2015-08-24 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA   24 AUGUST 2015




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GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                                         24 AUGUST 2015

                   *   Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the composting of all organic matter
                   *   Better solution for organic waste disposal
                   ¢   Successful operation demonstrated at Fraser Coast and other councils including Timaru
                       Council in New Zealand
               5.   Design and implement a grass-roots, long-term education and awareness
                   campaign to help Noosa residents understand the benefits of waste
                   minimisation and use their bins correctly

                   Council’s education and awareness campaign should be rolled out across the Noosa community
                   over several years and well ahead of the start of weekly organics collection. The long lead time
                   and multi-year duration of the campaign are crucial to ensure broad scale community acceptance
                   and behavioural change.
                   The campaign should explain:
                   ¢   The long-term benefits of reducing all waste, but particularly organic waste
                   ¢   The costs and challenges of the current volume of organic waste sent to landfill
                   ¢   What will be collected in the green bins in two separate stages: green waste initially and then
                       the collection of food and other organic matter
                   *   Correct bin usage for all three bins, including universal symbols, pictures and warnings about
                       contamination caused by plastic bags
                   ¢   The end product and process of the organic waste recycling.

                   Learn from successful programs
                   In developing its campaign, Noosa Council should learn from successful campaigns around
                   Australia that have achieved behavioural change in waste management with minimal fuss, such as
                   Lismore City Council and Bunbury’” City Council. Citizens from these councils told the Jury they
                   were very happy with the education and awareness campaigns associated with the introduction
                   of organics collection. The award-winning Bunbury program, in particular, was praised because of
                   its focus on face-to-face interactions with residents at a grass roots level.
                   Features of successful campaigns include:
                   ¢   Frequent interaction with lots of repetition
                   ¢   Personalised letters from council to residents
                   ¢   Easy to read posters, brochures and websites with lots of graphics, such as those produced by
                       Lismore City Council’
                   ¢   Staffed displays at local shopping centres and community events to encourage conversation
                   ¢   Advertisements in local newspapers
                   ¢   Anopen day at the landfill with tours of the facility

                   Be up front with citizens about costs and benefits
                   Council should clearly explain the costs and benefits of taking action to minimise organic waste.
                   Research has shown that citizens often overestimate costs because they do not know how much
                   waste management costs. As a result, they are more sensitive to price changes than if they had a
                   more accurate estimation’. Research has also shown that citizens will comply with new systems if
                   the importance is explained to them, they are satisfied the organic waste is being treated
                   appropriately and they will benefit financially in the long run’.
                   BENEFITS
                   *   Changes behaviour
                   ¢   Informs the community and increases acceptance

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