Pilbara gives $104.9 million lithium demonstration plant the green light

Environmental technology company Calix and lithium miner Pilbara Minerals have announced a final investment decision to build a $104.9 million demonstration plant for processing a lithium-enriched product from a low-grade spodumene, able to produce over 3,000 tonnes per annum of lithium phosphate. The two ASX-listed companies announced a joint venture for the Pilgangoora Project in…

ActionLaser drills into recycling industry with new filter products

Filtration screen specialist ActionLaser has announced its entry into the international market for plastic recycling via a project backed by the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre. ActionLaser was established in 1988 based on laser drilling technology developed at CSIRO, originally focussed on centrifuge screens for the sugar processing industry, and later branched out into filtration screens…

Here’s how wastewater facilities could tackle food waste, generate energy and slash emissions

By Melita Jazbec, University of Technology Sydney; Andrea Turner, University of Technology Sydney, and Ben Madden, University of Technology Sydney Most Australian food waste ends up in landfill. Rotting in the absence of oxygen produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. While some facilities capture this “landfill gas” to produce energy, or burn it off to…

Building houses in factories for the Commonwealth Games was meant to help the housing crisis. What now?

By Louise Dorignon, RMIT University and Trivess Moore, RMIT University Huge sporting events come with substantial public investment in housing. After Melbourne hosted the 1956 Olympics, about 600 houses in the athlete village became public housing in West Heidelberg. After Melbourne hosted the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the athlete village in Parkville was largely sold off,…