Sydney printing company Focus Press started out in 1994 with only four people, but has since grown to 100 people at two locations. Now it has another achievement to be proud of - becoming one of the few printing companies that can claim to be truly environmentally sustainable. This achievement in sustainability leadership has been recognised by the NSW Government, with Focus Press being awarded with Gold Partner status in the Sustainability Advantage program of the Department of Environment, Climate Change & Water (DECCW), in January 2011.

According to Consult Australia CEO Megan Motto, a new report highlights the international opportunities available for Australia to lead the way when it comes to sustainability. The right policy framework could give Australia a distinct competitive advantage and enable us to bring best practice to the global arena.

Widespread flooding across Australia has the potential to push back hard fought water-efficiency gains made over the past decade. It’s concerning to think that the devastating floods may have shifted the water management mindset in Australia and effectively masked what still is a critical water challenge for communities across the entire nation.

The reliable provision of clean water is essential for any large population. It is now commonplace for water treatment plants to run autonomously and, for this to be effective, a reliable process control system is needed to supervise plant activities. Through the 1980s, distributed control system (DCS) architectures were widely used to manage these processes. However, many of these systems are now reaching the end of their design lives. Consequently they suffer from declining availability of spares and waning access to technical assistance.

Sustainability is ‘business as usual’ for the largest water utility in Australia, Sydney Water. The utility’s annual report defines sustainability according to seven corporate goals based on social, economic and environmental aspects and it’s now being mapped to the UN Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting framework. Nefley Hetherington*, Strategic Directions Manager, Sustainability Division at Sydney Water, talks about the utility’s achievements and visions for the future.

Underpinning the feasibility assessment, design and construction phases for a range of engineering infrastructure works requires a sound knowledge and understanding of how hydrogeology (groundwater) can be impacted and managed. With prolonged drought, emerging climate change impacts and population growth, increased demand for groundwater to augment water supply and greater recognition of the groundwater value presents new challenges and requirements for the engineering sector.

Bell Labs, the University of Melbourne and the Victorian Government opened the Centre for Energy Efficient Telecommunications (CEET) at the University of Melbourne on 28 March 2011.

In a scientific advance literally plucked from the waste heap, scientists have described a key step towards using the billions of waste chicken feathers produced each year to make one of the more important kinds of plastic. They described the new method at the 241st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, which was held in Anaheim in March 2011.

The Gillard Government has established a national Clean 21 Technology Innovation Network to help small and medium businesses reduce running costs and become more competitive, sustainable and help protect the environment.

A meat processor and a dairy manufacturer are among 16 Australian manufacturers going green to tackle climate change and ensure a healthier future for all Australians.

The pristine waters of the scenic Fraser coast, about 250 km north of Brisbane, are a popular playground for migrating humpback whales and dolphins. The UNESCO World Heritage-listed Fraser Island is the largest coastal dune system and sand island in the world and home to myriad rare and protected wildlife species. And Hervey Bay, an internationally renowned holiday destination, has an aquatic environment teeming with marine life.

PepsiCo announced last month a beverage container packaging called the Green bottle to compete with the PlantBottle which was announced by Coca-Cola Company in 2009 and is already in use. Both the bottles are being made from by-products of each company’s food production facilities.

The Green IT: The Financial Services Industry Benchmark report, launched globally by Fujitsu, contains the findings of the first multicountry survey to determine the maturity of green IT practices and technologies within banking, finance and insurance organisations in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and India.

Moore Industries-International has helped a water plant in central New York to maximise its effectiveness while reducing costs. The company’s NET Concentrator System helped the Onondaga County Water Authority (OCWA) modernise the control system at its water treatment plant in Marcellus, NY. Through the use of this distributed I/O and remote I/O solution, the OCWA has achieved improved efficiency.

Ku-ring-gai Council and Sydney Water have joined forces to switch on a new water recycling plant that will ensure Gordon golf course is always green.