Applying Process Safety Principle to the management of complex biogas and biosolids systems

Peter Donaghy, Urban Utilities

Peter is a Water Industry Leader with experience at senior management and professional levels in operations, infrastructure delivery and business management. He is passionate about creating a sustainable water industry that is embedded and part of our community and developing a continuous improvement culture that focuses on value creation. Dedicated to delivering business, people and environmental outcomes, Peter is a former member of the ANZBP committee.

Operations and Maintenance Approaches and Issues in Advanced Technologies in Biosolids Treatment (UK Perspective)

Andre Le Roux, Stantec, UK

Andre has experience with Industrial wastewater treatment, advanced anaerobic digestion, food waste digestion, and high-rate industrial anaerobic digestion. He helps clients increase renewable energy generation and optimize alternative biofuels.

Can transformed biosolids build stable soil carbon?

George Mercer

PhD Student and Tim Healey Memorial Scholar
The University of Western Australia and ARC Training Centre for the Transformation of Australia’s Biosolids Resource

George’s interests surround microbial systems, agro-ecology, waste-to-resource, and his research focuses on building soil carbon with biosolids, a by-product of the wastewater treatment process. More specifically, he is investigating how transformed organic amendments can be used to functionalise microbial mechanisms that generate stable soil organic matter.

Growing Top Soils: Profitability, Productivity, Sustainability

Bill Hyem

AgriFutures Horizon Scholar Alumni (2020), Australian National University Graduate and Key Account Manager at AgriProve

Andrew Bremner

National Innovation Manager at AgriProve

A recipient of an AgriFutures Australia Horizon Scholarship in 2020, Bill Hyem is focused on pursuing opportunities to increase sustainability and profitability in agriculture through technological innovations. Bill works with Australian landholders to start soil carbon projects that encourage the use of new technologies and practices for increased sustainability and profitability.

Be Careful What You Ask For: A Wholistic Comparison of Emissions from Biosolids Recycling

Grant Clark, Associate Professor, Department of Bioresource Engineering, McGill University

Grant grew up on a mixed farm in Central Alberta, Canada. He holds an industry-cooperative BSc in Agricultural Engineering (Alberta) and a PhD in Biosystems Engineering (McGill).

He is an Associate Professor of Bioresource Engineering at McGill University, where he leads the Ecological Engineering Research Group. He is an affiliate member of McGill’s Bieler School of Environment and the Trottier Institute for Sustainable Engineering and Design, and a Past President of the Canadian Society for Bioengineering.

His research group has a special interest in the circularization of carbon and nutrient flows through food production and organic waste management systems. They are currently involved in several multi-institutional studies of the carbon footprint of municipal organic waste management operations.

BEAM — Accounting for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Biosolids Management

Janine Burke-Wells, Executive Director, North East Biosolids & Residuals Association (NEBRA)

Ned Beecher, Independent Consultant on Biosolids and Residuals Management, Research, and Policy, Tamworth, NH, USA

Janine is the Executive Director of the North East Biosolids & Residuals Association. Prior to joining NEBRA, Janine worked as a public servant for over three decades – 10 years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and over 20 years in local government where she managed the wastewater systems in two different communities in Rhode Island.

Ms. Burke-Wells has a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Rhode Island and a Master of Public Administration from North-eastern University. She represents the State of Rhode Island to New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission.

Ned was Executive Director of NEBRA from 1998 to June 2022 then Special Projects Manager tracking research, legislation, and regulations, and providing information to members and the public, authoring articles and papers and making presentations on biosolids management around North America. Since January 2017, he has focused much of his work, on PFAS, and most recently, on leading the National Biosolids Data Project.  

He is now mostly retired, but provides some limited consulting. He received the New England Water Environment Association (NEWEA) Biosolids Management Award in 2015 and the Elizabeth A. Cutone Leadership Award in 2020.  He has an MS in Resource Management from Antioch University and a BA in Geology from Amherst College.  

Taupo Land Disposal 25 Years On

Mr. Kevin Sears, Operations Manager 3 Waters, Taupo District Council

Kevin has been working in three waters operations for more than 30 years with almost 25 of those years at Taupo District Council.

He holds a New Zealand Diploma in Wastewater, Water and Business Management and he is a certified Water Industry Professional in NZ.

In 2017 he was presented the Mentor of the Year Award in recognition of his long-term commitment to training and mentoring others in the industry.

From Challenges to Solutions: A New Zealand Perspective on Industrial Vermicomposting of Municipal Biosolids

Dr. agr. Michael Quintern, Independent Consultant – Presenting on behalf of Noke Limited

Michael received his PhD in “Beneficial Utilisation of Organic Waste on Farmland” in soil science at the University of Kassel ( Germany). He worked for several years as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Soil Science on soil fertility in organic farming.

In 2006, Michael moved to New Zealand to work as a senior scientist at Scion, a Crown Research Institute, to develop a solution for organic wastes from the pulp & paper industry. He developed a solution for industrial vermicomposting of biosolids, food, and paper industry waste, founding Noke Ltd. in 2007. The vermicomposting operation has grown to be the largest globally. To date, MyNoke has diverted more than 1.3 million tonnes of organic waste, including more than 250,000 t biosolids, from landfills in New Zealand, with more than 140,000 tonnes being diverted annually.

Implementing Research & Development and Innovation into the vermicomposting business model was crucial for sustainable growth. Integrating vermicomposting into farm management and improving windrow management mitigated environmental effects and increased profitability. Michael has worked with councils and industries on tailored vermicomposting technologies for specific organic waste streams.

Agricultural soils and plastic pollution: Are biosolids the problem?

Dr Elvis Okoffo, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland

Dr Okoffo completed his PhD at QAEHS in 2021, focusing on developing quantitative analytical methods to measure (mass-based concentration) and provide an understanding of plastic residues in Australian wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) biosolids, and subsequent releases into the Australian environment. Dr Okoffo’s current research focuses on developing novel sampling approaches and analytical techniques for monitoring plastic residues (microplastics, nanoplastics and microbioplastics) in environmental samples.

Harvesting valuable resources from industrial wastewater.

Associate Professor Caitlin Byrt, ANU College of Science

Caitlin Byrt is an Associate Professor with the ANU working on investigating how plants achieve energy efficient precision membrane separation. Caitlin serves as Deputy Director (Research) of the Australian Research Council Future Crops Centre and as co-Director of Membrane Transporter Engineers Pty Ltd. The knowledge that Caitlin and team gain from studying plant molecular membrane separation is being applied to improving crop performance and designing systems for separating valuable resources from industrial wastewater. This current research project is being developed in collaboration with CSIRO through the inaugural Agri-Food Collaboration Program (AFCP), and includes a team of researchers from ANU and CSIRO Agriculture & Food and Manufacturing.

When two tribes go to War: Interactions Between Microbial Communities in Biosolid-Amended Soils
Dr Cameron Reid, CSIRO Early Research Career Fellow

Cameron is a computational biologist within the Microbiomes for One Systems Health Future Science Platform at CSIRO. His research is focused on understanding how microbes mediate the benefit of biosolids to soils and crops, and how organic pollutants in wastewater might affect this function. Insights developed from his research could be harnessed to develop microbe-focused technologies that boost the benefits of biosolids and ameliorate risks associated with organic pollutants

How Do We Keep PFAS out of Reclaimed Waters and Biosolids
Dr Mark Bowman, Technical Director Contamination Assessment and Remediation, GHD 

Dr Mark Bowman is a recognised scientist, innovator, and leader driving change for an environment safe from contaminants. Mark was the National Technical Director for the Australian Department of Defence’s contamination programs and previously led teams in the national environmental regulator the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water delivering chemical environmental impact assessments and policy.

Mark is currently a GHD Technical Director within the Contamination Service line in Sydney where he supports a range of government and private sector clients responding to chemicals in the environment including the impacts of PFAS on soil and water.

Legal Implications of PFAS Regulation: Too Much, Too Soon?
Ross Fox, Principal Accredited Specialist, Planning and Environment Law, Fishburn Watson O’Brien 

Ross Fox is a Principal of Fishburn Watson O’Brien Lawyers and an Accredited Specialist in Planning and Environment Law. Prior to this, Ross was a principal lawyer for the NSW and worked closely with the EPA executive and CEO to develop and implement the EPA’s regulatory strategy. Ross takes a multidisciplinary approach and holds a Masters in Environmental Management. Ross now acts for a range of leading private sector and government clients in the resource recovery, liquid waste and biosolids sector. His unique expertise means he is regularly retained by key industry associations including the Waste Contractors and Recyclers Association (WCRA) and Australian Organics Recycling Association (AORA). Ross also regularly advises on environmental matters and obtaining planning approvals for waste infrastructure across NSW, Victoria and QLD.

PFAS and the Recycled Organics Circular Economy 
Dr Matthew Askeland, Business Unit Manager (Emerging Contaminants), ADE Consulting Group

Matthew Askeland presently heads ADE’s Consulting Groups Emerging Contaminants, Treatment Remediation and Research (ECTRR) business unit. Matthew has been active in the consultancy sector as a contaminated site specialist, where he holds key expertise in the delivery of contaminated land and water solutions, including site characterisation, risk assessment and remediation. Over the past number of years Matthew has been focused on tackling multiple elements within the PFAS risk management practice. These include site characterisation, risk mitigation, development and implementation of new PFAS management tools (treatment technologies and analytical tools), and the deployment of effective management strategies for both legacy and ongoing PFAS impacts. Matthew has a particular interest in management of PFAS and other contaminants within the circular economy