Eurobodalla
Indicator: Solid Waste
Results for this indicator are also available for [an error occurred while processing this directive]
Please note: Text or data highlighted in this colour represent an update to this indicator for the period 2008/09.
What the results tell us for Eurobodalla
In 2002 Council adopted a waste minimisation strategy. This strategy has been revised and targets are now in line with the New South Wales (NSW) Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2006. Council has a high profile Regional Illegal Dumping (RID) squad to help reduce the incidence of illegal dumping.
Overall, recycling increased by almost 60% during the reporting period and waste to landfill decreased by 21%.
The waste stream
Waste management in Eurobodalla Shire is guided by the Eurobodalla Shire Council Waste Minimisation Strategy 2002, which is currently under review.
As noted in the last RSoER, resource use in Eurobodalla Shire is significantly influenced by influxes of tourists at different times during each year. The Shire is one of the most popular family holiday destinations in NSW, and visitors are a mix of non-resident ratepayers and short-term holidaymakers. Visitor numbers vary through the year and from one year to the next, but there is a common view that in peak periods the Shire hosts an additional 100,000 people over the standard 35,000 population level. The wider South Coast Tourism Region typically sees some 4.5 million visitors and 8.5 million visitor nights annually.
Managing and minimising waste under such circumstances presents challenges, particularly because visitors may have different waste and recycling services and process ‘at home’, and because many businesses are not geared to manage the additional waste generated over these times.
For 2007–08, the total amount of waste that needed to be managed by Council was the equivalent of approximately 1 tonne for every Eurobodalla Shire resident (Table 1). Recycling reduced that figure to 550 kilograms of waste that went to landfill. With a 2% increase in resident population over the reporting period, the total volume of waste grew by a similar proportion.
As indicated in Table 1, for 2008–09, total waste managed by Council remained about the same as the previous year, at approximately 1 tonne per Shire resident. Recycling reduced waste to landfill 570 kilograms. As with the previous year, the total volume of waste grew by a similar proportion to the 3% increase in resident population over the reporting period.
But while the volume of the total waste stream grew slightly, the percentage of it going to landfill fell significantly. Council's solid waste minimisation strategy resulted in a reduction in waste to landfill of 21% over the reporting period (Table 1) – with landfill volumes declining from 71% of the waste stream to 55%. The amount of material diverted from landfill into recovery programs increased by around 60% . The 2004 Regional State of the Environment Report (RSoER) noted that an advantage for recycling is that many of Eurobodalla's tourists are from the ACT where there is a high rate of recycling and an expectation of being able to recycle, even while on holidays.
Council continues to improve the accuracy of its waste measurement systems, identifying components of the waste stream previously missed. This potentially explains some of the apparent jump in total waste volumes between the previous report and the current reporting period.
| Volumes of waste | 2004-05 (tonnes) | 2005-06 (tonnes) | 2006-07 (tonnes) | 2007-08 (tonnes) | 2008-09 (tonnes) | % Change 04-05 to 08-09 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recycled | 10,781 | 11,969 | 14,491 | 17,147 | 17233 | 60% |
| Recycled (% of total*) | 29% | 35% | 41% | 46% | 45% | +16** |
| To landfill | 25,987 | 22,384 | 21,107 | 20,438 | 20943 | -21% |
| Landfill (% of total*) | 71% | 65% | 59% | 54% | 55% | -16** |
| Total | 36,768 | 34,353 | 35,598 | 37,585 | 38,176 | 3% |
* percentage of total waste stream (landfill plus resource recovery); Source: Eurobodalla Council
***change in percentage of total (percentage points up or down)
Eurobodalla Shire Council is an active member in waste and resource recovery regional groups of councils including Southern Councils Group Resource Recovery Group (SCGRRG), southern Councils Educators Network (SCEN) and the South East Resource Recovery Regional Organisation of Councils (SERRROC).
Waste to landfill
The overall volume of waste going to landfill fell by 21% from a total of 25,987 tonnes in 2004-05 (71% of the waste stream) to 20,943tonnes in 2008-09 (55% of the waste stream) – despite an overall increase of around 2% in the estimated resident population.
Data separating the sources of waste going to landfill (eg household waste, commercial & industrial waste, or building & demolition waste) was not available for this report. Nevertheless, Council has noted that an increased number of development applications (especially during 2004-05) led to a subsequent increase in Commercial & Demolition waste taken to landfill and then recovered, which spiked the overall amount to landfill during 2004-05 (especially where redevelopment took place). Council noted that the number of development applications dropped off in subsequent years and this led to a decrease in Commercial & and Demolition waste and thus a drop again in waste to landfill.
| Type of waste going to landfill | 2004-05 (tonnes) | 2005-06 (tonnes) | 2006-07 (tonnes) | 2007-08 (tonnes) | 2008-09 (tonnes) | % Change 04-05 to 08-09 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total household | na | na | na | na | na | |
| Domestic collection | na | na | na | na | na | |
| Private delivery | na | na | na | na | na | |
| Commercial and industrial | na | na | na | na | na | |
| Building and demolition | na | na | na | na | na | |
| Total | 25,987 | 22,384 | 21,107 | 20,438 | 20943 | -21% |
Source: Eurobodalla Shire Council
Eurobodalla Shire Council currently operates two landfills, one at Surf Beach in the northern part of the Shire, and the other at Brou Lake in the south. A waste transfer station is also located in Moruya. The two landfills occupy a combined area of 20 hectares, the same area as in the previous two State of the Environment reporting periods. Of the 20 hectares, four hectares are used for current landfill operations, another four hectares are available for future use and the remaining area is a buffer zone. Compared with State of the Environment 2000, the land set aside for future use has been reduced from five hectares to four hectares, i.e. in terms of surface area of land, Council landfilled one hectare over the current reporting period. At current disposal rates the expected remaining life of the landfills is 9 years at Surf Beach and 9 years at Brou Lake.
Data on illegally dumped material compiled by Council’s Regional Illegal Dumping Squad (Table 3) shows wide variation in the volumes and types of illegally dumped materials.
| Material dumped | 2004-05 (tonnes) | 2005-06 (tonnes) | 2006-07 (tonnes) | 2007-08 (tonnes) | 2008-09 (tonnes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Household waste | 44 | 61 | 23 | ||
| Commercial | 100 | 39 | 7 | ||
| Construction/Demo | 1 | 10 | 5 | ||
| Hazardous | 1 | 4 | 1 | ||
| Litter | 21 | 21 | 10 | ||
| Vegetation | 206 | 21 | 17 | ||
| Vehicle | 4 | 9 | |||
| Asbestos | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Total | 378.5 | 167 | 64 |
Data source: Eurobodalla Shire Council
Council reports that the scale of illegal dumping in all areas has decreased. That may be attributed to a decrease in development in the area which has meant a decrease in waste created. In addition, penalties and illegal dumping incidences are well published which is reducing the incidents of local residents dumping.
Council reports that 37 Penalty Notices, 14 Clean Up Notices and 9 written cautions were issued to offenders in 2007-08, representing a reduction of approximately 10% over the 2006-07 period.
In 2008-09 45 Penalty Notices, 12 Clean Up Notices and 7 written cautions were issued to offenders, an increase of approximately 20% over the 2007-08 period. Council believes that noticeable improvement again in the number and quantity of incidents on Koori land. In addition, antecdotal evidence suggests an increase of ‘out of Shire’ offenders, compared with previous years.
Recycling and other actions to reduce waste
Demolition waste, garden waste/compost, glass, paper and metals and paper accounted for the majority of material recycled during the reporting period (see Table 4). Some of the increases can be attributed to changes in data collection, whereby the former “mixed recycling” figure has been disaggregated into plastic, aluminium and steel cans. However, Council’s own initiatives, and community engagement with recycling, have brought significant improvements in total volumes recovered. In the 2008-2009 year council commenced collecting and sending mattresses and bases to a commercial recycler. From September 2008, 1593 mattresses or mattress bases were taken off site for recycling which equates to around 1115 cubic metres of saved landfill space.
| Material recycled | 2004-05 (tonnes) | 2005-06 (tonnes) | 2006-07 (tonnes) | 2007-08 (tonnes) | % Change 04-05 to 07-08 | 2008-09 (tonnes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acid Lead Batteries | - | - | - | 43 | 15 | |
| Clothing | - | - | - | - | ||
| Cooking oil and fat incl motor oil | - | - | - | - | 13 | |
| Demolition | 5,556 | 4,760 | 6,250 | 4,915 | -12% | 3,052 |
| Glass | 596 | 693 | 986 | 2,021 | 239% | 3,561 |
| Green waste | 1,132 | 1,760 | 1,485 | 3,368 | 198% | 4,942 |
| Liquid paper board | - | - | - | - | ||
| Metals (ferrous) | 916 | 1,059 | 1,250 | 1,343 | 47% | 1,570 |
| Paper | 1,817 | 2,114 | 3,007 | 2,256 | 24% | 2,483 |
| Plastic | 73 | 85 | 121 | 268 | 267% | incoming into mrf-glass |
| Steel cans | 14 | 17 | 24 | 105 | 650% | |
| Tyres (Units) | - | - | - | - | 754 | |
| Other* | 677 | 1,481 | 1,368 | 2,828 | 318% | 1,625 |
| Total tonnes diverted | 10,781 | 11,969 | 14,491 | 17,147 | 59% | 17,233 |
* Mostly biosolids, along with smaller volumes of aluminium
Source: Eurobodalla Shire Council
An important change introduced by Council was in the method of domestic waste collection. Council used a crate recycling system during 2004-05, which was replaced by a kerbside wheelie bin collection in October 2005. Council believes that recycling at home has become a normal behaviour in the Shire, with an increase in the presentation rate of fortnightly recycling and monthly garden organics in kerbside collections. However, Council still sees confusion about the products that can be recycled, due to the variation between what is recycled in different local government areas and the high proportion of non-resident rate payers and tourists in Eurobodalla Shire.
Council is seeing significant progress in reducing waste to landfill, and attributes this progress to a number of factors including the kerbside recycling measures introduced, improved presentation rates and strong pricing structures modifying behaviour at the waste management facilities to encourage separation of materials. In particular, policies that decrease the cost of disposing of recoverable items over waste items have increased the sorting and separating at the waste management facilities. Council notes that an issue still exists with some skip bin companies where little is sorted and the material then becomes unrecoverable and are looking at providing an area to sort skip bins once deposited at the waste management facilities.
Council notes that while progress in reducing waste to landfill is welcome, it is clear that the community is still some way from achieving the high aspirational targets set in the 2001 Waste Minimisation Strategy of 90% reduction by 2010 and zero waste by 2015. However with the revision of the targets to reflect those of the NSW Waste avoidance and resource recovery strategy 2006, Council is now in line to meet those targets.
Council also notes that as its approaches are refined, so too is data collection. Quantities identified through the monitoring statistics may not accurately show the extent of progress due to the progressive improvements in data collection methodology and systems. Toward the end of the reporting period it was discovered that some parts of the stream were being missed in the data collection process.
Resource implications of waste
Council invested over $6 million in capital works to improve waste management in the Shire in the reporting period (Table 5). This investment included a sizeable amount dedicated to reinstating a landfill site. Details on the ongoing cost of waste management in the Shire were not provided for this report, though Council notes that there has been a significant increase in waste charges to the community over the reporting period. This follows changes to service delivery carried out under contract (as a result of the implementation of kerbside recycling and kerbside organics) and the establishment of a shared Materials Recycling Facility (again under contract). The MRF is located in the Moruya Industrial area and separates kerbside recyclables collected in the Eurobodalla and Bega Shires.
| Period | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landfill Buildings | 34,797 | 1,670 | 68,037 |
||
| Landfill Cells, Dams, Drainage Etc | 1,014,722 | 349,378 | 146,707 | 280,403 | 107,003 |
| Landfill Plant | 1,690 | 27,719 | 562,246 | 951,156 |
|
| Landfill Reinstatement | 2,675,604 | -114,489 | |||
| Recycling Buildings | 8,463 | ||||
| Recycling Structures | 60,220 | ||||
| Software | 13,642 | ||||
| Total* | 1,133,534 | 3,054,371 | 32,218 | 842,649 | 1,126,196 |
* Note the above table includes capital expenditure investment only.
Source: Eurobodalla Shire Council
About the data
Weighbridge net totals provide the basis for estimates of the volumes of incoming wastes and outgoing recycling quantities. Materials Recycling Facility totals are used for paper/cardboard, container recycling, glass recycling etc.
Future waste and recycling figures are likely to change due to a review of recording data of materials landfilled. In addition, waste that is being recovered through buy back centres and other waste being recycled.
Data provided from Eurobodalla Shire Council records. The Eurobodalla Shire Council maintains records of waste to landfill and recycling types and quantities based on a combination of weighbridge, invoices from recycling processors and quantity surveying.
Because of fluctuations in population due to a high level of tourism in Eurobodalla Shire, calculation of waste per head of population is not a particularly useful tool for encouraging personal accountability for waste reduction.
Per person calculations are on the basis of estimated residential population of 36561 people as at 30 June 2008.
Up until the 2005-06 financial year additional information on domestic waste management and recycling services, was available from the Department of Local Government. Comparative Information publications reported annually on four key performance indicators:
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average charge for domestic waste management services per residential property
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costs per service for domestic waste collection
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recyclables—kilograms per person per year
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domestic waste—kilograms per person per year.
These indicators are seen to relate to the economic efficiency and environmental management performance of residential garbage collection services generally provided by councils in urban or town areas.
References
NSW Department of Local Government, Comparative Information http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au.
Office of the Commissioner for the Environment (2004) Australian Capital Region State of the Environment Report 2004, Office of the Commissioner for the Environment, Canberra (see indicator 'Land contamination' for Eurobodalla).
