South Australians have recycled, reused and recovered their way to the best diversion rates on record, with 83.8 per cent of all waste diverted from landfill in 2018-19.
South Australia
SA becomes first state in Australia to ban single-use plastics
South Australia has become the first state in the country to ban single-use plastics, with legislation passed in parliament 9 September.
Read moreSA becomes first state in Australia to ban single-use plastics
Recycling Precinct delivering for the road network: Tyrecycle
South Australia’s new $5 million Asphalt Manufacturing Plant will substantially increase the amount of high-performance recycled materials in local road construction.
Read moreRecycling Precinct delivering for the road network: Tyrecycle
LGA SA procurement project buys 17,000T of recycled material
Nine South Australian councils have bought more than 17,000 tonnes of recycled materials during the first six months of a circular procurement pilot project.
Read moreLGA SA procurement project buys 17,000T of recycled material
Veolia opens new Waste and Resource Transfer Station in SA
Whyalla Council’s Mount Laura Waste and Resource Recovery Centre has closed its gates to the public for the last time, as the city transitions to a new model of waste management and disposal.
Read moreVeolia opens new Waste and Resource Transfer Station in SA
SA launches new Which Bin campaign and draft waste strategies
The South Australian Government has launched a new Which Bin campaign to encourage South Australians to improve their household waste management.
According to Environment Minister David Speirs, the new statewide Which Bin campaign builds on the award-winning 2019 education program, which follows Vin and his family in their quest to recycle more effectively.
Read moreSA launches new Which Bin campaign and draft waste strategies
SA’s peak waste and recycling industry association welcomes new EO
South Australia’s Waste and Recycling Industry Association (WRISA) is set to strengthen its position, with a sharpened focus on its role as an industry advocate.
Read moreSA’s peak waste and recycling industry association welcomes new EO
Parliament passes National Radioactive Waste Bill
The National Radioactive Waste Management Amendment (Site Specification, Community Fund and Other Measures) Bill has passed through the Federal House of Representatives.
SA allocates $1.6M in funding to tackle waste spike
Household waste production has spiked in South Australia, with more people staying home due to COVID-19.
Read moreSA allocates $1.6M in funding to tackle waste spike
SA launches FOGO research to combat household compost
A new South Australian research project is aiming to encourage efficient FOGO disposal by understanding household behaviours around food waste.
The what, where, and why of Household Food Waste Behaviour project is in collaboration with the Fight Food Waste CRC, East Waste, the University of Adelaide, Green Industries SA and sub-contractor Rawtec.
Building on existing international research, the project will utilise detailed micro-waste auditing, ongoing waste disposal monitoring technology and novel household surveys from a broad cross-section of the community, to develop a comprehensive report on household food waste bin behaviour.
Fight Food Waste CRC outlined in its plan that ultimately the project aims to successfully change household food waste behaviour in the long-term to achieve the recycling of food waste into a valuable commodity as opposed to sending it to landfill.
“Whilst this project will be focussed on Adelaide, similar benefits can be expected for councils in other Australian cities,” Fight Food Waste CRC said in its project plan.
Fraser Bell, East Waste Chair said that diverting food waste from landfill represents the single biggest financial and environmental opportunity for councils.
“Food waste is a valuable commodity and we hope to improve household bin disposal behaviour,” Bell said.
“Through this new research, we will build a picture of the behaviour of our residents, including the levers that can influence positive and sustainable changes in their practices moving forward.”
Dr Steven Lapidge, Fight Food Waste CRC Chief Executive Officer, said this SA project complements the Fight Food Waste CRC’s national research efforts focused on household food waste behaviour change.
“This is a big opportunity for Australians to save money through reducing household food waste, as well as to divert as much unavoidable food waste from landfill,” he said.
“Local governments across Australia can learn from this leading research project.”
Following this research project, the City of Mount Gambier has introduced a universal FOGO service for residential properties due to recently receiving $32,954 towards the initiative via the State Government Kerbside Performance Plus (Food Organics) Incentives Program.
City of Mount Gambier residents will no longer have to pay an additional fee to subscribe to the kerbside FOGO bin service from 1 July 2020, with council endorsing a plan to absorb the cost of the service into general rates for residential properties.
To date the service has been provided by council on an ‘opt in’ basis whereby residents subscribe through an annual payment of $85.00. Under the change residents will only be required to pay an initial fee to cover the cost of the official green organics bin if they do not already have one.
The most recent kerbside bin audit conducted by council staff indicated that on average 45 per cent of household waste going to landfill is organic matter that could be diverted and recycled through composting.
With 6,853 households currently subscribed to the service and the number set to increase, it is forecast the change will represent a loss of more than $500,000 from council’s operating revenue that will be absorbed through rate revenue.
Nick Serle, City of Mount Gambier General Manager City Infrastructure, said It is much more cost effective for council to dispose of organic matter to a commercial composting operation than it is for it to end up in landfill where it decreases the life of each cell and increases the emission of harmful greenhouse gases.
“This is a large investment however we are confident the savings and environmental benefits that will result from less organic matter entering and contaminating landfill will far outweigh the initial loss of income.”
He said the technology installed on the waste trucks will enable the contents of all bins to be closely monitored.
It is anticipated that by reducing the barriers to accessing the FOGO service that residents will be able to experience first-hand how easily they can reduce their volume of general waste simply by sorting it into the appropriate stream.
Lynette Martin OAM, City of Mount Gambier Mayor, said she is confident residents will see a big reduction in their general waste each week, just by utilising the kitchen caddy system.
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