LEEA’s Sustainability in Action’ programme

The Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) will be holding its first ever LiftEx Regional, Australia and New Zealand, at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, from May 24-25.

To mark the occasion, Justin Boehm, regional manager for Australia and New Zealand, LEEA Regional Council is making a big announcement at the show as part of LEEA’s ‘Sustainability in Action’ programme, to divert, recycle and reuse soft sling products. More details will be revealed on the closing day.

The announcement ties in perfectly with the event, which will feature an impressive line-up of speakers presenting a vision of what the Lifting Industry will look like in the next 10 years, giving attendees a chance to stay ahead of the game by taking away advice on subjects including advanced technologies, AI, sustainability, engaging the future workforce, and more.

Day one will comprise a full programme of industry content, an optional tour of the HMAS Vampire, followed by an evening Networking Reception in a stunning harbour setting. On Day Two attendees will hear important announcements exclusive to the event as well as getting the chance to network with key suppliers.

“The ANZ Regional Council has been set up for over a year now and things are progressing incredibly well. There’s lots to talk about. We’re really homing in on where the industry is going to be in 10 years’ time, what kind of people will be working in this industry and what will the equipment look like,” said Boehm.

Boehm outlined several initiatives by members belonging to the LEEA Regional Council ANZ, in a video for Earth Day (April 22, 2023) highlighting the work it is doing from recycling metal products and RGBY tags, which end up getting into the environment as micro plastics, to a company that has become 100% carbon neutral, seeing real returns on their bottom line.

According to The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report on waste supply and use Australia generated 75.8 million tons of solid waste in 2018-19, up 10% in two years.

While around 60% of total solid waste generated in Australia is estimated to be recovered, this varies significantly by type of waste and does not capture whether waste is actually recycled. It only captures the intent. Plastics and textiles have very low recovery rates.

The Australian National Waste Policy adopts some circular economy principles to reduce total waste generated in the country by 10% per person by 2030 and increase the use of recycled content by governments and industry. It also aims to make comprehensive, economy-wide and timely data publicly available to support better consumer, investment and policy decisions.

In New Zealand, construction and demolition waste makes up 40–50% of the country’s total waste going to landfill, according to government and council documents. Most of this dumping of construction waste is unnecessary – it has been demonstrated that simply by sorting waste, at least half of it could be diverted from landfills. Large volumes of waste also increase the costs of a project and its environmental impact.

In December 2022, the New Zealand Government announced proposed amendments to the Building Act that will include making it mandatory for a waste minimisation plan to be prepared for certain building or demolition work. A bill introducing the changes will be introduced to Parliament in 2023. The changes will be phased in over time.

The New Zealand Ecolabelling Trust (which administers Environmental Choice New Zealand) has developed a specification for construction and demolition waste management to help reduce the amount of waste going to landfills downloaded here https://www.environmentalchoice.org.nz/standards/published-specifications/

To hear more about Boehm’s announcement at LiftEx Regional watch LEEA’s YouTube video on Earth Day here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1JY8tdKSyM. To register for LiftEx Regional visit: https://liftex.org/liftex-australia.