About the webinar

Delivered by Icon Water, Yass Earth Movers and the City and Environment Directorate, this project reinvents hard‑to‑manage waste streams from water treatment and network maintenance operations to generate a valuable product for rehabilitation across the ACT and potentially, Australia.

This industry‑first initiative repurposes two waste streams: water treatment solids (a by‑product commonly generated at water treatment plants across Australia) and spoil from Icon Water’s network maintenance operations. The reuse of water treatment solids as an initiative underwent nearly 10 years of studies and trials before the Spoil to Topsoil project achieved regulator approval in 2024. This has allowed Icon Water to produce its own topsoil from internal waste streams to achieve superior restoration outcomes and repurpose almost 100% of its soil operational waste.

Since approval and implementation, Icon Water has produced approximately 3,000 m³ of compliant engineered‑soil products (topsoil) for restoration works across Canberra. These products have been successfully applied across Icon Water’s assets, delivering a fully integrated circular economy solution that transforms waste into a valuable resource while reducing environmental impacts and supporting sustainable asset management.

This project extends Icon Water’s existing spoil‑reuse initiative under the ‘No Opportunity Wasted’ Banksia award‑winning program and aligns with the organisation’s Circular Economy Plan.

What the webinar will cover

• Why - Project origins and drivers (project background, its inception, and alignment with Icon Water's No Opportunity Wasted program
• How - Early research, feasibility studies, and trials that shaped the reuse of waste streams
• When - Key milestones and progression over nearly a decade of development
• The trial, approval and implementation - The Spoil to Topsoil trial, performance criteria, ACT EPA approval, quality control program, and application of engineered-soil products across the ACT
• Challenges and key lessons learned.

Meet the speakers

Nupur Khanna | Sustainability and Resource Recovery Coordinator @ Icon Water
Nupur is responsible for identifying, developing and promoting sustainability practices with a focus on waste management and circular economy policy and initiatives.

Kelly Lee | Principal Environmental Scientist at Lanterra Consulting Pty Ltd
Kelly specialises in contaminated land and the resource recovery of non-routine waste. Kelly was a technical specialist for Icon Water’s No Opportunity Wasted program, including the award-winning Spoil-to-Topsoil initiative.

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