Together with the Drummuster program, the national ChemClear program is having great success in safely disposing of harmful chemicals at locations across Australia.
Unused chemicals can pose occupational safety and health risks for pest control companies, as well as potential environmental hazards. By using the national ChemClear program, chemical users are using the safest and most effective form of disposal available in Australia to safely dispose of these chemicals.
Around 98% of chemicals collected by ChemClear are used as an alternative fuel source in the manufacturing of cement. Most of the material is destroyed in kilns which reach temperatures in excess of 1800°C.
The program uses local council sites to collect from waste holders who have registered their chemicals for retrieval. The collection process is quick and easy, and waste holders are given an appointment time to meet the ChemClear retrieval team to drop off their registered chemicals for safe disposal.
“Our program operates like a milk run and visits every local government region that we have received a registration in, even if there is only one or a handful of waste holders in that area,” said Lisa Nixon, national program manager. “We are required to obtain licences for the transportation and removal of hazardous waste, therefore each waste holder must take an inventory of their obsolete chemicals before registering for the program.”
ChemClear has just successfully completed its largest collection of unwanted agricultural and veterinary chemicals in Victoria.
The ChemClear truck covered 5127 kilometres over five regional runs in late 2015 and collected product from hundreds of chemical users including farmers, businesses, golf courses, government departments and councils across the state.
The final pool equated to 20.7 tonnes, with 11,319 L/kg of Group 1 classified chemicals and 9449 L/kg of Group 2 chemicals.
“We are extremely pleased with the result,” said Ms Nixon, who is enthusiastic about the growth of the program.
The program also works in conjunction with Drummuster to complete the product stewardship cycle. The 2015 Victorian run ensured 971 empty agvet chemical containers avoided landfill. This contributed to a total of 28,139 containers collected and recycled through previous ChemClear collections across Australia.
ChemClear collects APVMA currently registered chemicals produced by 121 manufacturers supporting the Industry Waste Reduction Scheme. Chemicals classified as Group 1 are collected free of charge.
As an additional service, ChemClear collects what is classified as Group 2 chemicals. This category covers deregistered, out-of-date, mixed, unlabelled or unknown agvet chemicals produced by a manufacturer not signed to the ChemClear stewardship program.
There is a cost for disposal of Group 2 chemicals, which is quoted to the waste holder once their registration has been processed.
If you have missed a recent collection and would like to utilise the service, please take an inventory of your unwanted chemicals and register for the next collection in your state by visiting the ChemClear website or by calling 1800 008 182.
ChemClear is heading to Western Australia in June 2016 and is urging chemical users to register their surplus or unwanted agvet chemicals for safe disposal before April 22, 2016.
