ASSDA Member Stainless Steel Wire & Mesh has played a pivotal role in delivering a stainless steel coastal fencing solution that has now become the gold standard in ecological management and restoration efforts.

Situated in the Northern Beaches of New South Wales, Curl Curl Beach faces the full force of several coastal conditions, enduring relentless assaults from strong winds, salt movements, extreme temperatures, pollution, and high humidity. This region is classified as a corrosive category C5, however, the location which is adjacent to the beach has been classified as CX under AS 4312:2019 Atmospheric Corrosive Zones, Figure 2.1 (Newcastle region)

Minimising mining (primary production) and maximising recycling (secondary production) are core principles of sustainable resource management. Consequently, there is an increasing interest in quantifying the material life cycle of stainless steel and its efficiencies from production to fabrication, manufacturing, use, recycling and, in some cases, disposal.

In 2006, Team Stainless and Yale University started the first project to quantify stainless steel stocks and flow cycles. In 2022, The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology made a more detailed analysis of 2019 data covering 50 countries, territories, and regions.

Stainless steels: A sustainable solution for more than a century

Stainless steels are procured

A FISH-FRIENDLY WATER EXTRACTION FACILITY  

For the past six years, ASSDA Member and Accredited Fabricator AWMA Water Control Solutions have been a proud partner of Rangitata Diversion Race Management Ltd (RDRML) in delivering one of the world's largest fish-friendly water extraction facilities using stainless steel.

The Rangitata Diversion Race (RDR) plays a crucial role in extracting water from the Rangitata River in New Zealand's South Island, serving irrigation, stock water, and hydropower generation needs year-round. However, the environmental impact on native fish populations was a concern for RDRML.

To address this challenge, AWMA was awarded the design and construct

For years, the plumbing industry has been dominated by materials such as galvanised mild steel, copper, and plastic. However stainless steel is quickly emerging as a standard construction material in various water supply applications.

Stainless steel offers a multitude of benefits, including corrosion resistance, hygienic properties, strength, long-term performance, excellent hydraulic conductivity, and the ability to withstand high pressure and temperature requirements. It has found its place in diverse applications, from desalination plants and reverse osmosis water treatment systems to water supply for high-rise buildings and domestic tapware. Stainless steel provides a safe and sustainable solution throughout the entire lifespan

Australian innovation driving sustainability

For over 30 years ASSDA Member Stormtech has been at the forefront of Australian innovation delivering stainless steel linear drainage solutions for the local and global architecture and design industries.

Stormtech is an Australian family business that began operations in 1989 and was established on the invention of a special drainage grate. Founder John Creighton was approached by an architect to help design a hobless shower for a wheelchair-bound client wishing to shower independently. Creative thinking and innovative engineering led to the birth of a unique stainless steel drainage design that delivered excellent surface water removal

A mainstay in the processing of sewage water in water recycling applications, stainless steel once again plays a critical part in working towards a sustainable future.

Western Water Treatment Plant (WWTP), south of Werribee in Melbourne’s Western District, is a critical asset responsible for processing around half of the city’s total sewage. The process requires a massive footprint, where a series of large lagoons use anaerobic (without oxygen) and aerobic (with oxygen) bacteria to sequentially break down and clean the feed water of solids and gases. The resultant recycled water is used for multiple non-drinking purposes, including irrigation and firefighting. 

Stainless steel is playing a vital role in delivering effective bulk water intake screens for Melbourne’s water supply.

Designed and manufactured in Brisbane, ASSDA Member Aqseptence Group Australia has recently delivered one of the largest passive intake screens in the Southern Hemisphere. Having produced more than 4,000 screens for the last  50 years, this latest milestone achieved a nomination in the hotly contested Process Industries category of the 2019 ASSDA Fabricator Project of the Year Award. 

In mid-August 2019, Aqseptence Group was engaged by a joint venture of John Holland and KBR to provide design and construct services for a significant capital

Stainless steel provides a cutting edge and environmentally friendly solution for industrial applications.

Dow Chemicals, a global chemicals manufacturer, recently completed a major upgrade of the wastewater treatment system at their Victorian Point Henry coatings plant. The plant manufactures acrylic emulsions which find use in numerous applications including house paints. ASSDA Members Stirlings Performance Steels and Barwon Valley Stainless provided supply and fabrication services for this impressive wastewater treatment facility upgrade. 

Wastewater produced in the production facility is pumped into flocculation tanks for settling and the clear supernatant is sent for further biological treatment. This treated water is recycled back to

Safeguarding Australia’s environmental biosecurity is critical in preventing the introduction and spread of pests and diseases, and the Post Entry Quarantine (PEQ) facility in northern Melbourne is setting the benchmark in international best practice with the use of stainless steel.

The PEQ facility in Mickelham is a state-of-the-art, purpose-built operation constructed to streamline the country’s quarantine services and consolidate five pre-existing Commonwealth PEQ facilities spread across New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. Managed by the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, the 144ha site includes an administration building, modern laboratories, dog and cat receiving areas, horse facilities

Brisbane's New Farm Riverwalk is one of the city's beloved icons. Originally constructed in 2003, the Riverwalk was used daily by over 3000 cyclists, pedestrians and runners before it was washed away during the 2011 floods.

After a construction period of nearly 18 months, Brisbane City Council’s re-imagined New Farm Riverwalk has now opened to the public, connecting New Farm to the Brisbane City via the Howard Smith Wharf Precinct.

Engineered by Arup, the Riverwalk has a design life of 100 years and sits 3.4m above mean sea level on robust piles.

Critical to its design and life expectancy is

This is an abridged version of a story that first appeared under the same title in Stainless Steel Focus No. 07/2012.

The Nickel Institute's director of promotion, Peter Cutler, and consultant Gary Coates, reveal some of the reasons for the continuing popularity of nickel in stainless steels.

Stainless steel is everywhere in our world and contributes to all aspects of our lives. We find stainless steel in our homes, in our buildings and offices, in the vehicles we travel in and in every imaginable industrial sector. Yet the first patents for stainless steel were issued only 100 years ago.

How

The greatest challenge we face is the control of our own success. With 7 billion people on earth, all with an insatiable appetite for a high standard of living, the newest dimension of materials competition is sustainability.

Sustainability is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (UN World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). In real terms, that means making choices that do minimum damage to our environment, but support a high level of human development.

The built environment is an excellent place to start. Buildings last

A special grade of stainless steel is being used in an Australian-developed environmentally friendly energy production method. 

Solid oxide fuel cells extract the energy from fuels such as natural gas by electrochemical rather than traditional combustion means. producing cheaper, cleaner and more convenient eledricity.

lnterconned material made from half to one millimetre thick SAS 'Self Aluminising Steel' sheet conneds individual fuel cells together, conduding eledricity and heat within the fuel cell stack. The fuel cells are the brainchild of Melbourne-based company Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited and have been in development for eight years.

Managing Diredor, Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited, Dr

Choosing mainline fittings for irrigation applications can often seem like building a giant puzzle with elbows, tees, crosses and coupler sets - various fittings required to connect irrigation pipework together.

However, Geoff Mellows from Yarrawonga Irrigation in Victoria may have solved the puzzle by using stainless steel mainline fittings - something that plastic fittings cannot yet match.

Poly, pvc and avs fittings are common materials in irrigation applications but because they are produced out of a mould, the combinations of size and outlet configuration are restricted.

Mellows said that by using stainless mainline fittings by ASSDA member, Pierce Australia, he

Cleaner beaches and major water savings will be the chief benefits of the largest Sydney Water construction project ever undertaken on the New South Wales south coast.

The $197 million Illawarra Wastewater Strategy will see an overhaul of the 40-year-old Wollongong sewage treatment plant (STP) including the construction of a major new water recycling plant, high level (tertiary) treatment processes and ultraviolet disinfection systems.

ASSDA member, Roladuct Spiral Tubing, supplied approximately 60 tonnes of grade 316 and 316L stainless spiral tubing and associated fittings in 2mm to 5mm thicknesses for the project.

These materials were provided to Total Process

Today, environmental factors are at the forefront of material selection for specifiers. Stainless steel’s long service life, 100 percent recyclability and its valuable raw materials make it an excellent environmental performer.

 Stainless steel objects rarely become waste at the end of their useful life. Recycled stainless objects are systematically separated and recovered to go back into the production process through recycling.

As well as iron, stainless steel contains valuable raw materials like chromium and nickel which makes recycling stainless steel economically viable.

Stainless steel is actively recycled on a large scale around the world by recyclers who collect and

The thought of public rubbish bins usually attracts images of black smelly wheelie bins with broken lids and flies.  However, if you walked through the University of Queensland in Brisbane’s St Lucia, you would be greeted, instead, with clean stainless steel and lovely bright colours.

The installation of between 30-50 new double-bin enclosures has added splashes of colour and flair to the university grounds.  Designers Street and Garden Furniture Co enlisted the services of long time contractors and ASSDA Accredited Fabricators Rocklea Pressed Metal to manufacture the pieces.

Featuring laser cut patterns, bright colour spray painting (to distinguish general rubbish

To overcome environmental concerns around landfill, Perth’s largest waste management authority, Mindarie Regional Council, is building a facility for the 70 per cent of household waste that is organic material and can be composted.

The $80m building is due for completion in 2009 and will save on landfill, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and will produce a rich organic matter that may be added to Perth’s sandy soil.

The new composting facility, to be built using a prize-winning technology developed by Canadian firm, Conporec, comes at a time when the ongoing feasibility of landfill in crowded cities is questionable.

In September

Seven pressure vessels and five columns were fabricated by ASSDA Accredited D&R Stainless from 30 tonnes of grade 304 stainless
steel supplied by ASSDA member Sandvik.

The column sizes range from an acid reduction column 750mm in diameter and 14.2 metres long to a beer column 1900mm in diameter and 24 metres long. 

The columns were fabricated to tight tolerances set by process design engineers Detla T Technology, in the United States.

Chief Executive Officer of Dalby Bio-Refinery Limited,

As many cities and towns across Australia continue to experience water restrictions due to the drought, seeking solutions to water saving is now a high priority with consumers.

In 1994, ASSDA member, Hart to Hart Fabrications developed the Raincatcher - a unique design that separates the atmospheric and roof pollutants from the water.

The Raincatcher tank is manufactured from grade 304 stainless steel. Even parts like pins, hinges and filter screens are all made from stainless steel material.

Rainwater from the roof runs through the leaf diverter, removing leaves and large debris. The rainwater then flows through a unique filtration