Recycling Competition

The Waste Converters Challenge - Create with a Crate

Create with a Crate was an innovative competition aimed to promote recycling and waste reduction.

From 2003 through to 2006, Waste Converters and the Victorian Woodworking association organised this competition. The crates used for the competition came from the Iveco Truck manufacturing plant in Dandenong.

The aim of the competition was to promote the re-use of waste timber that is currently going to landfill. The competition focused particularly on post-industrial timber packaging waste.

Each year Iveco imports hundreds of engines into Australia from America and Europe. Iveco’s engines arrive in Australia packaged on large timber pallets. These pallets are made of exotic timber species such as Oak and Elm. Both of these species are widely used in furniture making and woodworking.

For many years items of packaging such as these pallets have ended up in landfill sites or have been pulverised into low-grade mulch as a means of disposal. In Victoria alone, over 500,000 tonnes of timber waste are disposed of each year.

However, much of this timber has the potential to be recycled into new and value added products.

We hope that the Create with a Crate Competition helped make people aware of the potential that this waste material has for being re-used and recycled. We would like to change people’s attitudes towards timber waste so that people begin to consider this timber more as a resource that can be reused, rather than as refuse to be discarded. The competition provided the incentive for individual wood designers, crafts people, woodworkers and others to design and construct functional or artistic objects from the timbers available from these engine pallets.

Competition Outlines

• The timber used in the Competition was provided by the Waste Converters Recycling Depot in Dandenong South. This timber originated from the Iveco truck manufacturing plant in Dandenong.
• A wooden pallet, which was used to import large truck
  Engines into Australia, was made available to each contestant.

EACH CRATE CONTAINED: (all dimensions approximate)

• 2 Pieces of Elm. Poplar Liriodendron or? 1670 long X 90 square
• 2 Pieces of Oak or other hardwood 1670 long X 120 X 50
• 8 Pieces of Pine 1140 long X 135 X 35
• 10 Coach Bolts 160 long X 10mm dia.

• Each competitor was given ONE crate which was used to design and create an object of their choosing.
• Only the timber contained in the crate was to be used other than fixing screws and nails, adhesives and finishes. A maximum of ten percent total content of finished article/s could be other material (e.g. other timber, glass, steel, e.t.c).
  

  Categories/sections

  Judges awarded a minimum of 5 Prizes including:

  • Best of Show
  • Woodturning/Sculpture
  • Best Piece of Furniture
  • Most Innovative use of Pallet
  • Best use of an entire Pallet

  Exhibition and Award Presentations

  • Contestants had 12 months to collect and dry a pallet and then design, manufacture and finish an object.
  • The first exhibition in 2003 was held at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, Spencer St, Melbourne as part of the Timber and Working with Wood Show. There was a follow up exhibition of the winning entries held in the Atrium at Federation Square sponsored by Sustainability Victoria. The 2004 and 2005 Exhibitions were held at the Meat Market Craft Centre in North Melbourne. The final exhibition was held in 2006, again as part of The Timber and Working with Wood Show, was held at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. Further competitons are yet to be announced.

  

  For further information please contact:

  Ward Petherbridge
  Waste Converters Recycling
  Ph: 03 9799 1935 or 0418 350 551
  Email: ward@wasteconverters.com.au

  Peter Stansfield
  Secretary
  Victorian Woodworkers Association
  42 Courtney St.
  North Melbourne, Vic 3051.
  Tel: 61 3 93268553 Fax: 61 3 93291452
  Mobile: 0402 258 341
  Website: www.vwa.org.au