Episode 114: Simon Wynn-Taylor from Steritech, Merrifield, VIC

Ben’s guest in this episode of the Bees with Ben podcast is Simon Wynn-Taylor from Steritech. The company’s website (steritech.com.au) details some of the history of this family-owned Australian business, which emerged in Melbourne in the 1970s as the pioneer for gamma irradiation processing and has continued to pave the way for sterilization and decontamination processing. Steritech now operates 3 gamma irradiation plants and 6 ethylene oxide sterilization chambers across 4 sites in Melbourne, New South Wales and Queensland, and is the most prominent contract sterilization and decontamination processor in the Asia-Pacific region, and one of the world’s largest. The business services an extensive variety of industries and companies worldwide and routinely processes over 1,000 different products. For the agricultural sector, this means the safe and effective elimination of contamination and pests, in order to meet biosecurity and quarantine requirements and allow export both within Australia and overseas. Steritech introduced the first whole pallet irradiator customised to treat fresh fruits and vegetables in the world, located in Queensland. The facility provides phytosanitary treatments for fresh produce that does not require the cold chain to be broken during treatment and is a valuable tool for pursuing the highest possible quality and freshness. Similarly, Steritech’s sterilization processes have important applications in the fields of medicine, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics by minimizing any risks associated with microbiological contamination. The company provides essential treatments for imported goods, as well as assisting to keep a large range of pet foods and packaging also free from contamination. But what about beekeepers? Well, gamma radiation has been proven to be the most effective method of eliminating pathogens and insects from contaminated equipment, meaning that in many instances beekeepers can avoid the costly exercise of replacing hives. Gamma irradiation kills small hive beetle, American foulbrood and European foulbrood, amongst other pests, and is used by many beekeepers as an important form of regular maintenance. Incidentally, it was back in 1982, during a large outbreak of AFB, that Steritech was involved in the first commercial gamma irradiation of bee boxes in the world, when 1,400 boxes were treated as an alternative to simply burning them. Since then, Steritech has successfully treated hundreds of thousands of hives, and the process is recognized by all relevant state departments as a proven method of eliminating AFB and EFB. Unlike chemical treatments, which may not reach every part of the equipment, gamma irradiation penetrates all areas of the bee equipment and leaves no residues. Ben says he gets about half a dozen pallets ‘zapped’ per year and has been using the process for many years. Simon operates from the relatively new facility in Maryfield, on the northern outskirts of Melbourne, which is situated about 20 minutes from the large fresh produce market at Epping. Sterilization treatments are particularly instrumental in preventing the spread of fruit fly and thereby ensuring that local produce can be exported to other important markets. Simon says the concrete bunker at Maryfield which ensures that all radiation is contained has walls up to 5 metres thick, and that the amount of concrete used in its construction was equivalent to one concrete truck every 30 minutes for 30 days! He says it is important to remember that Steritech is happy to service all customers - down to the smallest of beekeepers. And the strangest thing he has had to treat? It’s hard to beat the Swedish metal band whose guitars had to be irradiated since they were covered in animal blood! For further details visit steritech.com.au