Future Recycling and Nuttelex facilities meeting noise restrictions in Victoria
Discover how we helped these two facilities upscale their operations with acoustic consulting
As an award-winning specialist acoustic engineering and vibration consulting business working across various industry sectors, Resonate Consultants are committed to acting 
Recently, this steadfast commitment has been displayed through our adoption of new operating methodologies in order to comply with changes to the Environment Protection Act 2017 (EPA) and helping clients adhere to noise restrictions in Victoria (and Australia-wide).
With new laws surrounding the General Environmental Duty (GED) and the introduction of the Environment Protection Regulations and supporting Noise Protocol, major changes have been made.
Our accomplished acoustic consultant team have gone to great lengths to understand these updated regulations and how they should be applied to different project characteristics.
This dedicated approach to ensuring that all new projects adhere to Victorian noise restrictions, environmental values and the notion of taking all reasonably practicable steps to minimise the risk of harm is informing all current projects. Whether they are small, mid-sized or large in scale.
Future Recycling facility
Xun Li, Senior Acoustic Consultant, is currently working on helping two clients adhere to the EPA requirements. One project being the Future Recycling facility. Under the facility’s original operating permit, working hours were 7 am until 6 pm.
To account for changes in demand, the facility sought a change to their permit in order to work 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. New EPA processes meant that an independent and qualified acoustic consultant needed to be engaged in order to help the facility achieve certain conditions.
As the Environment Protection Regulations and supporting Noise Protocol specifically outlines that sound levels need to enable sleep for nearby residents during traditional nighttime hours, Xun and the project team conducted assessments and provided advice surrounding noise mitigation techniques.
With demand necessitating delivery trucks running across all hours of operation, there needed to be a compromise so that the facility could maintain operational outcomes without impacting surrounding residents’ quality of living and, therefore, their broader health.
‘We obviously couldn’t ask the facility to have quieter trucks make deliveries. Instead, we worked on limiting the number of trucks that arrived in certain time periods. For example, in Victoria, the EPA assessment time period is 30 minutes,’ Xun explained.
Consideration also had to be given to noise mitigation management once the trucks arrived and were unloaded or loaded. Namely, closing the facility door once the delivery or packing process is completed. ‘You can have different technical mitigation techniques, but it will mean nothing if the operators in charge forget to close the door,’ Xun said.
This attention to the broader environment also needs to be balanced with ensuring that workers are operating in a safe environment. ‘You need to care about the people working inside as well. In this particular case, it meant looking to install fans with silencers to keep the air supply fresh whilst the door had to be closed as much as possible,’ Xun explained.
Nuttelex factory
Resonate Consultants also worked to help the Nuttelex factory in Victoria adhere to the new EPA Victoria Environment Protection Act while extending their operating hours. ‘There are 
In some cases, recommendations were also made to reduce the capacity equipment operated at during key night hours when the broader community is sleeping.
Recommendations also included moving product delivery times. This meant making deliveries using trucks during the day. To help Nuttelex operate flexibly whilst adhering to the new regulations, additional systems such as truck limits were also put in place. This way, when absolutely necessary, delivery trucks could arrive at night without impinging upon key EPA rules and requirements.
As well as operational changes, design principles were also assessed. For Nuttelex, this meant that rather than having perforated plant doors, solid doors were installed to help follow noise reduction requirements together with proper acoustically treated ventilations designed to keep appropriate airflow in the space. By taking all reasonably practicable steps to minimise the risk to the environment and human health, the facility could effectively meet GED obligations.
This inherent understanding of the EPA and the associated Victorian regulations displayed by our team members means that Resonate Consultants can confidently and competently provide tailored and compliant services across a range of different project sizes and operating industries.
