Queanbeyan

Indicator: Solid Waste

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What the results tell us for Queanbeyan

The amount of waste generated by Queanbeyan Council area residents has risen a small amount over the reporting period. About half of the waste stream in the Queanbeyan area is recycled, including garden organics, and the remainder goes to landfill in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

The waste stream

Urban residents of the Queanbeyan Council area have a three bin waste and recycling collection system, and have access to two bulk collections of household waste from their property each year. Household garbage is collected weekly, recycling fortnightly and most households have a ‘greenwaste’ bin for recycling garden organics, which is also collected fortnightly. Rural residents organise their own waste collection privately, or deliver it to landfill themselves, and have access to drop off points for recyclables. All residents may drop off additional green waste at the City Council's processing facility in Queanbeyan. Collected green waste is processed by Council into landscaping products and then sold at low cost to residents or used in maintenance of public gardens and sports ovals. There are no active landfills in the Queanbeyan Council area. Council and residents transport waste to landfill a short distance into Canberra and use the landfill at Symonston. Collected recyclables are also transported into Canberra for processing.

The total waste that needed to be addressed by the City Council in 2007-08 was 15,841 tonnes (Table 1). While this amount is a rise of 9% on the amount generated in 2004-05, a slightly higher proportion of it has been diverted to recycling in the last two years. Overall, about half of the waste stream is recycled and half goes to landfill, and this has remained in similar proportions over the period. Queanbeyan City Council areas waste stream represents a total generation of about 400kgs per resident per year. This is comparatively low, which may be due to an inability to capture data on the quantities of waste disposed of by rural residents, and also a lack of data on quantities taken privately to landfill by urban residents.

Table 1. Resource recovery in relation to total waste generation in Queanbeyan City Council area, July 2004 to June 2008
Volumes of waste 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 % Change 04-05 to 07-08
Recycled (tonnes) 6,841 7,068 7,694 7,749 13%
Recycled (% of total) 47% 47% 49% 49% 4%
To landfill (tonnes) 7,651 8,011 7,911 8,092 6%
To landfill (% of total) 53% 53% 51% 51% -3%
Total 14,492 15,079 15,605 15,841 9%

Source: Queanbeyan City Council

Waste to landfill

The types of waste going to landfill during the reporting period are shown in Table 2. Total quantities taken to landfill from the City Council kerbside garbage collection service have risen slightly. It is difficult to get a whole picture of waste taken to landfill from Queanbeyan City Council area, as in addition to Council’s waste contractors (whose vehicles and waste quantities may be tracked), residents and private contractors from the Queanbeyan area also use the ACT landfill at Symonston, and no data is collected at the landfill as to where waste is coming from when it is transported privately.

Table 2. Estimated waste to landfill in Queanbeyan City Council area, July 2004 to June 2008
Type of waste going to landfill 2004-05 (tonnes) 2005-06 (tonnes) 2006-07 (tonnes) 2007-08 (tonnes) % Change 04-05 to 07-08
Total household unknown unknown unknown unknown  
Domestic collection 6901 7226 7136 7299 6%
Private delivery unknown unknown unknown unknown  
Commercial and industrial 750 785 775 793 6%
Building and demolition unknown unknown unknown unknown  
Total 7651 8011 7911 8092 6%

Source: Queanbeyan City Council

The City Council reports that illegal dumping presents a problem in particular ‘hotspots’, such as reserve land adjoining urban areas, and efforts are focussed on limiting vehicle access into areas where dumping frequently occurs. No records are specifically kept of tonnages and types of illegally dumped materials, though rangers are active in patrolling and pursuing offenders. However, records are kept of tonnages of dumped materials collected by staff and volunteers each year on Clean Up Australia Day (Table 3). What percentage of total dumping this represents is unknown.

Table 3. Amount of illegally dumped materials collected on Clean up Australia Day in Queanbeyan City Council area, July 2004 – June 2008
  2004-05 (tonnes) 2005-06 (tonnes) 2006-07 (tonnes) 2007-08 (tonnes)
Clean Up Australia day unknown 2.1 2.2 2.5
Other dumping recorded Unknown Unknown Unknown 32.8
Total unknown 2.1 2.2 35.3

Source: Queanbeyan City Council

Recycling and other actions to reduce waste

Quantities of recycling collected in Queanbeyan Council area have steadily risen over the reporting period (see Table 4), in particular quantities of kerbside recyclables. This may be due to an increasing population combined with a high level of recycling awareness in residents. Quantities of greenwaste have dropped slightly as a result of ongoing drought.

Table 4. Resource recovery by type (stream) in Queanbeyan City Council area, July 2004 – June 2008
Material recycled 2004-05 (tonnes) 2005-06 (tonnes) 2006-07 (tonnes) 2007-08 (tonnes) % Change 04-05 to 07-08
Acid Lead Batteries 0 0 0 2.64 0
Aluminium 7.19 7.27 8.31 11 53%
Garden waste/compost* 4200 4200 4400 4026 -4%
Glass 761.5 781.13 854.75 923.73 21%
Metals (ferrous) 0 0 180 52 0
Motor oil** 0 0 0 17.6 0
Paper 1753.6 1959.3 2125.15 2557.45 46%
Plastic 67.37 66.51 66.02 103.5 54%
Steel cans 51.8 54.02 59.43 55.28 7%
Total tonnes recovered 6841.46 7068.23 7693.66 7749.2 13%

*Estimated

**Motor oil has been collected for recycling at Council’s facility for the whole reporting period but some data is unavailable.

Data source: Queanbeyan City Council

Queanbeyan City Council has partnered with other south east councils and Zero Waste Australia in the Groundswell project (funded for three years by the NSW Environmental Trust), which will provide some residents with a bin to collect organic food scraps, in addition to garden organics. Collected organics will be processed into a soil improving product which will benefit farmers in the region, thereby simultaneously addressing the issues of reducing waste to landfill and improving degraded farming land. Data on quantities of waste diverted from landfill will be available for future reporting.

Resource implications of waste

Investment in waste management during this reporting period is shown in Table 5. In 2007-2008, approximately $83 was invested for each resident in the Queanbeyan City Council area.

Table 5. Investment in waste management and resource recovery in Queanbeyan City Council area, July 2004 – June 2008
Period 2005-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08
Total $2 594 601 $2 728 791 $2 894 698 $3 263 473

Source: Queanbeyan City Council

About the data

Data were provided from Queanbeyan City Council records.

An unofficial population estimate of 39,300 was made for the year 2007-2008 as official figures are not yet available.

References

Queanbeyan City Council website, http://www.qcc.nsw.gov.au/page.aspx?page=521

State of the Environment Report 2004, Queanbeyan Solid Waste, http://www.environmentcommissioner.act.gov.au/soe/soe2004/Queanbeyan/solidwaste.htm

NSW Department of Local Government, Comparative Information http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au.

City to Soil website, http://groundswellproject.blogspot.com/2008/07/groundswell-short-background.html

 

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