Public Exhibition - Waste Management Strategy

Status update

The outcomes of the Waste Strategy 2021-2040 public exhibition is being considered at Council’s Environment and Planning Committee on 8 March 2021. Further information and details of the Agenda is available at the following link: http://www.georgesriver.nsw.gov.au/Council/About-Your-Council/Council-Meetings

Consultation Period: 11 August to 30 September 2020

Council engaged a consultant to assist with the development of a robust and thorough draft Waste Strategy for the Georges River Local Government Area. The draft Waste Strategy outlines the future direction of Council over the next 20 years in sustainably managing waste generated by the community in the future. The draft Waste Strategy includes collections, processing, treatment and disposal options for all identified future and current waste streams, including general waste, organics, commingled recyclables and hazardous wastes.

The draft Waste Strategy outlines Council’s proposed vision for resource recovery and waste management: to continually improve on a reliable environmental and economically sustainable waste management system for Georges River Council residents.

The vision is proposed to be achieved by working towards the following three objectives:

• Improving amenity and environmental management
• Optimising waste management costs and fostering adaptive waste management contracts
• Supporting and implementing innovative waste management initiatives.

The draft Waste Strategy also outlines 16 key actions for Council to consider implementing in order to deliver the Waste Strategy and work towards the strategic vision, recommended for implementation over a five year period.

1. Trial and if successful then implement food organic/garden organic (FOGO) collections for all single unit dwellings (SUDs) and opt in service for multi-unit dwellings (MUDs) and businesses;
2. Develop and implement an education campaign to move recyclables from the general waste bin into the recycling bin and reduce contamination in the recycling bin;
3. Conduct competitive tender processes (potentially through joint procurement) for upcoming collection and processing contracts;
4. Draft flexible contracts for future general waste and recycling bins for processing/disposal to allow Council to transition alternate processing/disposal options such as Energy from Waste (EfW);
5. Finalise and publish the waste management conditions in the Georges River Council Development Control Plan;
6. Develop a new database to compile all relevant waste management contract information in one place and require all new waste management contracts to have specific reporting requirements to ensure the Waste Service Provider captures the necessary data and it is clearly presented;
7. Continue to monitor and apply for NSW and Commonwealth government grants to improve waste management outcomes for Georges River Council;
8. Undertake direct community consultation to inform the waste services tender for after 2021;
9. Develop a contamination management procedure with the recycling collections and processing contractors to reduce contamination in the recycling bin (average contamination rate of 32.6%) and FOGO trial through the use of enforcement policies such as the 3-strike rule with a focus on MUDs;
10. Conduct a review to determine if the existing Georges River Council resources to combat illegal dumping are sufficient to meet the desired targets for the local environment detailed in the Community Strategic Plan including an assessment of the value for money of Council’s partnership with the local Regional Illegal Dumping (RID) squad;
11. Conduct an assessment of Council’s litter management infrastructure to prevent the occurrence of litter items and to capture them before entering the environment including a review to determine optimal placement and sufficient capacity of public place litter bins and gross pollutant traps;
12. Investigate user pay principles for residential and commercial waste collections (including additional household clean up material collections) to incentivise waste minimisation;
13. Document and report the climate change benefits associated with capturing the embodied energy of recyclables and of diverting organics from landfill;
14. Develop a regional commercial food collection contract and develop local policies to maximise commercial food diversion from landfill;
15. Develop a regional policy and review collective procurement arrangements for alternative waste technologies (Anaerobic Digestion (AD), pyrolysis etc.) and EfW; and
16. Develop a regional Sustainable Procurement Policy with partners (SSROC) which requires minimum percentage recycled content in construction contracts, preferentially purchases local content (compost etc.) and imbeds recycled content (e.g. glass) into road building contracts.

In summary, the Strategy offers to:

• Document existing services provided by Council to the community;
• Outline the recommended future direction in the format of visions and objectives for Council’s provision of waste services;
• Detail the actions required to meet the strategic vision and objectives, and;
• Outline measures for success.