26 June 2007:
The world is prepared to pay $US20-40 billion to clean up the
contamination left by more than a century of industrial
development, the First National Contamination Summit was told in
Adelaide today.
“That is the value of the global market for
clean-up technologies according to an estimate by Canada’s
Industry Department,” the convener of the Summit, Professor
Ravi Naidu, said.
“We think the estimate is conservative,
because it doesn’t factor in the phenomenal industrial growth
which has occurred more recently in places like China, India and
Southeast Asia.
“Now is the time for Australia’s
fast-growing clean-up industry to make a concerted effort to target
this huge opportunity.”
Professor Naidu was announcing the creation of a
new Remediation Industry Cluster, which will keep local industry
and government abreast of cutting edge science and technology and
export market opportunities in clean-up.
“Every person on Earth is affected by
contamination. Each of us carries in our bodies the chemical
legacy of the last two centuries of development in the form of
byproducts of mineral processing, manufacturing, petrochemicals and
pesticides.
“Scientists now consider this cocktail of
toxins, from a lifetime’s exposure to contaminants, plays a
significant role in the incidence of diseases such as cancer and
various genetic disorders. It is not an issue we can afford to
ignore.”
According to the Canadian estimate, Europe has over
600,000 contaminated sites, the US and Japan each have around half
a million each and Australia has 160,000.
“Other estimates suggest there are at least 3
million contaminated sites in Asia alone, and the number is growing
in proportion to the level of industrialisation.”
Australia, with several hundred specialised
clean-up firms, strong regulations and a clear commitment from
industry, was in a good position not only to tackle its own
contamination challenges, but also provide solutions for other
nations, he said.
“At the CRC for Contamination Assessment and
Remediation of the Environment we have also brought together the
nation’s leading scientists specializing in detecting,
assessing, cleaning-up or preventing contamination of soil, water
and air,” he added. “We are poised to patent two
cutting-edge technologies in this area.”
A new survey by CRC CARE has found that 100% of
industry respondents believe Australia should tackle its own
contamination issues as a matter of urgency, with many considering
our export reputation depends on it.
Eighty-two per cent of respondents also believed
that export opportunities for Australia in clean-up technology and
advice were excellent.
A large majority were also in favour of an industry
cluster, as a way of sharing information on the latest technology
and market opportunities.
“There has never been a better opportunity
for Australia to develop a major new export industry in clean-up:
the markets are there, so are the companies and skilled experts,
and so is an array of exciting new technologies for detecting and
fixing pollution of all kinds.”
