Technology and innovation to drive five-year waste plan

Turning waste into a resource is central to Council’s new five-year plan for waste and recycling. 

Boosting recycling and keeping more material from ending up in landfill are key goals of Council's new waste plan.

Exploring new technology and forging new partnerships to boost recycling and keep more material from ending up in landfill are key actions.

“The state requires all councils to have a waste plan and to renew it regularly. Built into our refreshed plan – From Waste to Resource  - is a strong focus on technology, new recycling and reuse opportunities and the forging of partnerships with other councils to deliver it,” Mayor Clare Stewart said.

The plan will build on recent new innovations, including launch of a polystyrene thermal compaction machine at Council’s Resource Recovery Centre.

“The machine melts down the polystyrene to create a resource useful for manufacturing new products. Keeping this material out of our landfill is set to save Council around $380,000 a year in landfill costs,” Cr Stewart said.

“So, it’s a great launchpad for the next five years. As a result of our new MoU with Gympie Regional Council, we’re also processing their polystyrene waste in a circular-economy partnership that benefits both councils. These are the sorts of initiatives residents can expect to see more of.”

With organic waste still a big part of most wheelie bin contents, and a major contributor to emissions, the plan commits Council to explore ways to divert food waste from landfill.

“We diverted green waste from landfill in  2017 with the broad rollout of garden waste bins, and we were a leader, if not the first in Queensland, to be doing that,” Waste and Resource Recovery Manager Kyrone Dodd said.

“Food waste accounts for around 40% of a typical wheelie bin’s content. As it breaks down in landfill, that food waste accounts for a significant 63% of Council’s emissions,” he said. 

“Under our new plan we’ll be investigating ways for processing food waste and the new infrastructure needed to make it happen.”

Mayor Stewart praised the community for helping draft and refine the From Waste to Resource document, which Council adopted with a unanimous vote on Thursday.

“Feedback from our community showed strong support for the Waste Hierarchy Principles that encourage avoidance of waste in the first place, reuse, recycling, the use of waste to make energy, with landfill as a last resort,” Cr Stewart said.

“There was also strong support for us all taking personal responsibility for minimising waste.