New technology used to recover and recycle bulk verge rubbish streams has put the City of Nedlands a significant step closer towards achieving the Western Australian Government’s target of diverting 65 per cent of all waste from landfill by 2020.
The technology enables the City to recover household furniture, whitegoods and metal products with minimal contamination.
All waste brought in from collection vehicles undergoes an initial inspection for non-conforming items, followed by the extraction of oversized goods before recyclables undergo a multi-staged segregation process.
Under the new bulk collection and disposal arrangements introduced in 2016-17, 748 tonnes of hard waste and 722 tonnes of green waste was collected from City verges in four weeks – resulting in a 92 per cent recovery rate from landfill.
By comparison, the 2015-16 bulk collection was done over eight weeks and achieved a 52 per cent recovery rate.
City of Nedlands Mayor Max Hipkins said the new arrangement had significantly reduced the need for illegal dumping.
“This is reflected in the reduced tonnages collected which, consequently, has meant a lower cost for the City,” he said.
“The bulk collection waste stream represents 12 per cent of the City’s total waste collection, 92 per cent of which is recycled or recovered.
“We’ve had an increase of five per cent on the City’s overall recovery rate, meaning we achieved 54 per cent overall waste diversion in the past financial year compared to WA’s average rate of 36 per cent.”
Mayor Hipkins said the City’s waste management service was in a strong position and continued to make savings for the City’s ratepayers by achieving cost-effective outcomes.
“Since the state government increased the landfill levy, it’s been essential for the City to reduce the need to dispose of waste produced within its limits to maintain lower waste charges for ratepayers,” he said.
“Our new bulk collection and disposal contract has resulted in a decrease of more than 160 tonnes of waste to landfill and a reduction in collection and disposal costs of about $75,500 compared to the previous year.”
Mayor Hipkins said the council’s message is to encourage waste materials to be thought of in terms of a resource to be recovered, reused and recycled wherever possible.
“Our contractor has also advised that 95 per cent of glass collected as part of our recycling program is currently re-used in a road construction material.”