Weigh in on Waste

COUNCIL INVITE COMMUNITY TO WEIGH IN ON WASTE

The Blue Mountains has achieved an impressive 37% reduction in waste to landfill in the last decade but the total amount of waste generated per person is continuing to increase. Blue Mountains City Council's draft Waste Strategy, on public exhibition for comment from Friday 1 August, considers how Council and the community can reduce waste generation and divert even more waste from going to landfill.

Mayor, Cr Mark Greenhill, said, "Council's draft Waste Strategy is the next step in our journey to continually improve the performance of Council's waste service, particularly resource recovery.

Council and the community have achieved considerable success in reducing the waste sent to landfill and improving waste services. Our combined efforts have resulted in the lifespan of the Blaxland landfill being extended by a further 7 years from 2023 until 2030 (at current waste generation rates)."

"But there is more to do", said the Mayor, "with over 40,000 tonnes of mixed waste from our homes and businesses still going into our landfill each year, the Blue Mountains community still needs a long-term, sustainable and affordable waste management solution." 

The draft Waste Strategy guides the next phase of waste management in the City, supported by strong evidence, including extensive community consultation and technical research. It sets out a way for the community to further reduce waste buried at its landfill by continuing to improve waste avoidance and recycling rates in the short term.  A particular issue which the Draft Waste Strategy seeks to address, and which has been prominent in the community’s commentary on waste, is how we manage household waste into the future, in particular organic (green) waste.

The Mayor said, "In developing the draft Waste Strategy, household organic waste has been given particular  ttention. Several options for dealing with this issue are presented in the Strategy for public comment, including the
introduction of a Green Bin service. Each of the options have their own costs and challenges which have been closely examined with best value for money in mind. The affordability of waste services is important as Council and the community also consider options for resourcing our future, also on public exhibition for
community feedback.

Further, the draft Waste Strategy proposes options to manage more waste at-home, recover more from bulky waste and household garbage, offer more recycling facilities at Blaxland WMF, more opportunities for hazardous waste collection, and consider a more regional approach to waste management solutions. This means less food waste at home going to landfill, less construction and business waste to landfill and less illegal dumping in the City."

Residents are invited and encouraged to contribute to the draft Waste Strategy. The easiest way to do this is visit
Council's online community engagement forum www.bluemountainshaveyoursay.com.au or view printed copies at Council's Katoomba office or branch libraries (except Springwood Library).

The Mayor said, "Alongside the draft Waste Strategy to manage the City's waste in the short term, Council will continue to consider the pressing issues in the longer term, within a complex and rapidly changing waste management industry." 

Media inquiries: Adrienne Murphy, BMCC Communications (02) 4780 5744 Mob: 0414 195 533

Blue Mountains City Council is asking primary school students and their families to Weigh in on Waste. Schools and local families are invited to help set the direction of what we do with our waste in the future, and have a chance to win a prize at the same time.

 Mayor, Cr Daniel Myles, said, "Waste affects us all, the environment and it costs us all money.”

 At the rate we're going our local landfill may be full in less than 20 years.  The critical question Council and the Blue Mountains community need to answer is, where will our waste go after that?”

 Council is introducing the Weigh in on Waste campaign to inform and involve its community on waste issues.  Council is currently developing a Waste Strategy and everyone is invited to have their say at www.bluemountainshaveyoursay.com.au

 All Blue Mountains primary schools have been invited to participate in the weigh in on waste campaign.

 "We want Blue Mountains students and their families to consider why it's time to weigh in on waste.

 By participating, schools have a chance to win a $200 voucher to a local hardware store and the winning family receives a family movie pass to The Edge or Glenbrook Cinema", said the Mayor.

 Schools can get involved by simply requesting Weigh in on Waste postcard entry forms from Council.  Entries need to be returned by 22 March 2013. Winners will be announced in April and schools notified directly.

 For more information, contact Council’s Sustainable Waste and Resources Coordinator, Melissa White, on weighinonwaste@bmcc.gov.nsw.au or: 4780 5566.

Media inquiries: Adrienne Murphy, Communications Officer (02) 4780 5744 Mob: 0414 195 533

Council is currently reviewing the Blue Mountains waste strategy to ensure that future needs for addressing our waste are met. An independent review of the options available for managing waste from the Blue Mountains has been carried out. The review can be downloaded from the library – just look for ‘Waste Management Options – Full Report’ or ‘Waste Management Options – Summary’ for the abridged version.

Council organised a community engagement program between March and 12 April to give residents the opportunity to tell Council what is important to them for the future of waste in the Blue Mountains. Council representatives met with hundreds of residents at the Springwood Festival in March, where residents were asked to rank a range of factors. Three workshops were held and were attended by between 30 and 50 people each who were given the opportunity to express their views in greater depth. In addition to these events, Blue Mountains residents have completed over 200 surveys and made almost the same number of contributions to the online forum. Both the survey and forum are now closed, although the forum comments can still be viewed.

The suggestions and comments Council has received to date will inform the development of the draft waste strategy, which will be available for public exhibition in July.

The following scenarios have been developed by Council as the options that are available to the Blue Mountains for managing its waste in the future. These have been modelled to give a sense of how they affect the Blue Mountains community from a financial, environmental and social point of view. These are outlined below.

Scenario 1:  Continue current services (includes weekly garbage, weekly recycling, booked kerbside chipping and bulky waste)

OR

Scenario 2:  Introduce a fortnightly garden organics collection and discontinue the chipping service (weekly garbage, weekly recycling, booked kerbside bulky waste remains)

OR

Scenario 3:  Introduce a  weekly food and garden organics collection, discontinue the chipping service and move to a fortnightly garbage collection (weekly garbage, weekly recycling, booked kerbside bulky waste remains)

The Weigh in on Waste schools competition was won by a student from Blaxland Public School.

Council congratulates the winning student and all other students for Weighing in on Waste in the Blue Mountains.

Many insightful, caring and creative entries were received, and the winner was drawn by lot.

Council thanks all students who entered the competition, and their parents and teachers for supporting the competition.