Draft Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030

The average Australian produces 540 kg of household waste per person, per year.  As Moorabool’s population grows, we need to find better ways to manage our resources to ensure the environment is protected for generations to come. Our new Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy will guide us over the next 10 years and help us find ways to make better use of resources, reduce litter and illegal dumping and send less to landfill. Our strategy will set targets to meet the landfill diversion goals set within the National Waste Policy Action Plan and Recycling Victoria.

For years Australia had been sending the bulk of its plastic, metal and cardboard overseas for processing. Eventually, due to the contamination – overseas markets rejected this material. This led to stockpiling of materials on Australian shores – much of this material was ultimately sent to landfill due to the lack of Australian infrastructure for reprocessing.  

Most Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) that sort recyclables were built when far fewer packaging products were on the market. The machinery and workers at the MRF are not equipped to deal with contamination, especially non-compliant plastics. Soft plastics are often confused as being recyclable – and are tangled in the machinery at the MRF causing breakdowns. Soft plastics and crushed glass can also find themselves mixed with paper, cardboard and hard plastics – ultimately leading to a less desirable end user product.

These are just some examples of what has caused the scenario referred to as the ‘recycling crisis’.

This has led to state and federal governments seeing the need to completely overhaul our recycling systems and establish reliable processing facilities on our shores.

The 10-year plan, Recycling Victoria, outlines a more than $300 million package of reforms, including a statewide four-stream system, container deposit scheme, nearly $100 million to support resource recovery infrastructure and recognising waste as an essential service.

The Victorian government's Recycling Victoria policy requires Moorabool Shire Council to ensure all households in the Shire have reasonable access to a:

• Recycling option for plastics, paper, cardboard, and metals recycling
• Recycling option for glass
• Combined Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) option
• Garbage option

A Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) will be introduced from 2023. The CDS is a ‘take-back’ program for commonly littered drink containers offering cash rewards to community groups, charities and individuals.  

Residential services:

Moorabool’s waste and recycling services reflect its urban and rural areas. 

Urban areas receive a compulsory 120L weekly garbage collection and 240L fortnightly recycling collection. An opt-in fortnightly 240L greenwaste service is also available.
Bacchus Marsh, Darley, Maddingley, Hopetoun Park and Ballan are urban areas.

Rural areas receive a compulsory 240L fortnightly garbage and 240L recycling collection. 
Township and Rural Living Zones are rural areas.

‘Non-compulsory’ areas have the option to:

• join the fortnightly garbage and recycling service, or
• purchase Transfer Station Vouchers from Council, or
• manage waste through a private company. 

Remote properties (where no Council kerbside collection is available) can either:

• purchase Transfer Station Vouchers from Council, or
• manage waste through a private company. 

Recycling from our kerbside bins and transfer stations is sent to the Cleanaway’s Laverton Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). Recyclables are sorted into respective material types such as cardboard, paper, glass, various plastics, aluminium, and steel. Materials are then sold to processors.

In 2019/20 we put 3,177 tonnes in our recycling bins. Unfortunately, the contamination rate of the recycling bin (contamination being the wrong material) is about 25%. This means one quarter of what we put in the recycling is being sent to landfill. Contaminated recycling is costly – and Moorabool ratepayers pay the price of about $10,000 per month. As you can see, we as a Council need to improve recycling education to help everyone get it right on bin night.

Watch this video to see the collection and sorting process.

The contents of our garbage bin is taken to the Melbourne Regional Landfill in Ravenhall, operated by Cleanaway. In 2019/20 we sent 7,077 tonnes of material to landfill. A recent audit of 100 garbage bins revealed that 46% of our garbage bins is food or garden material that could be recovered. A further 16% of the landfill stream constisted of recyclables that could have been placed in the yellow lidded recycling bin. 

Garden waste from our kerbside bins and transfer stations is taken to Pinegro in Mount Wallace within our Shire. Our garden waste is transformed into mulch and compost. In 2019/21 we recovered 1,162 tonnes of garden waste.

Dumped rubbish and litter

• Dumped rubbish removal currently costs the Shire up to $80,000 annually to collect.

Commercial waste services

• A commercial garbage service is available as an option to businesses.
• At this stage recycling is unavailable.

Other services

• Three Transfer Stations allowing for disposal and recycling of material not suited to a kerbside bin
• A Sustainable Events Trailer which can be borrowed for events 
• A recycling service is available to educational facilities and not for profit groups.
• A network of 140 parks and public hall bins and 87 street litter bins collected weekly / fortnightly depending on demand. Garbage service only.
• Street and footpath sweeping service to minimise litter entering our waterways and maintains amenity
• A litter and dumped rubbish removal team to provide a rapid clean up response in the Shire
• E-waste drop off points at three Council Offices and three Transfer Stations

Moorabool owns three contractor-managed Transfer Stations in Ballan, Bacchus Marsh and Mount Egerton. 
They allow residents to drop off materials not suitable for the kerbside bins and are used by households in the the Shire without access to a kerbside collection.

Free to drop off:

• Recyclables (paper, cardboard, glass bottles/jars, steel and aluminium cans, hard plastic bottles and containers)
• Electronic waste (TVs, whitegoods, any item with a cord or battery, including batteries)
• Light globes and fluorescent tubes
• Scrap metal
• Car motor oil
• Drummuster chemical drums

Charge to drop off:

• Greenwaste is accepted at half the rate of general waste
• General waste
• Hard waste (e.g. broken furniture)
• Mattresses
• Tyres and car bodies

Building rubble, cement, bricks and soil not accepted at any Transfer Station.

More information about our Transfer Stations here.

What does the waste service charge mean on my rates notice?

This charge is applied to all rateable properties and covers the costs of:

• Supplying and servicing all street, park and reserve litter bins
• Collection of loose litter, rubbish spills, (Shire wide) as requested / advised by ratepayers / residents
• Mechanical sweeping of roads, channels, and footpaths to reduce litter and waste
• Compliance costs to enforce laws relating to wilful littering and dumping of waste
• Transfer Station Infrastructure

What is the landfill levy on my rates notice?

The State Landfill Levy is a State Government imposed levy on refuse sent to landfill. The Moorabool Shire Council charge is based on actual tonnage delivered to landfill. The State Government invests the funds raised by the levy to help businesses, councils, households, and communities address waste and its environmental impacts.

Over the next three years, Victoria’s landfill levy is set to almost double, to create a strong incentive to reduce waste sent to landfill, recover more and drive new technologies.

An analysis into the costings of future service options will be undertaken in 2022 as an action within The Strategy. Any service changes will be communicated well in advance.  The cost to deliver current waste services is calculated each year, based on full cost recovery, and applies to all rateable properties.

The options eventually chosen for our waste services will have a direct impact on the waste charge paid by ratepayers. Feedback from the community consultation will allow Council to assess the community's preferred options.

The landfill levy, which is set by the State Government and charges per tonne of waste sent to landfill, is set to increase from July 2021, regardless of any changes to our waste service. This means the more we can divert from landfill the lower the cost impact will be. 

Any changes to service charges will depend on a range of factors including frequency of bin collection, the volumes of waste generated by the community, State Government funding, future ‘gate fees’ for each stream and community feedback from this consultation.

The Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) is a ‘take-back’ program for commonly littered drink containers offering cash rewards to community groups, charities, and individuals. 
The CDS is expected to reduce the amount of litter in Victoria by half, and be introduced by 2023.
A 10-cent refund will be given for the return of aluminium cans, cartons, and glass bottles (150mL to 3 litres). 
Return locations will include shops, reverse vending machines, depots.

The CDS will accept a range of glass drink bottles. This will influence how the future glass service is delivered in the Moorabool Shire. It is yet to be determined whether glass bins will be provided on the household level - or if communal glass drop off is a better option. 

‘Hard Waste’ refers to household items such as broken or unwanted furniture that cannot be disposed of in a bin. 
Currently Moorabool Shire Council does not provide a collection for hard waste – and disposal of these items (excluding recyclable electronic items) incur a cost at our Transfer Stations. 
Moorabool Shire has both urban and rural areas and must consider how a cost effective hard waste option could be offered to all households.

An action within The Strategy for 2022 will be to investigate the viability of options to assist ratepayers with hard waste disposal – e.g.
a hard-waste collection service or a transfer station voucher system. 

The cost to deliver any hard waste service will be based on a full cost recovery scenario.

Moorabool Shire is yet to engage a processing facitliy for a combined Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) stream. At this stage, a FOGO service is unlikely to be introduced before 2025. Moorabool consists of urban, rural and remote areas - all with different levels of access to the current kerbside service. Many households, due to their location, cannot have a Council collection. These properties will be provided with drop off facilities for FOGO at our Transfer Stations. 

In order to meet the state and federal tagets of diverting 50%  of organics from landfill by 2030, the preference will be to provide a compusory bin-based FOGO service to households in urban areas. The feasibility of providing a kerbside FOGO service to rural households is still under discussion. We are also considering a robust exemption process from a bin- based Council FOGO service for households that compost, use bokashi bins or similar.  

An analysis into the costings of service options will be undertaken in 2022.  Any service changes will be communicated well in advance.  The cost to deliver waste services is calculated each year, based on full cost recovery, and applies to all residential properties.

Moorabool Shire is yet to engage a collector and processor for glass. The way in which the glass service will be delivered is yet to be determined. The introduction of the Container Deposit Scheme by 2023 will also have impacts on the delivery method for a council glass service. Further community consultation will be conducted to determine whether a kerbside glass service  or communal drop off points are the preferred option.An analysis into the costings of service options is yet to be undertaken. Any service changes will be communicated well in advance.  The cost to deliver waste services is calculated each year, based on full cost recovery, and applies to all residential properties.

For homes with a kerbside collection, some changes to the collection schedule may occur. Any changes will be communicated well in advance.

The 2021 Waste Survey completed by 700+ residents showed a great deal of support for Council to introduce a rebate system where residents can redeem a portion of the costs for the purchase of items such as:

• Cloth nappies
• Sanitary items e.g. menstrual cups
• Compost bins, worms farms, bokashi bin
• Textiles recycling e.g. via Upparel 

An action within The Strategy for 2022 is to investigate a rebate program for home-based waste-reduction initiatives (worm farms,
compost bins, reusable nappies and possibly textiles).

Community gardens are a space we can all enjoy – a place to gather, learn to grow fruit and vegetables and recycle organic waste effectively.  Council is considering the establishment of new, and expansion of existing, community gardens as an option to locally manage organic waste.

An identified action for the Strategy is to explore establishment of new, and enhancement of existing, community gardens to facilitate local green waste recovery through trials.

A resale shop is a place where household items get a second chance. Resale shops could employ local community members and provide cost effective alternatives to buy household items that may otherwise end up in landfill. Moorabool is considering establishing Resale Shops at our Transfer Stations.

An identified action for The Strategy is to review operational model of Transfer Stations and explore social enterprise opportunities such as resale / repair shop feasibility, and increase resource recovery for additional materials such as FOGO, concrete, glass, gas bottles, furniture, clothing, soft plastic etc

Council play a crucial role in keeping the community informed about how to appropriately manage waste, and how to reduce it.

We have identified the following action in relation to education programs:

Prepare integrated Waste and Resource Recovery / Litter and Illegal Dumping Education Plan for delivery.
To include:

• Waste avoidance behaviour change campaigns and programs for community groups, businesses, schools
• Educational videos for website (what goes in your bins, composting / worm farms etc, Transfer Stations)
• Revegetation pilot program to promote 'pride of place' in identified illegal dumping hotspots through vegetation regeneration
• War on Waste pilot program for volunteering households to create community case study
• Circular Economy pilot program for businesses
• Support initiatives through our libraries, childcare centres and business networks, real-estate agents

Soft plastics such as plastic bags, bread bags, cling wrap and the like are not accepted in Council’s recycling streams. These items can be recycled through the REDcycle program at participating Coles and Woolworths supermarkets.

Currently, there is only one location to recycle soft plastics in the Moorabool Shire (Coles in Bacchus Marsh). Council can advocate for more locations to be established locally, however; soft plastic recovery is not in scope of Council’s services.

Review of existing waste and recycling services

In November 2020, Moorabool Shire Council engaged a consultant to:

• Conduct an operational review of the current kerbside service, transfer stations, internal Council operations and contracts.
• Review Moorabool’s 2014 Waste Strategy and 2017 Waste and Resource Recovery Policy.
• Provide realistic targets and KPIs for a diverse range of waste streams to be diverted from landfill / recovered in alignment with the objectives of Recycling Victoria and Australia’s National Waste Policy and Action Plan.
• Provide recommendations that follow waste hierarchy principles to encourage an ‘avoid, reuse and recycle’ culture through education and behaviour change programs for the residential, business and community service offerings. 
• Provide guidance for increasing the recycled content in capital works projects and internal operations.
• Identify opportunities for residents and businesses to work towards a circular economy to increase resource recovery and reduce waste to landfill. 
• Undertake a feasibility assessment for the provision of an annual kerbside hard waste collection for urban and rural households.
• Investigate feasibility for Council to provide communal services for strips of shops – primarily for the recovery of organics and cardboard.
• Provide strategic advice regarding interrelationship between the CDS and Public Place Recycling.

The outcomes of this work have been utilised to form the Draft Strategy.
 

At the moment, the waste management system is largely managed by individual councils. With almost 3 million households across Victoria, living in 79 different council areas, rolling them out in stages is the best way to transition to a new system.

At Moorabool we need time to access the right infrastructure – such as bins, trucks and processing facilities. Any service changes will be communicated well in advance.