26 June 2007:
Australia is preparing to play a leading role in
helping to fight contamination round the world with the launch
today of a new clean-up industry group.
The Remediation Industry Cluster was launched at
the First Australian Industry Contamination Summit in Adelaide by
the Minister for Finance, Senator Minchin.
The cluster has been brought together through the
Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and
Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE) to share information
about cutting edge clean-up technologies and global market
opportunities.
Its members will include environmental and
engineering companies involved in clean-up, and companies from the
mining, energy and manufacturing sectors looking for better ways to
prevent or remove contamination, CRC CARE managing director
Professor Ravi Naidu said.
“It will also include the regulators and
environment protection agencies, who are keen to ensure
Australia’s regulations are up with the latest science and
technology and to encourage the growth in this important
industry.”
A new survey of top executives from industry found
100 per cent support for action by Australia to clean up its legacy
of past contamination. Many feel this is essential to our
continued reputation and success as an export nation.
Eighty-two per cent of those polled saw good or
very good market opportunities worldwide for the export of
Australian risk assessment and remediation technologies.
There was also very strong support for forming an
industry cluster intended to share information about the latest
technical advances in clean-up – and about market
opportunities opening up worldwide, especially in Asia as a result
of the industrial boom there.
“However industry also told us they want more
cost-effective ways to assess the risks of contamination and to
clean it up – and that is exactly what CRC CARE is working
on,” Prof Naidu said.
“They want more uniform regulations for clean-up across
Australia – and they want Australian society as a whole to
have a better understanding of the issue and what it means for our
health, environment and economic performance.”
Professor Naidu said the new Remediation Industry Cluster had full
backing from CRC CARE’s industry partners and would play a
key role in delivering the new science and technology developed by
the CRC’s researchers to industry as quickly and efficiently
as possible.
“Many of the technologies we are now working
on are world-beaters, and will set new standards for clean-up both
in Australia and internationally.
“Often in science it can take years, even
decades, for a new technology to be widely adopted. The aim
of the Cluster is to short-circuit that process and ensure as many
Australian companies have access to leading-edge technologies in
the quickest possible time.”
The Cluster would also enable companies who were
not in the CRC to have some input into research priorities and
offer their advice about new opportunities.
“Nearly half of the industry leaders we
surveyed said they would sign up as members of the cluster on the
spot, which gives us great encouragement the concept is delivering
an unmet need in industry,” he added.
