CEVA’s Journey to Zero-Waste-to-Landfill in Australia

The project is multifaceted, leveraging a variety of recycling practices across sites where different waste types are assessed and handled safely to optimize landfill diversion and reduce the overall environmental impact. With a strong culture of sustainability and rigorous implementation processes, the recycling rate for CEVA in Australia has increased from 45% to 72% over the last 12 months. Now, approximately 10% of the waste is used for energy production, further reducing waste to the landfill.  

CEVA is committed to sustainable logistics and helping its customers achieve their own sustainability goals. By introducing these aggressive recycling measures across sites in Australia, CEVA is setting a new benchmark for what it means to have sustainability at the forefront of the business. CEVA employees across sites in Australia are collectively working together on these new recycling projects to make an impact. 

Recycling Activities 

Across contract logistics and transport facilities at CEVA in Australia, numerous high-impact initiatives were introduced to support the sustainability efforts:  

• Segregate waste like timber, paper, plastic, e-waste, food waste, etc.  

• Repair damaged pallets for reuse and repurposing  

• Leverage cardboard bailers to reduce cardboard waste   

• Use plastic bailers to decrease clear plastic waste   

• Clean with autonomous floor scrubbers to reduce water consumption and chemical disposal  

• Deliver dry waste to energy generation facilities for a circular economy 

CEVA’s current waste management practices include reducing material waste at source, proper recycling practices, efficient waste sorting, composting organic food waste and proper disposal methods. The waste generated by CEVA’s sites is primarily cardboard packaging, followed by wood, plastics, organic food waste and a small quantity of unrecyclable waste. Timber pallets are repaired frequently to extend their use, while end-of-life pallets are ground into woodchips for recycling with a certified processing facility. The woodchips are repurposed for livestock industries and for landscaping purposes. Compacted plastic waste and pallet strap waste are sent to certified plastic recyclers.  

Packaging is an intrinsic resource to the logistics business and through this project CEVA is taking responsibility to ensure that the impact of packaging is reduced including its disposal. For example, our teams are compacting cardboard packaging for recycling in paper mills, setting aside undamaged cartons for reuse and reducing packaging sizes to optimize truck fill rates. The project is replacing plastic adhesive tape with paper tape, replacing disposable pallet straps with reusable Velcro straps and wrapping pallets with biodegradable or reusable materials. For example, one of the facilities reduced the number of monthly waste bins from 35 to a single plastic bail sent to recycling. Beyond recycling, CEVA has introduced autonomous floor scrubbers which use 70% less water and reduces chemical disposal to the waste system. 

The Results 

In collaboration with Wasteflex Australia, a digital tool has been designed and deployed across CEVA facilities in Australia to support data input and to monitor recycling performance metrics defined by CEVA’s current waste management practices, including reducing material waste at the source, proper recycling practices, waste sorting, composting organic food waste and proper disposal methods.  

CEVA in Australia’s recycling project gained recognition, winning a Sustainability Initiative award at the 2024 MHD Mercury Awards ceremony in Melbourne. This prestigious recognition highlights CEVA’s unwavering commitment to sustainability. Moving forward, this successful project will be used as a model to implement across CEVA’s global regions.