Talking Rubbish

Hi Michelle,

Thank you for your feedback. The use of glassware is currently being avoided at the Margaret River HEART during COVID-19, as an extra way to look after the health and safety of our staff and patrons. The use of BioPak cups means less handling of glassware, however it is available on request for drinks being consumed in the foyer. 

Guests using glassware are asked to decant into BioPak cups prior to entering the theatre. BioPak cups can only be only be composted through certain facilities, such as those where the FOGO from the kerbside FOGO service is processed, because it requires higher temperatures than what a normal home composting system can produce. 

Margaret River HEART holds two 240 litre green FOGO bins and two 72L litre smaller FOGO bins in the foyer and we encourage patrons to use them for disposing of their BioPak cups. 

We will ensure staff are better informed to communicate to patrons about the option of glassware in the foyer upon request and the use and disposal of BioPak cups at the venue.  

Hi Chinta, 

Thanks for your question.

The Shire is about to start work on a waste feasibility study, where we will investigate different waste disposal and treatment options for our region and will develop an overall waste master plan which will transition us into a new system when our landfill reaches capacity in the next few years.

We still don't have 100% uptake of recycling services in our Shire so with the current amount that we are collecting it does not justify increasing the service. This is something we hope to deal with in the very near future and would like to see every household using the recycling services. 

In the meantime all of the Shire's waste facilities have co-mingled recycling skips on site so if you do have additional recycling you could take it there for no charge. You also have the option of adding an additional recycling service at your property for $65 per year.

Our vision is to provide Augusta Margaret River with the best and most sustainable waste services to suit our region so changes will be made in the future, it just takes a bit of time and good planning to ensure we do it right.

Hi Blue Wren, 

Glad to hear you are enjoying the War on Waste program, it is great that there is finally a highlight on waste issues on a national level.

Something that was mentioned on the show was that each council area is different and what is accepted and recycled varies depending on the contractor and the markets available for the recycled product. Most of the Shire's recycling services are contracted out to Suez Environmental so what we can accept in our wheelie bins and co-mingled skip bins is dictated by them.

With regards to glass in AMR Shire it really depends on how you are recycling it. If you bring it to a waste and recycling facility with a glass bin (Davis Road, Cowaramup Bay Road or Poole Road) any glass is accepted because we crush this glass and use it as road base in our landfill operations.  If you are putting it in a wheelie bin or one of the co-mingled recycling bins at the transfer station Suez is currently only accepting glass bottles and jars. 

In AMR Shire we accept all plastic codes 1-6 including scrunchable plastics in our wheelie bins and the co-mingled bins at the transfer stations. Scrunchable plastics are generally stockpiled at the MRF until the contractors have a significant quantity and/or have found a market for the product. In some cases if a market cannot be found for the material it will as a last resort be landfilled. Landfilling is a very expensive option for contractors so they do their best to avoid it. 

Lids need to be removed because they are almost always a different material than the container they are on and will degrade the quality of the recovered material. Lids are hard to recycle because of their size and they generally fall through the machinery or out of the bales if they make it that far.  

There is a plastic bag working group in AMR Shire who has taken the position that a state wide bag ban will be the most effective way to ban the bag. It has been tried on a local level at City of Fremantle and been unsuccessful so most local governments are in favour of a state wide ban.

The best option to tackle all of these issues it to avoid the use of the products in the first instance, hopefully continued education on the subject will encourage our community to evaluate their waste and recycling habits and look for ways to improve their current practices.

UPDATE!!!

Thanks for your question. Recycling only truly happens when there is a market for the recovered product. Plastic is one of the more difficult products to recycle because there are so many different types and qualities. Plastic is actually most commonly downcycled which means that the recovered product is of a lower quality than the original material and cannot be used in the same way. This is still a much better alternative than landfilling but our best option is to avoid using single use plastics where we can.

The Shire's waste collection contractor Suez are currently recovering plastics 1-6 from the kerbside collection which are baled together as a mixed plastic and sold / exported to Malaysia. The plastics collected from wheelie bins in the Shire are combined with plastic from households all over Perth and the South West so they have a large volume to justify exporting the product.

The reason only certain types of plastic are accepted at the Shire's waste facilities is because we do not get enough volume to be able to export the product ourselves. The current recycler who takes our plastic from Davis Road had specified that they will only accept drink bottles and milk containers with codes 1 and 2.

We are currently reviewing all of our waste and recycling services and what we accept at the Shire's waste facilities will be reviewed in this process. We are working towards accepting a wider range of recyclable materials and are currently speaking with contractors on this matter.

Hi Steve,

Thank you for your patience in awaiting a formal response.

The Shire will have drop off containers for CFL and fluoro tubes at Davis Road Waste Facility, Cowaramup Transfer Station and Kudardup Transfer Station from next Wednesday 25 January 2017.

All of your light globes and tubes will be accepted for recycling for no charge at these locations.

Hi Still-hoping, 

Thank you for the suggestion. 

We are currently reviewing all of our waste and recycling services and will be looking at ways to increase diversion from landfill. User pays systems are a great incentive for residents to produce less general waste and have been quite successful in many metro councils.

Changing waste infrastructure (such as bins) is quite costly so we will not be making any changes until a decision has been made on the future of our waste services in the Shire. We will be diving into that project early in the new year and will keep our residents updated on its progress through the Talking Rubbish Your Say page and Community Update.  

Hi Kb,

We're currently developing a waste education strategy and evaluating our waste and recycling services, once this is complete we will be developing educational material which will be made available to residents.

Recyclables don't need to be sparkling clean, but all food should be scraped out of the containers and given a quick rinse if there is food or chemical residue inside.

There are a few reasons why we ask you to do this,

1. Clean recyclables stand a better chance of being recycled because too much residue or food in a bale of recycling means that the recycler may not be able to find a market for the contaminated material.

2. The recycling facility staff, who complete the initial sort of recyclables, can enjoy a safer and healthier work environment.

3. Having clean recyclables means your recycling bin will remain clean and the likelihood of the bin attracting insects and vermin will be reduced. Remember recyclables must be placed loose in the bin. Recyclables placed in bags and then thrown in the bin will not be recycled!

Quick Tip to cleaning your recyclables …. keep recyclables aside until after dinner then use the left-over washing up water to quickly rinse them through. By doing this you are - Recycling - Reducing - and - Reusing - all at the same time!

Hi Lloydmichael,

Thank you for your comment. We are aware of the 3 bin system in Bunbury and it is something that will be considered as part of our Waste Education Strategy and review of waste and recycling services.

A third bin for organics is an excellent way to reduce waste to landfill but there are many factors which need to be addressed before offering a new service. Implementing any new waste service will cost a significant amount of money and we need to be sure that it is the right choice for our ratepayers before we make that commitment.

Being a small regional Shire we also have to deal with the high cost of transport and the long distances that are travelled to get the material to the organics processing plant. So although it is a great option for diversion from landfill we also need to weigh up the environmental impact of driving over an hour to empty the waste collection vehicle daily.

Bunbury is fortunate that the processing plant for their green waste bin is located within their local government area so they do not have to travel very far to empty their trucks.

Hi Grahame,

Thanks for your question.

Currently the Shire's recycling service isn’t mandatory and therefore residents who wish to have a kerbside fortnightly collection need to pay a subsidised one off cost for their initial bin and are charged an annual service fee.

The annual service fee is based on the lift cost which is charged to us by our contractors. Any local government that offers a kerbside recycling collection through a contractor will have to pay for the lift cost for the bins and the supply of the bin so if it is not broken down as a separate item on your rates notice it would be included as part of the the annual rates sum.

We are currently developing a Waste Education Strategy and one of the components of this will be to evaluate and improve resource recovery options for residents in our Shire. The way we run our kerbside recycling service is something that will be addressed in our evaluation of services and we will be looking at ways we can improve the service and encourage participation in the service.

For the time being, residents who wish to recycle but don’t want to pay for a service can drop off their recyclables at the Shire facilities at no charge (provided they sort and separate themselves). Unfortunately, the Shire isn’t able to accept the same range of recyclables as the comingled kerbside service does.

Hi Cow Bombie,

Thanks for your question. The cost of running a bulk collection is quite significant particularly in a regional area. Although it does provide an outlet for the disposal of unwanted items and bulk green waste and could reduce the problem it does not necessarily stop illegal dumping completely.

As part of our Waste Education Strategy and evaluation of services we will be looking at illegal dumping and ways to discourage it within the Shire, not only in our reserves but also at charity shops and the Lions Shed.

Provision of a bulk collection will be looked at as an option but we will also put a stong focus on raising awareness about the impact of illegal dumping on the community which will hopefully result in some behaviour change for those who are not taking responsibility for their waste.