Lessons for a viable water recycling industry

Abstract

The platform on which the Labour government came to power in Australia in November 2007 included a policy of setting a national wastewater recycling target of 30% by the year 2015. A similar target-based approach was followed by the solid waste recycling industry in Australia the policy of which focused on supply and did not adequately acknowledge the price competitiveness of the product and its demand. This paper highlights the lessons from the solid waste recycling industry and applies them to the water recycling sector. A sound water pricing regime that reflects the true costs of water and a competitive water industry is offered as a better policy alternative to setting recycling targets.

Drivers for and against municipal wastewater recycling: a review

“…Studies can also be distinguished according to the level of analysis. Numerous studies have investigated the drivers for and against water recycling at the level of water recycling schemes (Apostolidis et al, 2011;Bischel et al, 2012;Bixio et al, 2006;Chanan et al, 2011;Hermanowicz et al, 2001; Institute for Sustainable Futures, 2013; Kracman et al, 2001;Muston and Wille, 2006). Cities are another common level analyzed (Anderson, 2006;Arbon and Ireland, 2003a;Chang et al, 2013;Giurco et al, 2011;Hurlimann and Dolnicar, 2010;Radcliffe, 2010).…”

“…Generally, studies that focused at higher levels (country or global) lacked specificity regarding the outcome investigated -either several outcomes were considered or the outcome was not defined. (Anderson, 2006;Chanan et al, 2011;Giurco et al, 2011;Hurlimann and Dolnicar, 2010); (C) (Freeman et al, 2008;Traves et al, 2008;van Beers et al, 2007b;Yüce et al, 2012); (D) (Bischel et al, 2012); (E) (Chang et al, 2013); (F) (Hochstrat et al, 2006); (G) (Hochstrat et al, 2008); (H) (Apostolidis et al, 2011); (I) (Arbon and Ireland, 2003a;Radcliffe, 2010); (J) ( Barbagallo et al, 2001;Lazarova et al, 2000;Radcliffe, 2006); (K) (Asano, 2005;Chen et al, 2013); (L) (Bixio et al, 2006).…”

“…As an example, this is demonstrated by comparing the four studies of Australian cities that investigated the development of and/or investment in new recycling schemes (case B). Three of the four studies discussed drivers for (Anderson, 2006;Chanan et al, 2011;Giurco et al, 2011), while two discussed drivers against (Giurco et al, 2011;Hurlimann and Dolnicar, 2010) recycling. Natural and policy drivers were cited most frequently -drought and/or water scarcity was identified in three studies (Anderson, 2006;Chanan et al, 2011;Giurco et al, 2011), while water reforms to improve river health and/or increase the cost of water discharge was identified in two studies (Anderson, 2006;Giurco et al, 2011).…”

“…Table 3. Study findings from the four Australian studies conducted at the city level that investigated the development of and/or investment in new recycling schemes (Level 2 of the framework in Figure 1) Drivers for recycling Drivers against recycling Social drivers:  Population pressures (Chanan et al, 2011) Economic drivers:  Water price security for users of recycled water (Giurco et al, 2011) Business drivers:  Corporate sustainability focus by industrial water users (Giurco et al, 2011) Policy drivers:  Water reforms to improve river health and/or increase costs of water discharge (Anderson, 2006;Giurco et al, 2011) Technical drivers:  Ageing infrastructure (Chanan et al, 2011)  Opportunity to link with cogeneration on industrial sites (Giurco et al, 2011) Natural drivers:  Drought and/or water scarcity (Anderson, 2006;Chanan et al, 2011;Giurco et al, 2011) Social drivers:  Public opposition to recycling (Hurlimann and Dolnicar, 2010) Economic drivers:  Higher cost for recycled water compared with other options (Giurco et al, 2011) Business drivers:  Cultural challenges within a company (Giurco et al, 2011)  Changing industry presence in area (less heavy industry) (Giurco et al, 2011) Policy drivers:  Third parties (other than government utility) cannot sell recycled water to companies in Victoria (Giurco et al, 2011) Technical drivers:  Water quality requirements for receiving companies (Giurco et al, 2011)  Uncertainty around quality tolerances for input water (Giurco et al, 2011)…”

Editorial

“…The first paper (Chanan et al, 2011) belongs to the first of these categories and focuses on economic assessment of water recycling policy on a national scale. The paper, based on an Australian case, highlights the lessons from the solid waste recycling industry and applies them to the water recycling sector.…”