News

Diverting more waste from landfill

31 August 2009

The City will soon be using Jack’s Gully Alternative Waste Treatment facility to divert approximately half of its domestic waste away from landfill, increasing resource recovery from 32 per cent to 57 per cent in the first year of operation.

"Using the facility is part of the City’s implementation of Sustainable Sydney 2030 which commits us to diverting 70 per cent of waste from landfill by 2014," said Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP.

"The new system will reduce harmful carbon emissions associated with our current waste management operations by about 11,000 tonnes each year - the equivalent to taking over 2000 cars off the road. It will also cut costs, saving the Council around $1.4 million after three years of operation."

The facility diverts 70 per cent of waste from landfill using an ArrowBio process which removes recyclables from the waste stream and processes waste into energy and high grade compost.

"The City regards waste as a valuable resource which can be diverted to various energy sources and the new facility helps us achieve this."

"We are also investigating an alternative waste treatment facility to divert even more waste from landfill and possibly generate renewable fuels," Ms Moore added.

Over the past year the City has held three electronic waste collections which recycled over 30 tonnes of e-waste and hosted a chemical collection (run by the Department of Environment and Climate Change) which collected approximately 13 tonnes of hazardous household waste.

The City is rolling out new recycling bins to inner-city residents living in houses to make recycling easier and runs a range of free workshops and seminars to educate people on how to live more sustainably.

To watch the City’s video on how to make recycling easier visit www.zerowaste.org.au.

Media Contact: Amy Glancey 02 9265 9201 or 0428 653 449, aglancey@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au.

For more City of Sydney media releases go to: www.sydneymedia.com.au.

Source: City of Sydney