Protects of Impact Environmental Consultants | Impact Environmental Consulting

Recent Projects

Exceptional outcomes across a diversity of projects

Impact partners with councils, businesses, and community organisations across Australia on the delivery of a wide range of projects to protect our environment and enhance our society.

Multi Unit Dwelling Organics Collection
Client - Port Macquarie-Hastings Council

Garden Village, a retirement village/nursing home in Port Macquarie, attempted to introduce a food waste and garden organics collection – however due to infestations of flies and maggots it was not successful, and was removed.

Port Macquarie-Hastings Council engaged Impact Environmental to support Garden Village with a second attempt. Impact identified several reasons for the failure of the first attempt: no kitchen caddies or liners were provided to residents, and a lack of education on how such a system should be used.

Impact first undertook an audit and resident survey to gain a greater understanding of the waste in Garden Village. We then ran information sessions for residents, developed educational materials in collaboration with Council, went door-to-door delivering caddies and liners, and worked with operations staff to ensure the bin locations met residents needs.

The first four months was a success, with approximately 2,000 kilograms of mostly food waste diverted from landfill. The learnings from this project will be used as a template for other organics collections in multi-unit dwellings.

Transfer Station Design
Client - Lithgow City Council

Lithgow City Council wanted to shut their Angus Place landfill, and replace it with a transfer station.

Impact Environmental drafted grant documentation on behalf of Council, which the NSW Environmental Trust and NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) approved.

Impact Environmental then managed the engineering design – delivering Council plans, a quantity survey, and a construction cost estimate. Council used these and went to tender for the construction.

Waste Strategy
Client - Walcha Council

Walcha Council faced several strategic challenges – their landfill was running out of space, the threat of EPA compliance loomed, and the green waste had high contamination.

Impact Environmental ran several workshops with Councillors and staff to prioritise the issues. This provided the waste manager with a clear mandate for action – securing additional landfill space was the top priority.

Civil engineers were engaged and dialogue was opened with the EPA – Council is in the process of securing approval for an additional 15 years of capacity within the existing site footprint.

Landfill Remediation Estimate
Client - Walgett Shire Council

Walgett Shire Council has control over seven landfills in the LGA. Council needed to provide a site by site remediation estimate to the Audit Office of NSW in its 2018-2019 Annual Financial Report.

Impact Environmental visited each of the facilities and spoke with Council staff and contractors to ascertain where waste had been previously buried, and assessed what works would be necessary for closure.

The findings and drawings were presented back to Council in a remediation estimate report able to be used as a third-party assessment.

Multi Council Litter Grant Delivery
Client - Netwaste

The NSW Environmental Protection Authority’s (EPA) Litter-Regional Implementation Program (L-RIP) helped Regional Waste Groups develop Regional Litter Plans.

Under stage 1 of the EPA’s L-RIP Program, Netwaste, with assistance from Impact Environmental, prepared a Regional Litter Plan and 12-month Litter Implementation Plan.

Under stage 2 Netwaste was awarded funding and engaged Impact Environmental who worked with five (5) Councils to implement pilot projects focusing on the reduction of Litter in Recreational areas. The work included: pre and post location inspections; pre and post local litter counts; pre and post user surveys; and litter cost analysis

Many of the Council’s in the Netwaste region didn’t have a firm grip on the hidden costs of litter management. The litter cost analysis prepared by Impact enabled them to gain a greater understanding, and to support staff build a business case for increasing focus on litter management.

Unmanned Landfill Research
Client - Netwaste

Netwaste engaged Impact Environmental to run a trial of remote 3G cameras at unmanned landfills.

There are approximately 99 active landfills in the Netwaste region; only 18 are licensed. Councils had little understanding of the number of vehicles using their unmanned sites – cameras offered the potential to assist in Council planning and decision.

Impact Environmental visited the proposed trial sites and spoke to camera manufacturers, before selecting two models to install at four sites.

The trial identified issues related to mobile data reception and limitations of the current cameras. Remote 3G cameras proved very successful at identifying commercial loads which should have been disposed at the main landfill. They also proved a useful management tool, saving staff from driving hour long round trips to determine when the site needed tidying by contractors.

Raleigh Landfill Closure Cost Estimate
Client - Bellingen Shire Council

Bellingen Shire Council engaged Impact Environmental to prepare cost estimates for the closure of the Raleigh landfill.

It is understood that the site may have been used for solid waste disposal as far back as 1978 – formal approval for an engineered landfill was granted in 1999.

Impact provided a neutral third-party cost estimate which ensured Council was in compliance with AASB 137 Provisions: Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets and the Local Government Code of Accounting Practice and Financial Reporting.