Who said Cane Toads were all bad?
Farmers and residents in North Queensland were recently out for the hunt during the inaugural Toad Day Out to capture cane toads that plague the area. The toads were “euthanised” and processed into compost at the SITA Environmental Solutions Advanced Waste Management facility in Cairns, mainly for use in canefields. The toads that are caught will be put through a “stepped freezing process” before they are processed, SITA said.
“In this first year the total weight of the toads collected is likely to add up to a hundred or more [kilograms] and will contribute to the 25,000 tonnes of compost that the Cairns plant produces annually and it predominantly goes to the canefields”, said Haydn Slattery, SITA’s plant manager.
“Already many of the growers have jumped at the opportunity to replenish the soil with the compost we supply, avoiding the use of chemicals,” he added. “I’m sure they will appreciate the fact that the toad they know so well is at last putting something back.”
Toad Day Out aims to raise awareness on humane and safe methods of capturing and disposing the South American pests, which do not have a natural predator in Australia. The event will act as a “capture competition”, with prizes for the heaviest individual toad, heaviest total weight of toads and other classes.
Competition rules include conditions that all toads must be alive when presented, measure a minimum of 50mm and be physically in good condition. Toads that have been “mutilated in any way” will not be accepted, organisers said.
More on this story sourced from EnvironmentalManagementNews.net: http://www.environmentalmanagementnews.net/StoryView.asp?StoryID=1002751
Wristwatch Alarm Enhances Worker Security
An innovative emergency alarm watch with GPS tracking and an integrated mobile phone has been launched by satellite tracking firm Masternaut Three X. Designed as a personal protection solution, the waterproof LoKate wristwatch incorporates a miniature mobile phone and GPS receiver with a panic button allowing mobile workers to alert help if in danger. Using the built-in tracker linked to the Internet, the alarm location is immediately pinpointed on Microsoft Virtual Earth maps or aerial photography by a dedicated control centre that monitors the user around the clock.
The centre can then alert emergency services or other parties that assistance is required. Additional reassurance is provided as the watch doubles as a mobile phone offering voice communication. LoKate runs over the Masternaut vehicle/mobile asset satellite tracking service with voice and data communications handled by a standard GSM/GPRS network. Wearers can be tracked in real-time by authorized personnel using any Internet browser.
More details can be found at: http://www.masternaut.co.uk/. Article featured in Womp 09 Vol 01 - http://www.womp-int.com/
Recovering Heavy Metals from wastewater
Resource recovery technology provider Intec will be recovering heavy metals from wastewater disposed by car parts maker Automotive Components Limited and releasing the “non-saleable clear water by-product” that remains into Tasmania’s sewerage network.
Intec’s Burnie Research Facility will treat a total of about 100,000 litres of wastewater containing traces of lead, iron, copper, tin and nickel from ACL’s bearings plant in Launceston. The project was the Burnie facility’s first commercial contract. Intec has its sights set on larger projects in the future and plans an eventual global expansion.
The facility was built in 2006 to test and prove the company’s suite of technologies in the field of chloride hydrometallurgy. They are “very widely applicable”, said Intec corporate development manager Dave Sammut, recovering resources from “wastewaters to mine tailing waters to waste sludges … and those problems are common, [in Australia] and also internationally. We use the basic principle of that to bring the metals into solutions and recover them as products, and then where it is possible to recover any other materials as by products to leave a zero waste solution if we can.”
I&I understands that Intec was originally set up to use innovative chloride hydrometallurgy to extract metals from ores and is now utilising the knowledge in waste processing. More at: http://www.intec.com.au/
Story sourced from http://www.environmentalmanagementnews.net/StoryView.asp?StoryID=1002777
House Calls: New Direction in Engineering?
American Society for Quality recently reported that a recent article in Workforce Management discussed the formation of a new alliance between automakers and healthcare insurers and providers. The goal is to adapt lean manufacturing practices to eliminate costly healthcare inefficiencies and improve the quality of care.
An April 2008 PricewaterhouseCoopers study estimated that, of the $2.1 trillion spent on healthcare in America, nearly $1.2 trillion was spent on inefficient administration and treating preventable conditions. Since a majority of these costs are passed along to the business owners providing healthcare, the struggling automotive industry was very interested in approaching medical professionals to see what a partnership might develop.
One of the services the automakers have offered is the expertise of their engineers. The engineers, equipped with knowledge and experience in lean manufacturing and other quality methodologies, volunteer in doctor’s offices. The benefit is two-fold: Healthcare providers can improve care and eliminate inefficiencies; automotive engineers may find job opportunities in the healthcare field.
Evidence that the latter may already be occurring is that the number of healthcare providers looking for quality professionals is increasing. Initial successes with the program indicate that this approach could be broadened to more medical facilities. House calls may be back in fashion.
I&I wonders if local Health organisations may follow this initiative – particularly as many engineers and process improvement specialists are likely to have reduced workloads in the current economic downturn.
More on this story from: http://www.asq.org/media-room/news/2009/03/20090309-house-calls.html?
Event 1: Get the Most out of IT Infrastructure
22 April 2009, 8.30am – 10.30am: Professionals from the information technology (IT) industry, Maria and Mani Padisetti of Digital Armour Corporation, and Joseph Figliano of IT Advantage, describe how to contain costs and get the most out of IT investments. The two key questions in information technology are whether a company truly needs what is being recommended, and whether the company is getting the most out of what it already has.
To register online go to: http://events.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au/Events.aspx?eventid=60
Event 2: Tips, Tools and Tactics to increase profit by using Internet
29 April 2009, 8.30am – 10.30am: Presented by Michael Pulo Director of Logged On, this seminar includes, growing a business through increased sales and profit, reducing marketing and sales costs and measuring marketing and returns on investment.
The seminar also offers a strategy comprising business goals and internet marketing, and explains keywords such as SWOT, web analysis and design, and actions such as critical tasks, resources, internet education, processes and systems and results from web analytics and performance gaps. A free report is provided to all participants.
To register online go to: http://events.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au/Events.aspx?eventid=61
Both events hosted by NSW Department of State and Regional Development at 470 Church St, North Parramatta.
Previously announced events:
Recycling Plastics and Rubber Tyres for Steelmaking: Hundreds of thousands of used car tyres could be recycled every year and turned into steel, thanks to a discovery that rubber can be partially substituted for coke in electric arc furnaces. Professor Veena Sahajwalla, will discuss how the new technology not only removes used tyres from the waste stream but also cuts the energy demands and costs associated with steelmaking.
Monday April 20, 2009 at 6:30pm for 7.00pm at University of Wollongong. For more information go to the Clipboard column in last week’s magazine or enquiries@futureworld.org.au Phone: 02 4274 2939 Fax: 02 4274 4725
A low carbon economy based on renewable energy:
In this public lecture Barney Foran from the Fenner Centre for Research and Environmental Studies at the ANU will be describing and testing the renewable energy transition to 2050, as well as discussing essential technologies, the science-based approach to modelling whole economy transitions, and flaws in today’s mindset, policy and economics.
Dr Foran was the first speaker and has subsequently chaired the current series of ten seminars on renewable energy held at the Australian Academy of Sciences in Canberra. Tuesday April 21, 2009 at 6:30pm for 7.00pm at University of Wollongong Northfields Avenue, North Wollongong. For more information see the Clipboard column in last week’s magazine or enquiries@futureworld.org.au. Phone: 02 4274 2939 Fax: 02 4274 4725
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