Delivery Group). Further oversight is provided by quarterly industry review meetings which garner strategic direction for the progress from senior sustainability industry managers (David Cooling (Alcoa), Dr. Rod Lukatelich (Environmental Manager, BP Oil Refinery Kwinana), Genevieve Mannin (Environmental Adviser, CSBP Limited), Chris Oughton (KIC Director), and Stevan Green / Mark Neville (CSRP)). The project thus demonstrates a high level of senior management commitment from companies across the Kwinana Industrial Area. It should be noted that this involvement is voluntary. Industry is under no external pressure or obligation to participate in this project. With the encouragement of the Kwinana Industries Council and its members, the Kwinana Regional Synergies Project has been extended by a further two years (to at least June 2010) to continue the development of regional synergies in the region and to assist the KIC with the development and implementation of a KIA Sustainability Roadmap.3 The project’s future work includes the establishment of new, high priority synergy opportunities, judged on the basis of their expected business and sustainability worth. Current efforts focus on 18 short-listed one-on-one synergies (involving two companies) in the areas of by-products, water, and energy. Industries have taken ownership of eleven of these, with the remaining seven synergies having medium to high chances of being implemented by industry. Additionally, the project contributed to the development of collective strategies for the Kwinana region on the recovery and reuse of inorganic by-products, water, and energy. Continued investigation is required to build upon completed foundation work on these three themes and the industry network and interest which were established during the first four years of the project. 3 Agreement made by KIC and CSRP on June 26 2008. Yet to be publicly announced.

KIC - funded water monitoring

Stakeholder and community involvement

KISP relies on partnerships and stakeholder engagement. Were there not a co-operative “over the fence” relationship between KIA companies – a relationship created and fostered by KIC – then very little of the synergy savings would have been realised. The “noodle maps” in the appendix and list of synergies which exists between the member companies exemplifies the extent and interconnectedness which exists and the partnerships which have been formed as a result of KISP. KISP is monitored and regularly reported on by the Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing. The 2008 draft report (some 144 pages long) spells out both the 47 current and 127 potential synergy partnerships which have been created by KISP – all of which do and would if implemented create an environmental benefit. Apart from the environmental synergies identified in this report, there are 216 customer/supplier transactions between pairs of industries and a further 87 possible transactions within the members of KIC and within the KIA.4 KIC is itself a community – an industrial community of stakeholders and partnerships which has discovered the value of maintaining and creating integrated relationships. This has led to the formation of a unique atmosphere of mutual regard and trust amongst KIC’s member companies which has spread throughout the KIA. Companies which would normally be regarded as economic competitors have become co-operative neighbours, such as Nufarm and Coogee Chemicals – both of whom make agricultural products and HIsmelt and BHP Billiton, both of which compete in the metals industry. These competitive considerations have been put aside in favour of a co-operative and collegiate approach to lessening industry’s environmental impact on the region. To quote from the 2007 report of Cockburn Sound Management Council report card: Between the 1950s and 1980s the environment and shores of Cockburn Sound underwent massive changes as industrial development grew rapidly. During that time large tracts of sea grass meadows were lost, nutrient and contaminant levels in the water increased, and 4

See KIA Integrated Assessment: www.kic.org.au/documents

water circulation patterns were altered. However, following large-scale improvements in industrial practices, the system has begun to improve. In the context of the scale of past degradation, and increasing use and pressure, residential and recreational, as well as industrial, it is gratifying to see that the Sound has now improved to the point that it is in reasonably good health, a generally high standard of water quality.”5 KIC strongly puts the case that this is proof the environmentally beneficial synergies and therefore the partnerships in existence between stakeholders which have been created and fostered by KISP are recognised as demonstrably improving the local environment to the point that the Western Australian government can and should be boasting about the improving environmental track record of its industrial area.

Innovation

The number of existing regional synergy projects (47 in total) operating under the auspices of KISP go well and truly beyond “business as usual” practice as they involve either the exchange of by-products or shared use of water and/or energy infrastructure and utilities. The standard practice in industrial areas is for adjacent companies to adopt a “city state” approach to site management, with managerial interest and responsibility limited to oversight of processes on site and within the boundary fence. The synergies currently in practice and being explored within the Kwinana Industrial Area through KISP resemble more of a “commonwealth” approach to business enterprise, where boundary fences are not considered a barrier to product exchange. According to research conducted by Curtin University, the level of such cooperation makes KIA a unique, world class best practice example. The suburban example would be for each street to own one lawn mower or to install one central water re-use scheme. KIC’s current synergy projects are more diverse and more significant than those reported for other heavy industrial areas.6 5 6

See Cockburn Sound 2007 report card: www.kic.org.au/documents See Bossilkov, A., R. van Berkel, and G. Corder. 2005. Op Cit.

BP’s Kwinana Refinery

This in turn positions Kwinana among the leading edge examples of regional synergy development in heavy industrial areas worldwide. It is an initiative which places Western Australia as a leader in the continuing effort to reduce the impact of heavy industry on the surrounding environment. That this impetus comes from industry itself through a voluntary committee structure is particularly unique and innovative. In short – industry does not have to undertake this practice. It could simply sit inside its respective fences and adopt a minimal compliance regime. Instead, it chooses to do the reverse.

Some of the By-Product Synergies resulting from KISP: Chemical plant supplying food grade carbon dioxide to utility gas provider

Air Liquide purifies and compresses process CO2 received from CSBP (from its ammonia plant) and other industrial facilities in the Kwinana Industrial Area to a standard that it can be used as food grade CO2 for soft–drinks and beer. Previously, the CO2 was vented to the atmosphere as waste gas. CO2 is also used for other uses such as dry ice for the livestock industry and in water treatment, often at much lower price. This initiative reduces the emissions of carbon dioxide to atmosphere, while also avoiding the energy use that would otherwise be required to produce the CO2 from air. Benefit: • Up to 43,000 tonnes of CO2 can be removed from the atmosphere each year on a continuing basis – the equivalent to removing more than 10,000 cars from the road.

Chemical plant supplying gypsum for residue area amelioration at alumina refinery

CSBP produces gypsum (calcium sulphate) as a by-product of the manufacture of phosphoric acid. This material was stockpiled at CSBP’s residue site during the 1980s. Even though this practice has ended long ago, there remains a stockpile of some 1.3 million tonnes of gypsum. As a result of its involvement in KIC’s KISP, CSBP has extensively reviewed reuse options for this material including the use in plasterboard, sale to

farmers, and use in soil amendment. During this research process, it was determined that the material could also be utilised by Alcoa’s Kwinana alumina refinery to assist in revegetation and soil stability in its residue areas. Alcoa takes this material on an ongoing basis, approximately 10,000 tonnes each year. Benefit: • 10,000 tonnes of CSBP gypsum waste used as a raw material by Alcoa rather than being stockpiled. • Waste product becomes a resource for revegetation and land renovation.

Oil refinery provided hydrogen for city bus trial and now to neighbouring company

Industrial gas producer and supplier BOC Gases received excess refinery gas from the BP oil refinery which it separated, cleaned and produced pressurised hydrogen for Perth’s hydrogen bus program, which ceased in 2006. The opportunity for BP and BOC to achieve this was realised through the work of KISP. Perth was the only city in the southern hemisphere to be involved in this trial with three hydrogen fuel cell buses. That the KISP made it possible for the fleet to be run on what would otherwise be industrial waste gases flared to the atmosphere made it an even more environmentally sustainable and credible program. The hydrogen used in the trial came from a BP by-product of its oil refinery in Kwinana which was piped to the BOC Gases facility site next door where it was purified and pressurised. The compressed hydrogen was then trucked to the bus depot and off-loaded to the refuelling facility, from which the hydrogen fuel cell buses are refuelled. BP now supplies its waste hydrogen to the BHP Billiton Nickel West refinery, providing it with a cleaner fuel for its processes. Benefit: • Up to 20 tonnes of BP waste hydrogen per day are used as a raw material by BHP-Billiton. • 20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide which would otherwise have been emitted by alternate processes at BHP Billiton. The equivalent of removing 4,800 cars from the road.

Alcoa’sRefi Alcoa car nery and Verve Power Station

Alcoa’s Carbon Capture plant

Chemical plant supplying carbon dioxide for residue neutralisation at alumina refinery

Alcoa’s Kwinana alumina refinery is using process carbon dioxide (CO2) to reduce the alkalinity of its bauxite residue, thus reducing environmental risks and significant ongoing management related to bauxite residue storage areas while also leaving options open for additional processing of the residue into other useful products at a future stage. The residue carbonation process was identified after many years of research into reuse potential and modification of the bauxite residue by mixing it with other industrial by-products or residues. The Kwinana refinery will tap into a consistent and concentrated source of process-CO2 from a nearby ammonia plant, resulting in greenhouse gas benefit equal to 70,000 tonnes CO2-eq per year which otherwise would be vented to the atmosphere as waste and the generation of a more benign waste that provides alternative reuse opportunities.7 Benefit: • Greenhouse gas reduction of 70,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum on a continuing basis - the equivalent to taking 17,000 cars off the road. • Alcoa produces a neutral residue which can be used for a variety of purposes ranging from clean landfill to revegetation. • Less dust. Carbonated residue produces less dust than uncarbonated residue which benefits neighbours and reduces water usage for dust suppression. • Reduced storage area. This project reduces the area required for residue storage and drying by up to 15% because carbonation speeds the drying process and carbonated residue is stronger than uncarbonated residue. • The smaller operating footprint further reduces the potential for dust and amount of water required for dust suppression. • Biological removal of sodium oxalate. The success of residue carbonation has allowed Alcoa to develop a downstream process that uses the natural bacterial activity in the carbonated residue to destroy sodium oxalate. (Sodium oxalate is an organic by-product which must be removed from the refining process and historically it has been treated in a kiln).

7

See: http://www.icmm.com/page/2420/alcoa-develops-carbon-capture-process)

Emerging by-product synergies around HIsmelt Pig Iron Plant

The HIsmelt plant is the first commercial scale application of direct smelting technology which allows for simpler and more flexible iron making, avoiding coke ovens and sinter plants required for the standard blast furnace production route. The environmental benefits will be 20% reduction of CO2, 40% reduction of NOx and 90% reduction of SOx. Upon completion of commissioning (which began in November 2004) and successful commercial operation the plant will be able to source a number of inputs locally in the Kwinana area, such as lime, lime kiln dust and treated wastewater, and provide outputs with potential for reuse in the KIA, such as slag and gypsum. The HIsmelt Process will utilise the WA reserves of iron ore fines, which are currently not suitable for blast furnace feed due to their high phosphorous content. See: Commercial HIsmelt Plant, Kwinana Western Australia, Public Environmental Review. Perth, Australia: Corporate Environmental Consultancy. Potential Benefits • Added synergy consumer of local wastes as by-products, such as lime, kiln dust and wastewater • Added synergy provider of wastes as raw consumables, such as slag and gypsum

Reuse of recycled effluent from Kwinana Waste Water Treatment Plant (WTTP) at the alumina refinery

Treated wastewater from Kwinana wastewater treatment plant is infiltrated into groundwater upstream from Alcoa groundwater extraction bores. The bores supply water for Alcoa’s process water circuit for the Kwinana alumina refinery. Thus the discharge from Kwinana WWTP is indirectly reused by Alcoa and is estimated at 1.1 GL per annum. Without this synergy Alcoa would need to use scheme water. Benefit: • 1.1 gigalitre of water is freed to the environment and community which would otherwise have been taken from scheme water supplies

Tiwest’s Pigment Plant

Cogeneration plant at oil refinery

Chemical plant supplying water to pigment plant

The Kwinana Cogeneration Plant (116 MW capacity) is located on land of the BP Kwinana oil refinery, and produces all process steam for the refinery, and generates electricity for both BP as well as the state grid. The cogeneration plant is fired with natural gas supplemented with excess refinery gas. The cogeneration plant took the place of BP steam boilers, which were obsolete technology producing undesirable emissions, in particular carbon dioxide. This synergy allowed BP to decommission its inefficient boilers, saving BP in the vicinity of A$15 million in capital expenditure while ensuring a cost competitive reliable source of steam and electricity for their refinery. Benefit: • 170,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per annum which would otherwise have been emitted on a continuing basis. The equivalent of removing more than 41,200 cars from the road.

Tiwest established its pigment plant in the KIA after the groundwater allocation for the area had already been licensed to the existing industries. Their process requires a significant amount of water, which would have had to be supplied by Water Corporation from its scheme supply. In drought-affected Western Australia, this was not the most sustainable option. In addition to vigorous water efficiency achievements, Tiwest now supplements scheme water intake with 1.4 GL per year of CSBP groundwater supplies, allocated by the State’s authorities. Benefit: • Co-operation between Tiwest and CSBP means Tiwest does not have to source an additional 1.4 gigalitres a year from scheme water supplies.

Cogeneration plant at titanium dioxide pigment plant

As the result of a KISP initiative, CSBP chemicals and fertiliser operations built an innovative nutrient-stripping wetland to further reduce its nitrogen discharges to the adjacent Cockburn Sound. The “pilot” wetland was constructed on land leased from BP refinery. The wetland is planted with sedges and incorporates a number of biological processes that reduce the level of nitrogen in CSBP’s waste water. The pilot has been deemed a success following a two-year trial period three more cells will be constructed. Some of the BP’s effluent is also released into the wetland and it is found to provide additional benefits by supplementing the carbon loading provided by plant organic matter. Benefit: • Rainwater runoff and waste water from different parts of CSBP’s 140 hectare manufacturing site is pumped through to the wetland, where a series of biological process reduce the nitrogen concentration by up to 50 per cent.

A second cogeneration facility (40 MWh), owned by the State’s energy company Verve Energy, provides superheated steam for process needs at the Tiwest Pigment Plant. Tiwest has the ability to “island”, taking electricity directly from the cogeneration plant. For the majority of the time, however, the cogeneration plant feeds the grid with Tiwest drawing power from the grid. Benefit: • Tiwest gains a more environmentally efficient supply of super heated steam. • NOx formation reduced at Verve. • Verve waste processed by Tiwest – saving energy to create separate plant. • The cogeneration plant sources its demineralised water and compressed air from the pigment plant, and the facility discharges its wastewater into the Tiwest wastewater treatment plant.

Artificial wetland treatment at chemical plant

Kwinana Water Reclamation Plant (KWRP)

Kwinana Water Reclamation Plant

The Kwinana Water Reclamation Plant (KWRP) is a KISP concept which operates as a joint initiative of the Water Corporation and Kwinana industries to achieve the double benefit of greater overall water efficiency and reduced process water discharges into Cockburn Sound. KWRP’s success is due to the synergy atmosphere created in the KIA by KISP, which has undertaken business and infrastructure analysis work for member companies. A $A25 million micro-filtration/reverse osmosis unit takes secondary treated effluent from the nearby Woodman Point wastewater treatment facility to produce a low Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) water supply. This water is used by BP, CSBP, Tiwest, Kwinana Cogeneration Plant, and HIsmelt to replace their scheme water usages. BP will be connecting within the calendar year. This represents six gigalitres per year (equivalent to 2-3% of the total potable water use of the drought-affected Perth metropolitan area). Benefit: • Six gigalitres of water a year (which KIA companies would otherwise have to source from scheme water) is freed up for use by the environment and community.

Other benefits include:

• Security of water and energy supply, • increased energy efficiency, • lower operational costs for energy use, and • reduced storage costs for the inorganic by-products • reduced greenhouse gas emissions • less industrial transport activity (due to products being able to be sourced locally and waste products not having to be transported from the KIA) In addition, these synergies have environmental and community benefits. These case studies exemplify that the benefits from regional synergies are not just commercial but also strategic, leading to reduced exposure to risk and improved reputation.8 8 See: Corder, G., D. Van Beers, J. Lay, and R. Van Berkel. 2006. Benefits and Success Factors of Regional Resource Synergies in Gladstone and Kwinana. Paper

KIC’s Environmental Commitment

Apart from the Kwinana Industries Synergies Project, Kwinana Industries Council has many other programs and projects which make it an environmental example to others. Since its establishment in 1991, KIC has provided a consistent commitment and investment to improve the KIA environment and community well-being.

Examples include: Strategic approach to planning KIC works to a strategic plan (2005-2008) developed by members using information from a wide range of stakeholders including a KIC Community Attitude Survey. KIC engages in many long-term planning and research initiatives to ensure a sustainable future for all stakeholders.

Implementing the Commitment

• Foreshore rehabilitation in partnership with Swan Valley Catchment Council (both KIC as a group and member companies individually). • An updated, independently produced KIA Integrated Assessment (containing an integrated assessment of environmental, social and economic impacts of the KIA). This is used by many local organisations for long-term environmental management planning. This study found an increasing level of environmental performance and sustainability initiatives benefiting the local and broader community.9 • KIA Infrastructure Study, undertaken with DoIR, and the recent creation of a separate group to address landscaping issues in the KIA; • An independent National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) audit which showed initiatives by industry to minimise impacts. It revealed that, between 2002 and 2006, most substances emitted to air, land and / or water exhibited either a decreasing or stable trend of net annual emissions. This occurred during a period of industrial growth in the KIA with new processes and industries starting up, increasing the overall level of industrial activity.

presented at Green Processing Conference, 5 - 6 June 2006, Newcastle, NSW 9 See: http://kic.org.au/documents

Kwinana Beach - surrounded by industry

NPI audit results include: o Net annual air emissions of PAHs, SO2 and HCl were the only substances that exhibited a general trend of increase between 2002 and 2006; o Cumulative noise has reduced considerably since 2001; o Annual net water consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases were stable between 2003 and 2005; o 2006 water planning study for the KIA identifying sustainable options for water supply for a 15-year horizon.

Environmental Monitoring and R&D

KIC has established a comprehensive program of monitoring and research into air and water quality within the KIA and surrounding region. Through its membership of bodies such as Cockburn Sound Management Council, KIC: • provides feedback to member industries on their impact on the environment, • shares research outcomes, • promotes discussion and networking on ways to reduce impacts, • helps individual businesses improve their operational systems. The most recent findings of the Cockburn Sound Management Council state that industry impact on the Sound has lessened to the point that municipal stormwater runoff is considered a greater threat than industrial emission.10 KIC has contributed some $240,000 towards the monitoring of Cockburn Sound and has committed to an additional $165,000 over the coming three years to assist its monitoring program. This must be one of the few cases where industry is contributing to the evidence which would be used regulators to take action should a problem arise. KIC commissioned a cumulative environmental noise model for the KIA in 2001, updated in 2005, and has been a major driver of the KIA Noise Reference Group since 2005. Waste Management 10 See: CSMC 2007 report card: http://csmc.environment.wa.gov.au

KIC has instigated a number of waste management projects through its Eco-Efficiency Committee such as assessing the feasibility for a central resource recovery facility and a study into strategic solid waste management issues. KIC developed a computer program to graph the data collected under the NPI to compare emissions from Kwinana with other sources. Restoration, Landscaping and beautification KIC raised $100,000 from its members and enrolled the Town of Kwinana to contribute $200,000 pa for this 10-year project. This project involves indigenous landscaping crews as part of a real life training programme. This extensive program will restore areas, provide native bush screenings to industry, as well as a variety of entry statements, signage, paving, kerbing, street furniture and public art.

Further material available

The statements, claims and quantities mentioned in this briefing can be substantiated and all or any references sought during the adjudication process can and will be supplied by Kwinana Industries Council. Should such material be required, please contact: Alan Gale, Communications and Marketing co-ordinator, Kwinana Industries Council, 41 Hope Valley Road, Kwinana. Ph: 9437 0163 or 0414 881 470 [email protected] www.kic.org.au

Pied Oyster Catchers - endangered but thriving