Driving ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ ethos

JWA Oilfield Supplies Pty Ltd espouses the Queensland Government’s procurement approach by promoting the use of reusable composite mats for construction site access and work platforms, reducing quarrying, transport costs and emissions, and preventing land cross-contamination.

Following a strong ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ ethos, JWA is delivering positive environmental outcomes for Queenslanders through its mat rental and sales business.

Operations Manager Windsor Fick said JWA, which started in 2003, now has 15 employees, 13 of whom are Brisbane-based. He said the reusable composite mats can be used in a variety of scenarios, including major energy projects; protection of pathway and tree roots; prevention of dry bogging; protection of wetlands and heritage areas, to emergency derailment situations, such as Julia Creek (2019) and Prairie (2020).

“The mats separate the construction equipment from the land below, and when they pull up the mats, you’ve got some flat grass but everything bounces back because it keeps the structure of the roots and everything under the mats intact,” Windsor said.

JWA recently provided the United States-manufactured Dura-Base mats to Ergon Energy for use on the Dulacca Wind Farm. The aim was to protect as well as eliminate the risk of cross-contamination to the sensitive agricultural land.

An external site team installed 560 Dura-Base mats, equivalent to 1.2 km of road, within a week, instead of up to five weeks to lay crushed rock.

Windsor said the mats were delivered to and from site by 22 semi-trailers; around 232 (24 tonne) dump trucks would have been required to carry the 2818 tonnes of crushed rock, resulting in a huge saving in emissions and approximately $550,000 in quarried material costs.

Taking an innovative approach, JWA has developed their own in-house training program specifically for composite mat repair. While this training is not certified they do have verification of competency frameworks in place. Additionally, they send all of their operations team to become certified plastic welders locally in Queensland.  As a result of this training practice JWA has increased the lifespan of the reusable mats from 15 years to 20 plus years.

In the past year alone, the team has serviced 675 mats, saving 306.5 tonnes of construction grade plastic from waste and replacement. Mats that cannot be serviced are recycled.

JWA also delivers for Queensland by recycling the steel locking pins used for the mats. When the plastic casting on the pins needs replacement, a Brisbane plastic manufacturer recasts the pin. To date, 1271 steel shafts – over a tonne of saved and reused steel – has been recast, providing work for a Queensland manufacturer.

JWA supports Queensland Government’s procurement approach through its work protecting the environment, its recycling of mats and steel pins, its staff training and its support of Queensland manufacturers.