Gvwrrg 2017 (low res)

Addressing the waste challenge Making inroads through innovation, education and collaboration

Goulburn Valley Waste and Resource Recovery Group (GVWRRG) 30 Benalla Rd, Shepparton • PO Box 6919, Shepparton VIC 3630 5822 1300 • www.gvwrrg.vic.gov.au

PAGE 2—‘Waste Management Plan ’, September, 2017

Introducing the GVWRRG From Cobram to Wallan, the Goulburn Valley Waste and Resource Recovery Group (GVWRRG) is leading efforts towards a low-waste society.

Forming a united front and aligning local and state governments, the GVWRRG was established in 2014 as a statutory authority under the Environment Protection Act 1970.

The group brings together six council areas — Campaspe, Mitchell, Moira, Murrindindi, Greater Shepparton and Strathbogie — and is one of seven waste and resource recovery groups throughout Victoria.

GVWRRG board chairperson Seema Abdullah was appointed in May 2017.

“We have such a good balance of experience,” Ms Abdullah said.

“Four members of the board are independent and skills-based whereas the other four are council representatives.”

GVWRRG’s purpose, through collaboration, is to integrate statutory planning for waste and resource recovery, attract investment and market development, maximise resource recovery, minimise waste, improve waste and resource recovery infrastructure, manage residual waste and improve delivery capacity.

Ms Abdullah said there was a lot that could be done.

“As a board our responsibility is more towards the strategic direction rather than the day-to-day operation affairs,” she said.

“One of the important parts is educating the community about waste and about waste management.”

The group also advises councils on best practices and infrastructure with an emphasis on joint procurement in the region for cost efficiency with the community and environment in mind.

The GVRRWG Board recently unveiled a 10-year Goulburn Valley Waste and Resource Recovery Implementation Plan that forms the region’s approach to waste.

“At a group level one of the key objectives is to implement this plan; and every challenge and every opportunity that comes our way, we address that,” Ms Abdullah said.

“We need to ensure in the next 10 years we have less reliance on landfill, which means we have to find more efficient ways to recover resources.”

Recent media coverage has thrown waste management into the spotlight.

Goulburn Valley residents can be proud of the region’s resource recovery performance to date but there is still much to do.

Meet the GVWRRG Board

(Above) With 20 years’ experience as a project manager Seema Abdullah decided she wanted to get involved in the community.

In 2016 she successfully ran in the Greater Shepparton City Council elections.

As a councillor, Ms Abdullah has discovered a passion for waste and was appointed as a council representative on the Goulburn Valley Waste and Resource Recovery Group Board.

She was then ministerially appointed as chairperson and more recently as the chair of the Victorian Waste and Resource Recovery Groups.

GVWRRG objectives • Integrate statutory planning for waste and resource recovery — work to ensure that waste and resource recovery is supported by statutory planning, processes and decisions.

• Attract investment and market development — initiate the provision of high quality planning and advice.

• Maximise resource recovery — maximise the sustainable recovery of material from waste.

• Minimise waste — reduce the generation of waste.

• Improve waste and resource recovery infrastructure — facilitate continual development and improvement of waste and resource recovery infrastructure.

• Manage residual waste — minimise the damage to the environment caused by waste disposal.

Campaspe Shire councillor, Leigh Wilson.

Mitchell Shire councillor, David Lowe.

Murrindindi Shire councillor, Eric Lording.

Deputy chair Geoff Dobson.

Geoff Cobbledick.

Andrea Richards.

• Improve delivery capacity — build capacity and promote best practice in the sector through integrated projects and the provision of expertise and resources.

Anthony Lewis.

‘Waste Management Plan ’, September, 2017—PAGE 3

Resource recovery in action The Goulburn Valley has a total area of more than 21 000 sq kms and spreads across six council areas ranging from Melbourne’s urban fringe to rural areas bordering the Murray River and southern NSW. This diverse area means councils, business and communities engage in a range of measures to minimise waste and its impacts.

• Cobram

CAMPASPE

• Echuca

MOIRA Low contamination Since 2014 Moira Shire has been successful in achieving industry leading low contamination rates, consistently below 0.5 per cent, of its organic kerbside collection.

A continued emphasis on community education has been a significant contributor in achieving this result.

Diverse reprocessing activity The border municipalities of Campaspe and Murray are home to a number of businesses involved in the reprocessing of waste products, particularly plastics, timber, garden and food organics.

• Shepparton

SHEPPARTON Gas collection from landfill • Nagambie • Euroa

STRATHBOGIE Fortnightly collection Strathbogie Shire introduced a fortnightly kerbside waste collection in 2015 to coincide with the launch of its kerbside organic collection.

The introduction of the third bin decreased landfill waste by 47 per cent in 2015–16.

MITCHELL Population growth Mitchell Shire’s population is projected to increase by 145 per cent or nearly 51 000 by 2031.

Planning is under way to ensure the necessary community infrastructure is in place to accommodate this growth in the area of waste management and resource recovery.

• Broadford

• Seymour

Greater Shepparton City Council currently runs a gas collection system at Cosgrove landfill, which generates power that is then put back into the grid.

Running this system significantly reduces the landfill’s gas emissions and the global warming potential.

• Alexandra

MURRINDINDI Boomerang bags The communities of Alexandra, Yea and Kinglake have joined many in the Goulburn Valley to throw their weight behind Boomerang Bags with community members coming together to make the reusable bags from recycled material.

A number of communities across the Goulburn Valley are part of this initiative.

PAGE 4—‘Waste Management Plan ’, September, 2017

Super sustainable schools The future of the environment is in good hands.

Schools throughout the Goulburn Valley are doing their part — reducing waste, saving water, improving biodiversity and saving energy.

ResourceSmart Schools, a Victorian Governmentfunded program run by Sustainability Victoria, has been helping schools create a generational shift.

Hume region co-ordinator and facilitator Alice Russell said the program integrated sustainable practices into everything a school did, including all subjects.

“It integrates sustainability into their curriculum and into policies, teaching, planning and all areas of the school,” Ms Russell said.

“This creates behaviour change with the kids and gives them lifelong learning about sustainability but also helps the school save money by changing their practices and reducing their consumption of energy, water and creation of waste, and improving their biodiversity.”

Ms Russell said it was important to instill sustainable ways of thinking at a young age.

“It’s really normalising sustainability and making it part of their every day,” she said.

“We aim to have kids not even think about recycling, turning lights off, wearing a jumper in winter — things that seem really simple but aren’t done that can make the biggest difference.

“The aim is that when they finish school they use these habits in everyday life and they think about the effect their actions and consumption has on the environment.”

So far, 455 cubic metres of waste has been diverted from landfill through waste reduction and improved recycling and Ms Russell said students were involved in all aspects of the program.

“The schools measure their landfill by going out every week and the kids look at how much is in the wheelie bins before they put them out to get picked up and by how often their skips get picked up,” she said.

“Tracking physically how much is in their bins allows the schools to see just how much is the amount of waste leaving the school.”

Becoming a ResourceSmart School is a no-brainer, and Ms Russell said the program was open to all schools.

Tatura Primary School’s Enviro Kids Sarah Saffron, Chloe Andonoudis and Kalisha Hopson with the bins they use in each classroom — organic, recycling and rubbish.

The facts • 49 schools are involved in the Hume region • 95 tonnes of greenhouses gases are saved • 455 cubic meters of waste diverted • 2418 kl water saved • 28 546 trees planted

Tatura Primary School is leading the charge when it comes to reducing waste.

The school has made a huge improvement in its waste management practices, diverting 21 cubic metres of waste from landfill just by separating its rubbish, getting a productive recycling program up and running and talking to students about where rubbish goes.

Teacher Donna Crosbie said the school was proudly awarded the Waste School of the Year 2017 for the Hume Region.

“We have always recycled, however by introducing the three bin system into each classroom, the physical and visual reminder they represent ensures better waste management,” Mrs Crosbie said.

“Each classroom has a compost caddy, recycling bin and waste bin to sort waste into, which are emptied by a monitor each afternoon.

“In the future we plan to reduce the size of our classroom waste bins and have students take home all lunchbox waste, as we work towards promoting nude food lunchboxes.”

Reconditioning soils in the Goulburn Valley Pig poo might not have the best aroma but it is doing its part to help the environment.

When it comes to creating products from waste that would otherwise be stockpiled and end up in landfill, local businesses such as Goulburn Valley Compost are getting creative.

In 2005 John Day had a lightbulb moment and swapped a profession in civil engineering to focus on creating a product that uses waste no-one else wanted — manure.

“I could see the future was going to be in resource recovery — using products that would otherwise go to landfill,” Mr Day said.

From there the EPA-licenced Euroabased facility Goulburn Valley Compost was born.

The company creates composted soil conditioner.

Mr Day said the key ingredient generally came combined with animal bedding materials such as straw or sawdust and was composted to Australian standards.

“We compost a whole lot of different

manures,” he said.

“We source cattle and sheep manure from various sale yards, pig manure from two large piggeries, horse manure from local horse studs and bio-solids from water authorities.

“These different manures are combined into different blends, adding carbon in the form of clean green waste.

“This is then composted for approximately three months with the result meeting Australian standards.

“It is screened and placed in windrows for a further maturation period.

“It’s stockpiled and ultimately it’s supplied for agriculture applications.”

Goulburn Valley Compost products have been used by cropping, cotton, viticulture, green tea and organic vegetable industries and the Department of Defence with much success, and Mr Day said it was ideal for those who did not want to use synthetic fertilisers.

“All the people are experiencing 17 to 20 per cent increases in yield, and moisture retention has improved dramatically — 10 to 15 per cent,” he said.

“We are converting a waste stream into a natural product that improves the health and vitality of Australian soils.

“We are doing our part for long-term sustainable agriculture in Australia.”

‘Waste Management Plan ’, September, 2017—PAGE 5 Staff sort e-waste at the Echuca Environment Centre.

Ever growing e-waste They don’t make them like they used to when it comes to electronics.

As technology advances and outdated or damaged televisions, computers, whitegoods and the like become replaceable, e-waste has become Australia’s biggest growing waste stream and will continue to put pressure on infrastructure and the environment.

In 2014 the Victorian Government committed to banning e-waste from landfill.

To ensure these items can be recovered in the Goulburn Valley the GVWRRG is helping the six councils undertake substantial upgrades to meet the standards for handling and storing e-waste.

The Shire of Campaspe is leading the way, recycling

80 tonnes of electronic material annually.

During the past four years, it has developed an effective scheme with eight resource recovery centres collecting unwanted televisions, computers and accessories.

Shire of Campaspe waste environment co-ordinator Brian Holmes said all e-waste was consolidated at the Echuca Environment Centre.

“Once we have a B-double load we ship it down to Melbourne,” Mr Holmes said.

“They pull it all apart and more than 95 per cent of that material becomes recycled.

“That could be glass, all types of metals and plastic, and it is made into something else.”

This recycling process employs a social enterprise to

do the manual labour, providing job opportunities for people with disabilities.

Mr Holmes said it was important to keep electronics separate from general waste to avoid it ending up in landfill where recyclable components went to waste and also risked having environmental impacts.

Instead he urges people to drop their unwanted electronics at the Echuca Environment Centre for free or for a small fee at one of the shire’s transfer stations.

With a ban on electronics in landfill imminent, Mr Holmes said it might be an opportunity to expand the scheme.

Materials generated, landfilled and recovered in the GV More than 387 000 tonnes of waste and recovered materials are generated in the Goulburn Valley each year.

The region’s overall recycling rate is 66 per cent, leaving 34 per cent of waste going to landfill.

Greater recovery of valuable resources from waste through development of appropriate and wellsited infrastructure will assist in reducing the 132 000 tonnes of waste sent to landfill.

In recognising waste as a valuable resource and working collaboratively the community is better positioned to achieve good social and environmental outcomes.

Strengthening cross regional partnerships and continued support for investment in technologies that increase resource recovery will play an integral role in the effective management of waste streams as our region continues to grow.

Food Food

Garden

Wood/timber

8% 8%

Other organics

Glass

2% 25%

29% 41%

30 900t 30 900t

20 100t

13 500t

32%

11 000t

61 300t

5400t

59% 71%

92%

Paper/cardboard

Plastics

Rubber

Metals 4%

900t

53 400t

73% 100%

96%

% Recovered Source

Textiles

Other

2%

19%

27%

18 400t

Aggregates, masonry & soil

68%

75%

98%

92%

146 300t 81%

5100t

18 200t

98%

100%

% Landfilled

Generated

Recovered

Landfilled

Recovery rate

96 000

40 000

57 000

42%

Commercial and industrial waste

145 000

97 000

47 000

67%

Construction and demolition waste

146 000

118 000

28 000

81%

Total

387 000

255 000

132 000

66%

Municipal solid waste

PAGE 6—‘Waste Management Plan ’, September, 2017

Innovation for the future As the Goulburn Valley’s waste and resource recovery needs change, local businesses are forced to think outside the box.

Numurkah based DS Kendall Waste Services is using innovative technology to make collecting waste easier through the Shires of Moira and Berrigan.

General manager Joshua Brown said a lifter arm design made the rubbish, recycling and organics pickups simple.

“The bulk of the trucks out there have a clamp system, whereby the lifter arms wrap around the side of the bin, whereas ours have what is called a comb lifter, which picks the bin up on the top lip, which then triggers a suction cup and a top clamp to secure the bin,” Mr Brown said.

“There are no buttons or anything to worry about, it all works off sensors and it’s a one-step motion.

“This is an old design that we have modified and refined to suit our needs.”

Mr Brown said the design increased efficiency by up to 30 per cent compared to using the other clamp style lifter.

He said there are also far less moving parts in the lifters, which increases their longevity.

“We have had some trucks with the other and we find this better for us,” he said.

“If the bins are nearly touching for instance we can get them without trying to squeeze in between like the other style of clamp.

“Our system generally eliminates bins going in the back of the truck, even if they are really heavy.”

The business has also used technology to crack down on contamination in organic and recycling bins.

Through a tough approach, Mr Brown said DS Kendall boasts the industry’s lowest organics contamination rates.

“We’re hard but fair,” he said.

“If we spot contaminants going in with the camera in the back of the truck we stop and depending on if it’s blatant disregard for what should be in that bin...we will suspend that bin, put an orange sticker on there and they have to call the office before their pick up resumes.

“If it’s a mild case...we’ll give them a pamphlet and a chance to do the right thing.

“It’s all about educating people.”

Each of DS Kendall Waste Services’ 12 trucks have a lifter arm designed for efficient rubbish, recycling and organic bin pick-up.

Meeting the demand for waste Mitchell Shire is one of Victoria’s fastest growing municipalities.

Up 17 per cent since 2011, the shire’s population was 40 918 according to the 2016 Census.

Between 2006 and 2016, the population grew 35.5 per cent — an increase of 10 909 people, placing it in the top 10 across the state.

It is expected the northern growth corridor, including Beveridge and Wallan, will reach 153 000 people in the next 30 years — more people than the municipal district of the City of Melbourne has now.

In that time, the entire Mitchell Shire is expected to become home to 210 000 people.

Critical to the management of waste is the rapidly growing population in the south, particularly areas around Wallan, which is part of the city fringe with growth spreading north from Craigieburn and west from Whittlesea and Upper Plenty.

The population growth puts significant pressure on Mitchell Shire Council’s waste management facilities to the point where existing sites at Wallan, Broadford and Seymour will not have the capacity to manage waste and recycling needs into the future.

During the next 10 years Mitchell Shire Council will employ a strategy to redevelop and/or relocate these facilities to ensure the needs of the community can be met.

Key projects include the rehabilitation and capping of the former Seymour Landfill, capping of closed cells at Mitchell Landfill, construction of four future cells at Mitchell Landfill, development of a new Seymour Resource Recovery Centre, Broadford Resource Recovery Centre and upgrade and expansion of the current Wallan Resource Recovery Centre to meet population growth.

Significant planning for future waste infrastructure needs for the Beveridge and Kilmore communities is also under way.

The council is undertaking the planning, upgrade and development of existing and new sites to ensure maximum resource recovery is achieved and less waste is sent to landfill.

It will also develop economic strategies to increase business opportunities in the waste sector and to ensure that the infrastructure, transport and logistics related to the waste generation of a rapidly growing community can be met through opportunities with the private sector, with a focus on regional job generation.

Economic benefits Apart from being important from an environmental sustainability perspective, resource recovery can be a community and economic development driver through its employment generation potential.

It is estimated that recycling creates 9.2 jobs for every 10 000 tonnes of waste processed in comparison to creating only 2.8 jobs if this waste is landfilled.

Operational employment within the sector currently supports about 800 FTE jobs across the region and this is set to increase by 175 to 975 by 2025.

‘Waste Management Plan ’, September, 2017—PAGE 7

The waste and recycling journey During the next 15 years the Goulburn Valley’s population is projected to grow from 195 000 to 263 000, and with this waste volumes will grow too.

By 2045 it is projected waste volumes will grow by nearly 65 per cent.

It is imperative everyone does their bit, so follow the journey of waste and recyclables to find out how you can help.

Kerbside organic waste

Kerbside recycling

Kerbside services: 38 757 Tonnes collected: 13 900

Kerbside waste

Kerbside services: 80 868 Tonnes collected: 20 245

Organic and green waste turned into compost.

Kerbside services: 81 475 Tonnes collected: 40 670

Materials transported to a materials recovery facility where they are cleaned and sorted by weight, size and density.

Waste from kerbside waste collection is sent to landfill.

Compost reused in agriculture and gardening.

Different types of organic collections are in place in Moira, Strahbogie, Campaspe and Greater Shepparton.

These items are reprocessed into a range of products that people use in everyday life.

Recovered materials are sorted for re-manufacturing and may be exported interstate or overseas and re-enter the global marketplace.

Overtime, landfills release methane into the environment.

Reprocessing occurs and products are used in households, factories, business, government and construction.

Paper and cardboard

Glass

Metals

Plastics

Rubber

Eg. Newspaper

Eg. Glass jars and bottles

Eg. Bikes, guttering, cans

Eg. Plastic barrels and bottles

Eg. Rubber mat

PAGE 8—‘Waste Management Plan ’, September, 2017 RPM Pipe owners Terry and Lauren Kay.

The milk bottle reborn Each year RPM Pipe saves hundreds of tonnes of plastic from ending up in landfill by transforming recyclables into plastic pipes.

milk bottles in raw form — we process that into a flake, manufacture the pipe and then deliver it out to our customers and resellers.

“On average there is about 23 000 milk bottles to a tonne, so every pipe has several thousand milk bottles in it.”

A player in the recycling game since its infancy, Mr Kay said RPM Pipes had developed the pipe production process from scratch.

“We were selling a virgin poly pipe and my dad just thought it couldn’t be that hard to make a recycled plastic pipe,” he said.

“It was 1997 when we first started; the first pipe was only about 100 mm in diameter and about 250 mm long.

“It was really trial and error, especially in the early days.”

As the public has become more recycling conscious, RPM Pipe has been able to expand and tackle one of the major problems faced when recycling plastics.

Owners Terry and Lauren Kay are proud to produce 100 per cent recycled pipes for cultivates, crossings, flood irrigation and drainage.

The innovative product is made from common household items such as milk bottles, cleaning product bottles and shampoo bottles collected from kerbside recycling, combined with objects such as wheelie bins and poly water tanks direct from industry or plastic traders.

“We use all high-density polyethylene, HDPE, which is number two in the recycled system,” Mr Kay said.

“We take the bulk recycled product — wheelie bins,

While the business only uses HDPE plastic to create its pipes, Mr Kay said it was now also processing other plastics from the Goulburn Valley into flake.

“We also do recycling of other plastics that we can’t use ourselves and we sell it off to people who can use it,” he said.

“Because plastic is so light and bulky you can’t transport it too far before it becomes unprofitable to do.

“RPM can process it for transport so it’s more affordable.”

The company is in the process of widening its capabilities to handle bigger quantities and more varieties of plastic, aiming to recover more material from landfill.

The composition of landfill waste Aggregates — masonry and soil — and food are the two largest material categories that end up in landfill.

While food, garden and timber organic materials make up 35 per cent of material entering landfill, these areas offer significant recovery opportunities for the future.

Other 14% Food 22% Textiles 4%

Garden 6% Aggregates, masonry and soil 22% Wood/timber 7%

Metals 2%

Plastics 10%

Paper/cardboard 12%

Glass 2%

‘Waste Management Plan ’, September, 2017—PAGE 9

Food for thought

Domestic waste to landfill During the past 15 years the Goulburn Valley has experienced a flat trend in domestic waste to landfill, despite more than 20 000 additional homes being provided with kerbside collection services.

This has only been possible thanks to the efforts of councils in providing quality waste services, community education and continuous improvement.

Murray and Cathrien Macague from Christian Heart — Open Hand Services Victoria collecting food.

90000 80000 70000 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0

2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

But it is much more than a supermarket.

Every year the community organisation prevents 300 000 kg of food from going to waste.

“Every day our FoodShare van goes out to our eight local supermarkets and collects food that would otherwise go into landfill; and provided that it’s before its use-by date or around its best-before date we can extend the life of those products,” FoodShare chief executive officer Bec Nicoll said.

“We collect around 10 000 kg from the supermarkets every month.

“Then there are products that are donated from local manufacturers SPC, Campbells, UniLever and from time to time other local manufacturers and growers — that equates to about 20 000 kg a month.”

It is not just food waste that the initiative saves from landfill but also the packaging that it comes in.

Ms Nicolls said Shepparton FoodShare did everything it could to reduce waste, with only four per cent of what

it collects going to landfill.

“All of the compostable stuff goes to a local pig farmer, all of the packaging goes into the recycling streams,” she said.

“We’re collecting about 10 kg of plastic.

“There is stuff that has to go into landfill like meat and dairy products that is past its use-by date, and soiled packaging.”

While Shepparton FoodShare is doing its best to reduce waste, its top priority is making food available for all.

“Our key reason for existing is to make sure there is a sustainable supply of nutritious food for people in the Goulburn Valley community,” she said.

“We have over 85 agencies that are registered, over 30 welfare agencies, over 20 schools and about 15 church organisations that come and collect food.

“They are providing food to people who are on low incomes or have no incomes at all, people who are sleeping rough or living on the river, kids who turn up to school without breakfast and lunch, and emergency relief programs.”

Ms Nicolls said more than 20 volunteers put in more than 100 hours of labour each week to make Shepparton FoodShare’s work possible.

Tonnes/Number

With rows of canned goods, plenty of fruit and vegetables, fresh bread and dairy products, walking into Shepparton FoodShare is like walking into any supermarket.

Shepparton FoodShare volunteer Geoffrey McKinnon hard at work.

Number of kerbside garbage services

Tonnes domestic waste to landfill

PAGE 10—‘Waste Management Plan ’, September, 2017

Recycling drums is a MUST The 30 millionth container has been collected by Agsafe’s national drumMUSTER program at a Cosgrove property, backing up the not-for-profit organisation’s commitment to recycling and improving the environment.

Having started in 1999, the program allows farmers to drop off their unwanted, empty chemical containers, to be recycled and made into other products, rather than being buried or burned.

“The benefits for farmers is that the program gives them a sustainable choice with what they can do with

their metal and plastic containers so there is no burning or burying,” Agsafe communications officer Desiree Caira said.

Since the program’s inception, drumMUSTER has saved councils $31 million in landfill costs by recycling chemical containers into all kinds of products.

“Eligible drums are shredded, granulated, processed into pellets via heat extrusion, then sold to manufacturers to make wheelie bins, public furniture, pipes, fencing, road markers and construction materials,” Mrs Caira said.

Dookie Lions Club, which hosted the 30 millionth celebration, has been involved in the program since 2013 and has collected about 40 000 drums, while the

Goulburn Valley has contributed 655 865 drums during the years.

Dookie Lions Club member Peter McManus said it was a privilege for the small rural club to be involved in such a significant event.

“Farmers tell us they’re so pleased to get rid of their accumulated empty drums as they want to reduce their on-farm waste in an ethical way,” Mr McManus said.

“And it makes farmers happy that their efforts result in financial benefits for their community.”

Through the program, Dookie Lions Club has earned $10 000 in inspection fees, which it put towards a public fitness station.

Dookie Lions Club helps rid farmers of unwanted empty chemical containers, which are recycled and made into other products through Agsafe’s national drumMUSTER program.

BIOMIX Composts and Mulches • Building soil health • Improving fertility & soil structure • Organic inputs for Crops, Pastures, Horticulture, Viticulture, and vegetables • Boosting soil water retention

WE ARE PROUD TO BE A FINALIST IN TH E AGRI-BUSINESS GMCU BUSINES S AWARDS • Compliant with AS4454 and NASAA certiƓed • Increasing plant nutrients • BeneƓcial for water inƓltration • Aiding disease suppression

980 Two Tree Rd, Carag Carag Contact: 0488 993 066 CertiƓcation www.biomix.com.au Number 3868M

Each drum is shredded, granulated, processed into pellets via heat extrusion and then sold to manufacturers.

‘Waste Management Plan ’, September, 2017—PAGE 11

A plan for the future More than 195 000 people call the Goulburn Valley home but as the population grows, so does the need for effective waste management.

The Goulburn Valley Waste and Resource Recovery Implementation Plan (GV Implementation Plan) creates a vision for the future.

The plan ensures demand will be met during at least the next 10 years and outlines the vision and strategy for managing the region’s waste.

GVWRRG chairperson Seema Abdullah said the population was expected to grow by 42 per cent by 2031.

“Because of the population growth we can anticipate the volume of waste that will be generated in the future,” Ms Abdullah said.

By 2025 the Goulburn Valley can expect the amount of waste generated across the region to grow to 464 000 tonnes and Ms Abdullah said it is important thought goes into how to manage this increased waste.

The GV Implementation Plan sets out five strategic objectives: • Maximise diversion of recoverable materials from landfills • Support increased resource recovery • Achieve quantities for reprocessing • Manage waste and material streams • Maximise economic outcomes To fulfill these objectives GVRRWG has set out a 13step action plan. e The action plan identifies the region’s needs and where there is insufficient infrastructure including in the areas of e-waste, tyres, textiles, food and garden organic and sorting facilities for industrial waste.

There are also opportunities to increase capacity to recover or process more wood and timber, plastics, aggregates, masonry and soil.

Ms Abdullah said the GV Implementation Plan’s main goal was to reduce reliance on landfill while developing ways of recovering waste.

“It’s very important for the community to understand the significance of this plan because this plan is going to minimise the landfill waste and maximise the resource recovery which means the environment and public health will be less impacted,” she said.

Two decades of waste and recovery November will mark 20 years of regional waste management in Victoria.

This milestone spans the GV Regional Waste Management Group entity which was gazetted in 1997, and the GVWRRG which was formed after significant reforms in 2014.

Murrindindi Shire Council chief executive officer Margaret Abbey congratulated the GVWRRG on its achievements.

“On behalf of the six councils involved in the Waste and Resource Recovery Group, I would like to

congratulate the board and staff on reaching this milestone,” Ms Abbey said.

“Over the journey this has been a small but dedicated team of professionals that have provided a forum to support vital council operations and resulted in better practice in waste infrastructure and services.

“The assistance we get from our contact with the group helps us meet the needs and expectations of our community.

“In addition to this the support provided by the group helps to ensure continued support for recyclers and market development.”

Waste & Recycle Services and Solutions HOOKLIFT BINS • FRONTLIFT BINS • BUILDERS WASTE • PLASTER • CARDBOARD • PLASTIC • FOOD WASTE • SECURE WASTE • FREE ADVICE

- Locally Owned & Managed Since 1991 Shepparton, Mooroopna, Tatura, Kyabram, Echuca, Nathalia, Numurkah, Cobram, Yarrawonga, Seymour, Nagambie

Benalla

Benalla, Wangaratta, Glenrowan, Milawa, Mansfield, Alexandra, Euroa

03 5831 3711

Murrindindi Shire Council chief executive officer Margaret Abbey

Better Pipes. Better Price.

Better for the Environment.

We manufacture pipe and specialist products for: • Flood irrigation • Drainage and stormwater • Feed and water troughs For all new reseller enquiries, custom enquiries or to Ƃnd your nearest stockist call us on: 1300 890 979 or email us at admin@rpmpipe.com.au www.rpmpipes.com.au

Litter

Medicine

Report litter on 1300 372 842 or www.epa.vic.gov.au/getinvolved/report-litter

Return unwanted medicines to your pharmacist. www.returnmed.com.au

Product selection

Food waste Check out the Love Food Hate Waste campaign at www.lovefoodhatewaste.vic.gov.au

Mobile Muster

Choose environmentally friendly goods and services. For more information go to www.geca.eco

Abestos For advice and information about the risks of asbestos go to www.asbestos.vic.gov.au

Product stewardship program www.mobilemuster.com.au

Detox Your Home

Organics To learn more about the Back to Earth initiative go to www.backtoearth.vic.gov.au

Go to www.sustainability.vic.gov. au/detoxyourhome for more on toxic chemicals in the home.

ChemClear For more information on unwanted and deregistered agricultural chemicals go to www.chemclear.org.au

To learn more about waste management and resource recovery in Victoria go to:

www.sustainability.vic.gov.au

www.delwp.vic.gov.au

www.epa.vic.gov.au

www.gvwrrg.vic.gov.au