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Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 1
Discussion Paper
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Waste
Reduction
for a
Sustainable
Sunshine
Coast
AVOID
REDUCE
RE-USE
RECYLE
WASTE TO ENERGY
DISPOSAL
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 2
Contents:
CONTENTS: .......................................................................................................................... 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 3
KEY POINTS: ........................................................................................................................ 3
MILESTONES ........................................................................................................................ 4
WHAT IS THIS DISCUSSION PAPER FOR?....................................................................................... 5
“THANK YOU” TO OUR TASKFORCE!! .......................................................................................... 5
WHAT DO YOU THINK?............................................................................................................ 5
THE CHALLENGES FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT ............................................................................... 6
POPULATION GROWTH = WASTE GROWTH................................................................................... 7
OBJECTIVES OF THE SUNSHINE COAST WASTE REDUCTION STRATEGY .................................................. 8
TARGETS ............................................................................................................................. 9
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ................................................................................................... 10
SO HOW CAN WE REDUCE THE WASTE OF RESOURCES? ................................................................... 11
WASTES AREN’T WASTES! ..................................................................................................... 13
ADVANCED WASTE TECHNOLOGIES .......................................................................................... 14
A MAJOR OPPORTUNITY – THE SUSTAINABILITY PARK ................................................................... 16
COUNCIL FACILITIES ............................................................................................................. 18
SERVICES AND PRICING ......................................................................................................... 20
NO “SILVER BULLET” ........................................................................................................... 24
IMPLEMENTATION : RECOMMENDED SEQUENCE......................................................................... 25
SUGGESTED SPECIFIC INITIATIVES ............................................................................................. 26
EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ..................................................................... 26
AVOID, REDUCE & RE-USE .......................................................................................... 26
RECYCLING ............................................................................................................. 27
WASTE TO ENERGY ................................................................................................... 28
DISPOSAL ............................................................................................................... 29
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 3
Executive Summary
The Sunshine Coast Regional Council (Council) has embarked on a journey to becoming Australia’s
most sustainable region and reducing our wastes to landfill to zero by 2020. Minimising our wastes
and maximising the re-use of embodied resources is a major part of becoming sustainable. This
Discussion Paper sets out the general direction we need to head for improved waste management
and has been informed by the suggestions of the WASTE TASKFORCE made up of community
members, waste managers and producers in the private sector, and the Council’s staff. After
feedback on this document, Council and the Taskforce will develop a draft Strategy for consideration
by Councillors in November. The Strategy aims to divert 70% of waste by 2014.
Key Points:
Council’s landfills will be full by 2014 if we do nothing. However, if all the measures suggested
are successful, we will divert 70% of our “wastes” and our landfills will last for another 20 years.
Council must lead by example, educate and partner with the community and industry to be
successful in reaching its objectives.
Council will partner with State and Federal Governments to require waste avoidance by
manufacturers.
Waste is responsible for 2/3’s of Council’s greenhouse gases and we will be paying about $2m in
carbon taxes each year if we don’t reduce our land-filling and install methane capture.
Organics (paper, cardboard, garden waste and food) are the primary cause of greenhouse gases,
odours and leachate and are the highest priority for diverting from landfill.
Residents can reduce their water bills and improve their gardens by composting or worm-
farming their own organics and Council will assist residents to do this.
Council will assist local businesses to become more eco-efficient by reducing waste, water and
power use to improve both our competitiveness and sustainability.
Council will be seeking a private sector partner to recycle 70% of our construction waste.
Council will increase the role of community groups in managing our Resource Recovery Centres
and tip shops and partner with education and creative industries.
Council will review the Resource Recovery Centres to facilitate improved recycling.
Recycling organics into compost and /or energy will foster local employment and Council will
seek tenders for a composter by 2012.
Council will develop a “Sustainability Industrial Park” at Caloundra South to locate new “green”
industries to re-manufacture products from the recovered resources and create “green” jobs.
Council will seek approval to build a Resource Recovery Centre at Coolum, and extend some
landfills for the residuals not recycled.
Council will look at locating an Advanced Waste Treatment facility at the Sustainability Park to
synchronise with new collection system in 2014.
Council will trial new collection systems to cost-effectively remove food from the general waste
bins, including a three bin system of waste, recyclables and organics.
Council will set short term Key Performance Indicators to assess progress of the Strategy.
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 4
N.B. TIMINGS ARE APPROXIMATE
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Decide on
AWT, Waste to
Energy, re-
manufacturing
@ Sust. Park
Composter
@ Sust.
Park
opens
Major
domestic
waste
reduction
& recycling
program
Open Cal.
Sth
Sustain-
ability
Park
Anti-
plastic
bag
campaign
Report on
suitability
of
anaerobic
digestion
Major Waste Reduction Milestones
Eco-
efficiency
partnership
with
business
Zero
Green-
house
gases
from
l’fills
C&D
recycling
opens
Organic
waste
trials
Tender for
new
regional
collection
contract
New collection
system &
Advanced
Waste
Treatment
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 5
What is this Discussion Paper for?
The Sunshine Coast Regional Council resolved to ask a group of informed and community-minded
people to offer their advice on future waste management. This Waste Taskforce and Council have
developed this Discussion Paper to present their ideas and suggestions for future waste
management to prompt the wider community and industry to respond with their own ideas and
reactions. After that feedback has been considered, a draft Sunshine Coast Waste Reduction
Strategy will be presented to Council in November for their consideration and eventual adoption to
guide the waste management for the next 5 years.
“Thank You” to our Taskforce!!
The Sunshine Coast Regional Council wishes to acknowledge the community members of the Waste
Taskforce for the many, many hours of work and careful thought that they have contributed to this
Discussion Paper. They are Michael Powell, Dr. Pene Mitchell, Allen Jay, Rex Metcalfe, Narelle
McCarthy, Rick Ralph, Deena Murray, Belinda Hutchinson, Trish Cashin, Arthur Ziakas and Robert
Mrozowski. Thank you and the organisations you represent.
What do you think?
The Sunshine Coast Regional Council has developed a number of options for our future reduction
and management of waste. All of them involve the residents in some way. Initiatives may include
better sorting of recyclables, diverting garden waste or paying higher charges to ensure resources
are recovered. So your opinion and behaviour are vital parts of the equation. That is why Council
has published this Discussion Paper and wants to hear your feedback, ideas and suggestions.
The consultation program will have roving displays in our libraries, customer service centres and at
the University. On the Council’s website (www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.), there is an on-line survey
and Background Summaries on some of the issues raised in this Discussion Paper. Please send your
ideas and comments to the website or to ...
Waste Consultation
SCRC Caloundra (Emma O’Mara)
PO Box 117 Caloundra 4551.
We value your thoughts, and look forward to hearing your views on where we should be heading
with sustainable waste management on the Sunshine Coast.
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 6
The Challenges for Waste Management
The Sunshine Coast faces a number of significant
challenges. A growing volume of waste per person
multiplied by the growing number of people has seen
our total waste volumes soar to 412,532 tonnes per
annum.
The majority of the Coast’s waste management costs are
in collection. It makes sense to try to reduce those costs
by locating key infrastructure like sorting plants or
landfills near the sources of the waste. Fortunately, the
existing landfills in Noosa, Nambour and Caloundra can
help us reduce costs. They are strategic financial assets
and it is clearly in the region’s interests to preserve
those assets by slowing their consumption.
Even with a new Strategy, Council will need to assess its options for a new residuals landfill. By
reducing and recycling, we can delay that
expensive and divisive exercise for as long as
possible.
The good thing is that we can reduce our waste
to landfill by mimicking nature. We need to
“cycle” our products and waste instead of
sending them on a one way trip to disposal.
Landfilling waste is the cheapest option in
immediate financial terms so why would we
want to change our approach? Landfills leach
pollutants into our waterways, consume valuable land and smell. Currently, our landfills on the
Coast represent around 2/3s of the greenhouse gases emitted by the Sunshine Coast Regional
Council. This will cost us dearly (approx $2M EACH YEAR on current volumes and estimates) when
the Federal Government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is introduced but, more importantly,
we would be irresponsible to not act to minimise this environmental harm.
GW=Self delivered garden waste,
MSW=Municipal Solid Waste,
C&D=Construction & Demolition, and
C&I=Commercial & Industrial
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 7
The Council, as part of our journey to a more sustainable region, is determined to reduce our climate
change impact and that means capturing and burning the methane already in landfill and keeping
organics (cardboard, paper, garden waste and food) out of new landfill. The Sunshine Coast is
particularly vulnerable to climate change. The increased storms, cyclones and sea level surges
threaten beach front and low areas. More severe bushfires will affect our rural population and
natural areas. Council will act to reduce our contribution to this risk.
Population Growth = Waste Growth
It is no secret that most of the Sunshine
Coast’s population growth will be in the
south. The Sunshine Coast’s population will
continue to grow in the future and the
majority (73%)of that Growth will occur in
the area located between the Maroochy
River and Caloundra South. New shops,
houses, building, businesses and institutions
like our long awaited hospital will all shift the
sources of waste to the south of our region.
The adjacent map provides a breakdown of
the future growth areas.
Just as important an issue for us as climate
change is the landfill capacity of our region. At our current and still increasing rates of population
expansion, waste generation and land-filling, we will need a new landfill by 2014. Locating and
gaining public and government approval for a new landfill is a very slow, expensive and socially
divisive exercise. If the Sunshine Coast invests in diverting its wastes into productive uses, it will off-
set some of those costs by delaying or avoiding the need to develop new landfills. This is in keeping
with the Council’s long term goal of zero waste and becoming carbon neutral.
The Sunshine Coast hosts an increasing number of tourists each year. While they bring a holiday
atmosphere, they often also come from different recycling systems or worse, forget their good
habits while they are on holiday. It will be a huge challenge to educate and engage with these
visitors to ensure they help us divert waste using simple, easy to follow systems during their stays.
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 8
Finally, an emerging opportunity is the chance to help our existing businesses become competitive
by reducing waste and to develop new businesses on the Coast by utilising what we currently waste.
If we are clever, we can create new jobs composting garden waste, even making tissue and toilet
paper from our “waste” paper and turning much of what’s left into renewable energy.
Objectives of the Sunshine Coast Waste Reduction Strategy
Educate, assist and empower the community to be active partners in waste
reduction.
Follow the waste hierarchy by
greatly increasing the focus on
reducing and recycling waste to
avoid disposal.
Minimise the environmental
harm from waste.
Provide an efficient, convenient
and safe waste system for
residents and business.
Maximise the economic opportunities by assisting business to be more efficient and
to utilise the opportunities from any recovered resources or energy.
Minimise the costs by using proven technology, competitive tendering, partnering
with well established private companies and transferring commodity risks.
Avoidance
Reuse
Recycle
Waste to energy
Landfill
Most favoured option
Least favoured option
Avoidance
Reuse
Recycle
Waste to energy
Landfill
Most favoured option
Least favoured option
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 9
Targets
The Waste Management Strategy will contain targets but the final level will be determined by
feedback from the Discussion Paper and also Council’s response. The larger the investment in
minimisation, the higher the diversion and benefits. Broadly speaking, Council is aiming to divert
70% from landfill in the first five years of this Strategy (2014) as the next major step of its journey
towards zero waste by 2020. Council recognises that it may not be able to control all wastes and
looks to the State Government to assist to ensure these goals are met.
The draft waste reduction targets for wastes received by Council, at this stage, are
Construction & Demolition – 70% by 2012
Non-compostable plastic shopping bags – 100% by 2012
Municipal Solid Waste – 70% by 2014
Commercial & Industrial waste – 70% by 2014
The Strategy will also reflect other Corporate Plan goals of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council such
as encouraging renewable energy, minimising greenhouse gases, developing the local economy and
job growth and maintaining a transparent system that evolves with community expectations and
needs.
Council can set compulsory levels of waste diversion by using a Local Law which will create a level
playing field for Council and the private sector. This will become increasingly important as private
enterprise begins to handle more and more of the Sunshine Coast’s waste streams. It is important
that our goal of becoming a sustainable region is not undermined by someone seeking easy profits
from land-filling our resources.
The Waste Reduction Strategy will also have specific Key Performance Indicators and shorter term
milestones. Council will publicly report how we are going to enable everyone to measure the
progress.
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 10
Community Engagement
Community engagement, be that business or residents, is the key issue identified by the Taskforce
and the one where we have made the least effort to date. Council relies on the community to
present their bins correctly, sort their wastes into recycling and the rest and hopefully reduce the
volumes they present. The Council will widen its previous focus on educating school children to
reach into the wider community. Council has already increased its waste education budget for
business and intends to increase these efforts to
make this a major focus for the Strategy.
Council also recognises that the community and
business see things in a more integrated way. A
business sees waste management as just one
facet of commercial efficiency. Residents may
see composting, not as a waste reduction issue,
but as a gardening issue – improving their
garden, reducing water and chemical use and
growing healthier plants.
For Council to engage with the community, it will
need to better integrate waste management into
daily or business life. Waste will need to be
widened into a sustainability framework – looking
at reductions in energy and water use, capturing
resources to build employment, reducing waste
to make Sunshine Coast’s businesses more
competitive.
Council will maintain the community involvement with the progress of the waste reduction strategy
to ensure it stays on target. Regular reports back to the residents and more formal regular reviews
by the Taskforce or similar residents are planned.
Waste minimisation – its nothing new!!!
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 11
So how can we reduce the waste of resources?
Fortunately, waste management has moved on from the “hole in the ground” mentality of twenty
years ago. We need to reduce the volumes of waste but have very little assistance from the Federal
and State Governments who control issues like packaging. For a number of years, both industry and
the general public have been asking for programs to reduce plastic bags, recycle tyres and electronic
goods(“e-waste”) with little success. However, it appears from recent statements that we may
finally get some progress on these important issues from our National and State Governments.
The Sunshine Coast Regional Council is looking at
initiatives like a ban on thin plastic single use
shopping bags and will encourage re-usable bags or
replace them with compostable ones made from
organic plastic. While the compostables cost around
25c each, a few bags adds very little to our weekly
shopping bill and shoppers can always avoid any cost
by taking our own re-usable bags. It seems a small
price to pay to keep these deadly menaces out of our
waterways where they are estimated to kill 100,000
sea animals each year around our globe.
Household recycling is now a normal part of life and
many are now moving to recycle at work as well.
That’s great but it is not enough. Significant volumes
of resources that could add to our economy are still
being thrown away.
The Sunshine Coast’s economy has become
dangerously narrow. A downturn in building or tourism, as we face now, sends unemployment
skyrocketing. We clearly need to build a new local economy that expands beyond the current
industries.
The resources in our waste can be part of that new economy if we can recover specific resources
that “cycle”, as they do in nature, back around to help establish new businesses. Over 15% of our
landfill waste is paper and cardboard that isn’t being recycled and could add value to our wood fibre
industries. This is an “urban forest” that is worth money and could supply a tissue manufacturer or a
Why are we “waste”-ing
our recyclables?
Currently, 22.34% of domestic waste is
recyclable but we are putting it in the
wrong bin!!! That is roughly the same
amount of recyclables that we put in the
yellow top bin.
In other words, if we recycled correctly,
we would double the amount we recycle
from the home.
The wastage is even bigger in our work
bins where we could recycle over a
quarter of their contents.
We need to do more research to find out
why! What are the barriers...What will
motivate our residents to make that
little extra effort??
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 12
cat litter manufacturer. We don’t
have many mines on the Coast but
we can “mine” the metals out of
our waste.
The Sunshine Coast Regional
Council will lead from the front.
Already Council has adopted a
Sustainable Purchasing Policy to
favour recycled goods such as
crushed concrete for paths and
other non-structural jobs rather
than wasting good gravel and
exhausting our quarries. The Parks
staff already use their trimmings to
mulch our parks and some of our
administrative buildings now
recycle. Council will focus on its
own practices and “walk the talk”.
Council will be increasing its
program of assistance to help
Sunshine Coast businesses become
more sustainable and more
competitive. By reducing waste,
energy and water use, local
business has proven it can save
money.
It may take an initial capital
investment to become eco-
efficient but Council believes the
Sunshine Coast will be more
prosperous in the long term as a
sustainable region.
Business Efficiency
a more competitive economy = a more sustainable region
Council has worked with a number of forward-thinking
businesses to help them become more eco-efficient. This
helps their “bottom line” and helps grow jobs on the Coast.
The Sheraton in Noosa has a comprehensive program of
water and energy minimisation and their annual waste bill
has dropped by around $45k and 41% annually.
This works for small businesses as well as big institutions.
Queensland Complete Printing in Nambour have also put
huge efforts into becoming more sustainable, seeing it as
good for business but also good for where their employees
live and play, the Sunshine Coast. They now recycle 95% of
their waste, used energy savings to pay for 100% green
power and use rainwater for all their processing.
It is the employees that have made these businesses
exceptional performers and have got full support from the
management.
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 13
Wastes aren’t Wastes!
Most of the waste from our
households is termed “organic”.
This doesn’t mean fruit grown
without chemicals. It is the garden
waste, paper, cardboard and food
– basically anything that was once
alive and growing. It is these
materials that are both the major
source of our problems and a
major opportunity for a more
sustainable Sunshine Coast.
Organics degrade in a landfill into
methane and other gases. The
methane is the big issue as it is 21
times as powerful a contributor to
greenhouse gases as carbon
dioxide. Methane can and will be
captured and burnt to provide
power but you can never get it all.
A far better approach is to cycle organics BEFORE they get to the landfill. These organics can be
composted at home, in communities or at central facilities. As well as reducing greenhouse gases,
odour and leachate from the landfill, recycling organics prolongs the landfill’s life significantly.
Just as importantly, composting organics has a number of significant other benefits. Unlike many
recyclables which need to be shipped down south for re-smelting or sophisticated re-manufacture,
organics can be composted here on the Coast, employing locals. The composts can be used here as
well. Compost can help us reduce water and chemical use on our gardens, improve the soils for our
farmers and reduce run-off pollution in our streams and creeks.
As was reported at the Sunshine Coast’s recent organics conference, experience elsewhere is clear –
compost has to be a reliable quality-assured product if it is to be financially sustainable.
Worms and Compost
Turn waste food into great gardens
Over half of the waste that residents send to landfill
could be turned into compost to help you save water,
reduce fertiliser use and have healthier gardens and
lawns. With the recent State Government price hikes on
water, we could all do with a cheaper way to make our
homes look beautiful. Unless you are lucky enough to live
on the rich basalt soils of the Blackall Range, most
Sunshine Coast soils are old and lacking in nutrients and
carbon.
Council will be significantly increasing its efforts to teach
our home-owners how to use worm farming and compost
bins to make better gardens. For those who haven’t the
time, Council is also intending to turn the garden wastes
into high quality compost for sale.
Its not as much fun as running a worm ranch but you can
still have the benefits of that rich compost and Council
keeps those climate-changing gases out of landfill.
Don’t take our word for it – ask any good gardener and
they all say the same thing – “compost, compost,
compost”.
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 14
Another exciting emerging opportunity is to generate power with some of the organics, either
through burning the woody wastes as they do in Beenleigh or anaerobically digesting food wastes as
is being attempted in Sydney. All of these options are “on the table” and a combination is the likely
outcome. Much will depend on developing the markets for compost, the price premium paid for
renewable energy and the success of the new technologies elsewhere.
Advanced Waste Technologies
The Waste Taskforce has
examined the opportunities
from a range of new
technologies that offer greatly
increased recovery rates.
These are called Advanced
Waste Technologies or AWT’s.
Using sophisticated sorting
machines like those in the
mining industry, large plants
can now recover around
70~80% of the wastes back into
some usable commodity.
This advanced technology and
increased recovery of resources
comes at a cost. While
conventional land-filling is
around $50/tn, the likely
prospect of a carbon tax and a
State landfill levy would push that close to $100/tn, which is competitive with these new plants plus
you get usable products, not an environmental liability.
In Australia, these Advanced Waste Technologies have had varying success to date. Fortunately, the
Sunshine Coast can learn from other Councils’ experiences. The current consensus is to favour
simpler and cheaper technologies such as three bin systems, tunnel composting (which can be
expanded to meet demand and different feedstocks) and more advanced sorting of waste.
Tunnel composting: accelerated decomposition, can accept food and
bio-solids, modular = quality product + no odour
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 15
An emerging focus is on anaerobic
digestion which can produce bio-gas
for power or heat. This is still relatively
unproven but a number of Australian
and European facilities will provide a
definitive answer on these techniques
over the next few years. A big
advantage is that there is no “market
risk” in that there is a strong demand
for renewable energy.
Council will not be risking ratepayers’
funds and the Waste Taskforce
suggests that only relatively simple
composting of organics be progressed
immediately.
Anaerobic digestion and advanced
sorting will be watched closely to
make a decision that synchronises
with the expiry of the existing
collection contracts in 2014. Some of
these plants will sort food out and
others require that residents do that.
By linking the implementation to the
next round of collection contracts, it
will allow the Council to do the
research and trials to ensure an
efficient and cost-effective system.
S.A.W.T. Plant: tunnel composter, advanced sort = 70%
diversion
Line 2 Line 1
Water pre-sorting vat
Heavies Line Residual
Line 2 Line 1
Water pre-sorting vat
Heavies Line Residual
ArrowBio Plant: tunnel composter, waste sorter & anaerobic
digestion= 80% diversion
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 16
A Major Opportunity – the Sustainability Park
Council is fortunate to own a strategic parcel of appropriately zoned land at Caloundra South,
adjacent to the State Government’s new industrial estate, near to the majority of where waste will
be generated and with long buffer distances to any residents.
This block of old pine forest has the proximity to transport and other industry to become the heart
of an “industrial ecosystem”. Businesses can locate in the Sustainability Park to make compost,
produce power and heat for the neighbouring businesses and re-manufacture using resources from
our wastes so help the region into a new and more resilient economy. The site is big enough to
preserve the sensitive water and wildlife corridors as well as locating re-manufacturers or waste to
energy facilities.
Current Landfill
Corbould Pk Racecourse
Industrial Park
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 17
Council will be looking to locate the composter here initially. Other recycling industries will be
encouraged to make use of our waste streams to create a more diverse economy with “green” jobs.
Finally, this is the obvious site
for an Advanced Waste
Treatment facility to gather
even more resources from the
waste stream.
Energy generation, both
electricity and heat, could also
be targeted using processes
like anaerobic digesters and
fluidised bed furnaces to fully
utilise the renewable power
opportunities.
The buffer distances to new and existing housing will ensure no impact on residents and these
modern facilities are located in “negative pressure” buildings where air is drawn constantly into the
building and then cleaned in a “bio-filter” so there is no odour.
The transport connections to the site are excellent with close proximity to road and rail and no
impact on local roads or amenity.
The opportunity for the Sunshine Coast to create new green jobs, foster a more diverse and
resilient economy and make use of our previously wasted resources by utilising this site is obvious.
Waste products are sorted and “feed” co-located industries in our
Sustainability Park.
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 18
Council Facilities
Council operates 12 Resource
Recovery Facilities to receive large
volumes of waste for the
convenience of Sunshine Coast
residents. Council has inherited a
number of different management
arrangements from the former
Councils. Some are working better
than others at diverting materials
from landfill and different contracts
are in place that will have to run
their course.
Council has found that the
community-based “Not-for-Profit”
operators have brought a series of
value-adding services to the
operations. Tip shops, training
workshops, active intervention and
diversion, community bonuses and
employment schemes have created
a strong bond between local
communities and the operators
which has made waste education a
strong bonus for everyone.
However, these gains can only be
realised with adequate
infrastructure and this will require
some significant investment in up-
graded facilities. Just as
importantly, some of the facilities
Community-based Recycling
Sustainability with a social, economic and
environmental benefit
Noosa, Caloundra, Beerwah and Maleny all have very
successful community-based local not-for-profit groups
operating heavily patronised second hand shops, repair
workshops and training programs. These groups intercept
materials destined to waste space in our landfills and
recycle them as repaired goods or commodities like metal.
Not only does Council save valuable airspace but the
community gets low cost goods and even valuable
collectables. The groups work within their communities to
assist with juvenile offenders and other labour programs
to help locals get their lives back on track.
For example, over the last 4 years, the Beerwah
Community Recycling has donated $180,000 back into
their community, not including the in-kind work like worm
farms and vegetable gardens for schools, open days for
the community and hosting groups through the facility to
educate them on minimisation, re-use and load
segregation. Briteside & CADET are achieving similar
benefits in their locations.
Many don’t realise it but the charity bins also perform a
valuable recycling service for the Coast. You are not
simply helping a particular charity like Endeavour or
Lifeline when you donate – you are reducing our waste
problem as well.
Council will assist by starting a website for customers who
are after particular goods like timber or collectibles.
The community groups may also be able to assist with the
large item service to capture more goods for repair and re-
sale through the tip shops before the weather ruins them.
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 19
are in poor condition and service very few residents and may need to be reduced or rationalised.
The local communities will be consulted to determine the best mix of services for the future.
When contracts fall due, Council intends to encourage community organisations by giving them a
preference in tendering for the operation of gatehouses and tip shops or other local initiatives.
Incentives will be included to encourage greater recycling and contracts will give certainty by
running for a number of years with suitable extensions for good operators. However, sometimes
community groups will not be available or wish to tender so tenders will be open to the private
sector as well.
Council will also be examining whether to utilise community groups for large waste kerbside
collections as a way to increase recycling and re-use of discarded goods.
The landfills also need major investment. Our old “cheap” un-lined landfills leached pollutants into
our valuable waterways. These landfills aren’t as cheap as we used to like to believe. We now need
to spend millions of dollars to capture the greenhouse gases and reduce odour. Our old un-lined
landfills at Caloundra and Coolum will close next year. Caloundra and Nambour will have safe new
extensions and Eumundi Road will have its licence amended to accept 10 more trucks per day.
Remember - if nothing is done about reducing our waste, we will need new landfill(s) by 2014.
However, by aggressively
promoting reduction and
recycling of domestic,
commercial, construction
and demolition wastes
coupled with a possible
AWT at the Sustainability
Park, we will only be land-
filling a quarter of our
wastes and can extend the
life of the landfills by at
least another 20 years.
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 20
Services and Pricing
Council intends to provide flexibility of services to match the various needs of its residents and
businesses. Council will engage with the commercial sector to provide “value-added” services such
as daily food waste collections, recycling skips, and data and advice to empower business to
minimise their costs and wastes. Council believes that waste services must reflect the full costs of
the system. However, within that full cost framework and the necessary commercial flexibility,
Council will use a couple of principles to guide its pricing.
1. Council will follow “polluter pays” principles by encouraging adoption of smaller bins and
discourage larger bins through its pricing schedule;
2. Council will provide incentives for recycling and clean organic material, both in the bins
and at the Resource Recovery Stations
Council will be trialling various
options to recycle organics over
the next two years to be ready for
the next round of contracts or the
construction of a composting
facility at the Sustainability Park.
These may involve a third bin for
garden wastes plus compostable
kitchen bags for food.
Council will also participate in the
emerging programs coming from
the Federal Government on
electronic wastes and used tyres.
Household hazardous wastes like
pesticide containers will also be
targeted. While these wastes are
small in volume, they can be big on
environmental impact.
“Polluter pays” principle
(1) The “polluter pays” principle is the principle that all
costs associated with the management of waste
should, if practicable, be borne by the persons who
generated the waste.
(2) The costs associated with the management of waste
may include the costs of—
(a) minimising the amount of waste generated;
and
(b) containing, treating and disposing of waste;
and
(c) rectifying environmental harm caused by
waste.
QLD ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (WASTE MANAGEMENT)
POLICY 2000 - SECT 11
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 21
Council will also have to decide on the most appropriate model for setting policy and delivering
services. To some extent, this process is out of Council’s control and involves the State Government
through Treasury requiring a Public Benefit Test for any non-competitive “businesses” under
National Competition Policy (N.B. The Sunshine Coast Regional Council has an exclusivity on the
collection of domestic and commercial waste).
Any proposal is examined against the State’s goals of
“The Government’s Priority Outcomes for Queensland are—
• More jobs for Queenslanders.
• Building Queensland’s regions.
• Skilling Queensland.
• Safer and more supportive communities.
• Better quality of life.
• Valuing the environment.
• Strong government leadership.” Qld Treasury Guidelines on Public Benefit Test
Council’s waste business is charged with delivering a cost-effective system that complies with all
laws. Currently, waste generates significant profits for Council which, in turn, off-sets rates. Its long
term policy framework will be the Waste Strategy but there is no separate section of Council that
sets immediate policy questions (e.g. is it better to make more money or to subsidise garden waste
bins?) or co-ordinates a regulatory response to illegal dumping.
Other Councils have established a purely service delivery model which does not aim to make a profit.
Extra funds are raised through rates. Some still adopt a business model for service delivery but
nominate an appropriate section to set immediate policy and regulatory outcomes subject to
Council control. SCRC is required to review its governance after the adoption of its Waste Strategy.
Council will also be subject to any changes in State regulations on its exclusivity on commercial
wastes. The private waste industry strongly believes that the Sunshine Coast should open up
commercial waste collection to private companies and Council can choose whether to compete.
This would provide greater flexibility to business but may increase costs to Council as the private
sector only usually goes for the more profitable sectors of the market. This model does rely on
Council or the State Govt setting and enforcing recycling requirements if the diversion targets are to
be met.
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 22
Yes...it sounds great but what would it cost?
It is very difficult to put a precise cost on many of the major items in this Discussion Paper due to the
unknowns of Federal and State Government policies. Also, many of the infrastructure and collection
innovations will be subject to tender and thus the marketplace conditions and commodity trends in
three years time.
The Taskforce believes that recovering resources from the waste stream provides significant
environmental and economic benefits when compared to landfill. Then there are the social costs
and divisiveness of trying to find a new site for a landfill – Would you want one near your house?
There needs to be a “triple bottom line” approach that recognises that landfill seems cheap but
doesn’t deliver the social, economic or environmental benefits of better waste management.
Quantifying those benefits are difficult but they are very real and are part of the journey to a new
economy and a sustainable Sunshine Coast.
In summary...-
• The days of low cost waste disposal by landfill are coming to an abrupt end and all
indications are that the price will continue to rise over time.
• The improved landfill facilities at Noosa, Nambour and Caloundra for residual waste will be
significantly more expensive
than our old landfills.
• The Federal Government is
likely to introduce an
emissions trading scheme to
combat climate change.
Landfills are currently 2/3 of
Council’s total emissions. Our
best estimate is an average of
$25/tonne but some Councils
believe it will be closer to $50
per tonne.
• The State Government has
indicated that a waste levy
similar to the ones that exist in other States is possible. Again, figures vary but our estimate
for planning purposes is $20/tonne while remembering that NSW is $60 and going up.
New landfill Per tonne
Compost Per tonne
Advanced WasteTech.
Current costs
$45.00 $90.00 $100 - 130
+ Fed. Carbon tax
$25.00?
+ State tax? $20.00?
Total $90.00?? $90.00 $100-130
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 23
It can be seen from this that the costs of waste management will rise, no matter what the Council
does. By diverting waste from landfill, we avoid any future State and Federal taxes plus the costs of
transport and landfill. Thus, the costs of some of the new technologies are comparable to new
landfills and avoid the problems of siting new facilities and generate new jobs and businesses.
These figures don’t help much with seeing how it would affect the householder though.
It is possible to put some indicative figures around the improvements. The improvements to our
waste reduction system come in three main tranches or phases, the immediate and obvious items
such as eco-efficiency for business , plastic bag campaign and home composting, then there is the
sensible but more expensive such as the development of Sustainability Park with a tunnel composter
and some recycling industries. Finally, there is the “ambitious” phase which involves Advanced
Waste Treatment, waste to energy plant and possibly Anaerobic Digestion of our food waste.
The costs are further complicated by issues of whether two or three bins are used, whether food is
included in an organics bin and how we manage the growing problem of disposable nappies and
other personal products.
Scenarios Total additional cost
per household per week
Business as usual: better landfill, new Fed. & State taxes $1-50+
1. Eco-efficiency, home compost, better recycling 10c
2. Centralised composting, local recycling jobs $2
3. High tech solutions, power from waste $3
N.B. These costs are very approximate based on benchmarking with other Councils. The costs are
not cumulative. In other words, $3 per week is the total cost for the 3 phases of implementation.
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 24
Again, with diligent waste reduction and service costs that reward those that minimise their wastes
through composting at home and recycling well, these figures could be reduced for households that
“do the right thing”. For households or businesses that can’t be bothered separating their wastes,
the costs may be higher.
It must be remembered that these costs are very much guesstimates and the Council intends to
consult its ratepayers with the full costs and benefits before deciding to move to the more ambitious
and costly Phase 3 of an Advanced Waste Technology.
No single “Silver Bullet” answer
While there is no single or simple “solution” or answer for our waste management issues, the
Taskforce is mapping a clear way forward. The Strategy will involve a multiplicity of initiatives
spread across the various waste streams, from avoidance to disposal of what’s left after our best
efforts to minimise.
There are a few isolated opportunities to make money from products like aluminium cans, but
almost all other elements cost more than just dumping it in a hole in the ground, particularly when
we don’t put the long term environmental costs into the equation. The Sunshine Coast Regional
Council wants minimal risk to its investments and will evaluate and ensure performance is proven
before committing to a particular technology.
The Council will also have to find ways of accommodating local solutions to its waste management in
line with the need to reduce carbon and foster local enterprise in the manner suggested by the
Transition Towns localisation paradigm. This is more difficult than it sounds as collection contracts
tend to preclude changes or they come at significant costs to Council. Fortunately, it is three years
until the next round of collection contracts in 2014 and communities and Council will need to
develop local initiatives to a point where the implications are clear and the Council can decide on its
level of support.
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 25
Implementation : Recommended Sequence
Council has a series of waste collection contracts that do not finish until 2014. Some changes can be
made immediately but others will have to wait. 2014 seems like a long time away but planning has
begun on what a new system needs to look like. Council intends to take sensible measured steps
that match the contractual opportunities and the documented performance of recently installed
technologies in Sydney and Western Australia. It is a case of hasten cautiously and efficiently.
In very broad terms, the sequence of decisions is.....
2009: Partner with business and community on becoming more sustainable and waste
aware.
Increase the volumes of organic wastes managed at home by providing advice on
composting and worm farming.
Provide a garden waste bin to capture more organics before landfill.
Tender for mattress recycler to save 9000 m3 of landfill per annum.
2010: Assist business and community to reduce waste through targeted sustainability
and eco-efficiency programs like Eco-Biz and Living Smart.
Secure extensions to existing landfills & establish Sustainability Park at Caloundra
Sth for resource recovery industries e.g. composter & mattress recyclers.
Anti-plastic bag campaign commences
2011: Partner with a proven compost manufacturer to turn our garden wastes into a
saleable product and begin market development.
Partner with proven recycler to divert 70+% of construction and demolition waste.
Investigate types of organic waste collection from residents & commercial outlets.
Assess emerging technologies like anaerobic digestion for Sunshine Coast.
2012: Seek proposals for proven technologies to recycle the remaining wastes as power,
composts or re-manufactured products.
Open new compost plant at Caloundra Sth Sustainability Park
2013: Assess proposals, cost & decide on waste minimisation technology (AWT).
Award appropriate collection tender to match chosen technology.
2014: Open new Resource Recovery Plant (AWT) at Caloundra South Sustainability Park.
Commence new collection system.
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 26
Suggested Specific Initiatives
Education & Community Engagement
The Taskforce believes that community engagement is key to success in every step of waste
management and at every level of the waste hierarchy. Whether it is reminding shoppers to avoid
single use plastic bags, ensuring all recyclables go in the yellow top or segregating their rubbish
before they take it to the tip, community engagement is absolutely vital and needs far more
emphasis than it has received in previous years. Community engagement needs to be integrated
into all levels of the proposed Strategy and has been included throughout each list of initiatives.
Avoid, Reduce & Re-use
Reducing the waste going into the bins is by far the most sustainable and efficient strategy for the
residents and businesses. Council has a number of planned interventions to encourage reduction.
Initiative When
Home garden & worm composting program as part of domestic sustainability 2009 >>
Anti - Plastic bag campaign 2009/10
Eco-efficiency partnership program with festivals, institutions, tourism, business
& builders using Eco-Biz style program
2009 >>
Sustainable Procurement Policy for Council to reduce waste & purchase recycled
products and favour local “sustainability champions”
2009>>
Encourage local “farmers’ markets” to reduce packaging waste 2009>>
Council to systematically address waste minimisation in all departments 2009>>
Lobby State & Federal Govts to require producers and packagers to be legally
responsible for reducing or recycling the wastes they create.
2009>>
Lobby State Govt for fair, sensible and equitable regulations to ensure targets
are met, facilities are operating legally, and illegal operators are prosecuted.
2009>>
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 27
Recycling
Recycling is the recovery of resources destined for disposal. These resources can add significant
value to the Sunshine Coast’s economy and sustainability as well as reducing the environmental
harm of our landfills. Currently, we are losing significant volumes to landfill. Domestically, 22% of
our waste bin should be in the yellow top. Another 50% of the waste bin is garden or food waste
that should be recycled as compost. The Council is determined to capture the value of these
recyclables and use them, when possible, to support businesses and jobs here on the Coast.
Initiative When
Strongly discourage cardboard and other recyclables from commercial disposal
bins
2010 >>
Campaign to encourage residents to recycle through education and
encouraging smaller bins and pre-sorting through pricing
2009/10
Better provision of recycling services for multi-unit dwellings, tourist
accommodation, food outlets and general businesses
2009 >>
Partner with private sector to recycle >70% of waste
Construction & Demolition
Organics
Domestic
Commercial & Industrial
2010>>
2012>>
2014>>
2014>>
Develop “Sustainability Park” at Caloundra South to encourage recycling
industries using Coast’s recovered resources
2009/10
Require waste plans for construction and operation of multi-unit dwellings and
larger buildings into new Town Planning documents and enforce compliance
2010>>
Encourage better recycling at Resource Recovery Centres using local groups,
web page for timber and collectables, and improving or rationalising on-
ground infrastructure, and partnering with artists
2010/12
Investigate public place recycling and kerbside large item collection using
community groups
2010>>>
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 28
Waste to Energy
Waste to energy plants can provide renewable energy as did the Nambour Mill for decades.
Fortunately the technology has improved and no one would locate a major burner near residences
anymore. Council is exploring how best to meet our region’s energy needs sustainably. Currently,
our unusable timber is chipped and sent to the waste to energy plant at Rocky Point, Beenleigh.
While it is an unproven technology so far, anaerobic digestion producing a biogas is a likely option
for the future.
Finally, methane escaping from the existing landfills is the cause of over 60% of Council’s greenhouse
gases. This will be captured and used for power generation or heat energy if viable.
Initiative When
Install gas capture at Nambour, Caloundra and Eumundi Rd landfills & explore
energy use options
2010 >>
Monitor anaerobic plant performance in Australia & Europe with view to decision
in 2012 to allow possible opening in 2014
2010/12
Viability study for woody waste to energy plant at Caloundra South Sustainability
Park with a view for tender in 2011
2010
Begin research and community consultation about the acceptability of including
residual plastics and textiles in a fuel for waste to energy
2010
Sunshine Coast Waste Discussion Paper Page 29
Disposal
Disposal of residual waste will be with us for many years. While the goal is “zero waste”, only
incineration and using the ash in road works can currently offer that level of performance and the
Taskforce believes that incineration is an undesirable and expensive technology for the Sunshine
Coast as it would require fixed volumes for 15-20 years, leaving no incentive to minimise waste.
That means the Coast will require landfills for the ~30% of residual waste remaining after all
reduction, re-use, recycling and waste to energy. If we are successful at removing 70% of our
wastes, our landfills will last over 20 years.
The most important thing is that those landfills do not further exacerbate our climate change so
systems to capture the methane gas and reduce any odour will be installed as soon as practical (see
Waste to Energy section).
The Sunshine Coast has about 20 years of landfill if the investment in diversion delivers the expected
70% and landfill extensions are granted. Eumundi Road will increase its daily tonnage, Nambour
being extended and Caloundra is extending into the old Gun Club contaminated site for inert C&D
residuals.
Beyond then, a facility for Moreton and the Sunshine Coast Councils would be sensible and it may
even capture wastes from Northern Brisbane. An obvious site would be in an expired coal mine but
detailed investigations will be necessary to decide where any future regional landfill should be.
Initiative When
Obtain approvals for Caloundra, Nambour landfill extensions and Eumundi Rd
daily traffic increase
2009 /10
Close old landfill at Coolum & build Resource Recovery Centre at Coolum and
Transfer Station at Caloundra
2009/10
Begin investigation for new regional site for 2030 2010>>
Partner with DERM to prosecute illegal dumping 2009>>