About crcCARE

What does crcCARE do?

The Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (crcCARE) is an independent organisation that performs research, develops technologies and provides policy guidance for assessing, cleaning up and preventing contamination of soil, water and air. 

Our innovative research is divided into four complementary programs:

  1. Understanding Emerging Chemicals: developing new principles, indicators and strategies to support the development of new policy frameworks and a national guidance framework for remediation.
  2. Preventing Pollution, Avoiding Landfill and Recovering Resources: developing next-generation analytical methods and innovative field technologies to provide fast and more efficient assessment of site contamination.
  3. Next-Generation Clean-Up Technologies: conducting research into the fate and dynamics of volatiles and semi-volatiles, groundwater discharge into surface water ecosystems, flux, and the effect of time on contaminant behaviour.
  4. A New Paradigm for Managing Risk: developing the necessary technologies, indicators and strategies for in situ management of contaminated site remediation.

 The CRC Program

CRC CARE Pty Ltd was launched in 2005 as part of the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program and in 2011 successfully bid for a further nine years of funding. The CRC Program supports industry-led collaborations between industry, researchers and the community. It’s a proven model for linking researchers with industry to focus on research and development towards use and commercialisation.

Under the CRC model, CRC CARE’s Participants comprised research partners (several leading universities and CSIRO) and industry partners (entities that need to deal with contaminated sites and environmental contamination).

Our industry partners spanned companies whose operations require contamination to be managed or remediated (e.g. mining companies and the Department of Defence), government regulators (including several state environment protection authorities), and environmental consultancies (the companies that are commissioned to clean up contaminated sites).  The collaborative research and demonstration programs of the Participants of CRC CARE delivered many outstanding innovations for the Participants, their communities and the environment.  A snapshot of the achievements is provided in the infographic brochure.

Support for CRC CARE under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program concluded in mid-2021 and the new crcCARE was launched with the continuing support of a number of key Participants together with new Participants who joined crcCARE for the first time in 2021.

By bringing together these sometimes disparate stakeholders, crcCARE ensures that our researchers work on solving the problems that industry needs solved, and develop technologies and knowledge that are of economic benefit to industry and at the same time enhance or protect human and ecological health.

 

crcCARE company overview

crcCARE Pty Ltd was originally incorporated on 13 September 2005 to carry out the activities of the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment.  It is a limited liability entity with a range of industry, research and government partners (known as Participants). A full list can be found here.

A number of the company’s Participants are also shareholders. The registered office of crcCARE Pty Ltd is at the University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales.

 

crcCARE Pty Ltd holds the Centre assets including intellectual property and equity in other companies as required.

crcCARE’s management structure

crcCARE is governed by a board of directors. crcCARE Directors serve a term of two years with one half by number retiring on the date of each annual general meeting. The Board includes an independent Chairman who is elected annually. A list of the current board members is available here.

How can you collaborate with crcCARE?

There are a number of ways that you can collaborate with crcCARE. To discuss your options please contact Professor Ravi Naidu.

How do I apply for a PhD with crcCARE?The opportunities for PhD projects and funding is constantly changing. The list of current projects is available here.

What is remediation?

Remediation is the act of remediating (cleaning up) and/or containing contaminants so as to minimise their impact on human health and the environment.

Land and water have been contaminated through past activities, and the remediation of such land and water bodies is important for a healthy society.

Although it is impossible to prevent all chemical spills, intentional releases, natural disasters and accidents that lead to contamination, prevention is still a primary goal of most governments and industries.

The process of cleaning up contaminants can involve:

  • removing the contaminated material to a safe site such as a registered landfill or tip
  • treating the contamination on-site to break down the contaminants to safer byproducts
  • treating the contaminants on-site to contain them so they pose little risk
  • treating the contaminated material off-site at treatment centres to break down the contaminants to safer byproducts
  • allowing the contaminants to naturally degrade (not always possible or practical even when the process is accelerated)
  • a combination of the above.