FEATURE STORY expansion of Nambour’s landfill and endorsing a plan to include a “generation plant that will convert methane gas produced by the landfill into electricity to supply the local power grid”. The expansion is expected to allow the site to meet the region’s waste disposal needs for at least the next 22 years, when an estimated 493,000 people will call the Sunshine Coast home. The plan also provides scope for a future resource recovery centre, an environmental education facility, recycled goods shop and other associated uses. Division nine councillor Steve Robinson says a number of changes were made to the application in response to the submissions received during the material change of use period, including placing conditions on the approval to address environmental and amenity concerns. “The approved proposal will benefit the community by providing certainty for our region’s ability to sustainably manage waste into the future,” he says. “To ensure transparency and integrity of the assessment process, this application was assessed by an independent third-party agency and the relevant state government agencies.” Even as the Ipswich City Council temporarily canned their recycling program, sending at least four days’ worth of recycling to landfill before reinstating the program, the Sunshine Coast Council has remained strong in its resolve to continue and strengthen the service. “On the Sunshine Coast, we have been relatively insulated to date from these impacts as the council has its own Material Recovery Facility (MRF) for the primary sorting of material from yellow-top recycling bins,” a council spokesperson says. “Australian and international recycling markets are volatile, with market fluctuations impacting on recycled waste commodity prices regularly. The decision by China to no longer receive a large proportion of recyclable materials for reprocessing has introduced another level of volatility and complexity to the industry, nationally and internationally. “This issue is also being felt by councils
HELLO YELLOW
Once your yellow bin is emptied into the recycling truck each fortnight, the contents are taken to the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) at the Nambour Landfill and Resource Recovery Centre. The MRF processes approximately 3000 tonnes of recyclable material a month, with only material too contaminated to recycle sent to landfill. The MRF receives commingled recyclables and these items are separated into material types using both mechanical and manual processes. Once sorted the material is sent to secondary processing facilities in Australia and in some instances overseas by Sunshine Coast Council’s contractor Visy.
across Australia to varying degrees, with local government associations – particularly the LGAQ – highlighting this as a concern to the federal and state governments. “The development of suitable on-shore processing facilities is necessary, and this is just one area where collaboration by all tiers of government is vital in resolving this matter.” The council has invested more than $30 million developing new resource recovery facilities since the adoption of the 2009-14 Waste Minimisation Strategy, establishing innovative waste management contracts, increasing landfill capacity and investigating a range of alternative waste management initiatives. With a renewed strategy covering 2015-2025 now in place, the council spokesperson says there are a range of priorities, including support for remanufacturing and purchase of recyclable products here on the Coast. The spokesperson says residents should maintain their commitment to recycling at home and in the workplace in order to reduce
the waste that ends up in landfill and where possible, reduce the amount of waste they produce, reuse items and buy recycled products. While this is going on at a local level, peak recycling industry association Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) is advocating a National Circular Economy and Recycling Plan. It proposes a one-off investment of $150 million in the nation’s recycling infrastructure, which it claims will allow half of the material previously exported to China to remain in Australian and made into new recycled content products, creating up to 500 jobs. ACOR’s $150 million proposal includes $28 million on harmonising the recycling and waste collection systems across the nation, producing clear and identical information for everyone and running an information campaign. It would like to see a further $33 million on upgrading recycling sorting centres with new robotic sorting machines, better filters and more workers. The expansion of paper pulp mills and building new centres that grind plastic and glass into pellets would cost $57 million and a further $32 million would be spent on promoting and implementing the use of raw materials for infrastructure. ACOR CEO Pete Shmigel says his organisation has had increased support from the Australian public to see a first-ever national plan for recycling, governments buying more recycled content products, and making it compulsory for the packaging industry to produce goods that are both recyclable and contain recycled content. “The community knows recycling makes sense and that’s why they participate. They have made the system strong over 30 years and it’s up to ministers to future-focus recycling for its next 30 years as a domestic industry that’s a key part of a circular economy,” Mr Shmigel says. “The right chords have been struck by [the Federal Government] about investing in recycling’s future, but we did not hear two very important sounds – implementation details and dollars in the till.”
HOW TO BE A BETTER RECYCLER
Do put in the yellow bin: • Paper and cardboard • Glass bottles and jars • Steel and aluminium cans • Plastic containers with the number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 inside the recycling triangle. • Milk and juice cartons
Don’t put in the yellow bin: • Light bulbs, drinking glasses, mirrors or window glass. • Ceramics and cutlery • Styrofoam, polystyrene and nappies • Plastic bags, glad wrap and bubble wrap • Batteries, e-waste and appliances • Food and garden waste • Plastic containers with an identifying number 7 inside the recycling triangle. Recycling tips: Any material recycled should be clean of food scraps and dry when placed in the bin. Remember that lids from bottles and jars need to be removed and thrown into the general waste bin as they cause problems during the recycling process.
Items that can be taken to a council Resource Recovery Centre or Transfer Station for free: • Metal objects such as roofing iron, car exhausts and some white goods • Clothing and clean rags • Engine oil, paint and chemicals in domestic quantities • Items that can be sold via recycle markets such as furniture, toys and building materials, plus e-waste and mattresses.
Visit sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au and search ‘Waste and Recycling’ for more in-depth information.
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