Hungry Giant a Giant Success

Last year we brought you news of an initiative by Cleaning Services Manager Arthur Brent which saw the introduction to Clayton of a machine capable of compacting polystyrene.

It was designed to cut down on the cost of removing vast amounts of polystyrene from the campus and, perhaps more importantly, prevent so much polystyrene ending up in landfill sites.

It’s now 10 months since the compactor went into service and it is proving to be a resounding success. The compactor, known as the Hungry Giant, is capable of reducing one cubic metre of polystyrene to just 10 per cent of its original size. To date the Clayton machine has been used to reduce more than 170 cubic metres of polystyrene, the equivalent of seven 23 cubic metre skip loads.

The saving to the university through the huge reduction in skip collections is now approaching $3000. Meanwhile, the compacted polystyrene blocks are collected for free and are eventually recycled for use as other plastic based materials. Monash was the first university in Victoria to install a Hungry Giant and has since played host to other universities in the state interested in following the Monash lead.

Arthur is now on the lookout for a permanent base for the machine which can be coupled with a storage facility large enough to house the polystyrene waiting to be compacted. “It means we have not yet been able to fully implement the service as we need a permanent home with enough electrical power to run the unit and a covered storage area to keep the polystyrene,” explained Arthur.

FOOTNOTE:  Arthur has further enhanced his reputation for sustainability by using his toilet roll boxes as storage units for the compacted polystyrene while it awaits collection.