2019-09-10 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                            10 SEPTEMBER 2019


Promotional activities
Waste officers have continued to assist event organisers in reducing waste and improving
recycling. The usage of Council’s colour coded bin lids and covers has increased over the
2019FY. They were used at 23 events over the period. Waste officers were involved in providing
stalls at the Noosa Show, the Cooroy Fusion Festival, The Festival of Water, the World
Environment Day Festival and various events during National Recycling Week
The Waste Section coordinated National Recycling Week events in November 2018. Over 1028
people were engaged during the activities, which included an outdoor movie, kids recycling art
workshop, ‘slow clothing’ talks, up-cycling clothes workshop, beeswax wrap workshops, Another
Woman’s Closet and an E-waste collection at Bunnings which also involved the Men’s Shed.
Behaviour Change
In 2018 the Waste Section commissioned an audit of municipal solid waste collected by Council.
The audit revealed that, on average, the Noosa community’s waste bins contained:
   17.3% garden waste
   29.2% food waste
   15.5% recyclables (items that should be in the yellow top bin)
This shows that up to 62% of material in the general waste bins could potentially be diverted from
the waste stream going to landfill. Further audits by waste staff also showed that large amounts
of garden waste are currently going in waste bins and bulk bins at unit complexes and resorts
(also see item below on bulk garden waste bins). It was resolved that a change in behaviour is
required from the Noosa community to reach the aspirational targets of zero net emissions and
zero waste to landfill. In the light of these findings, Council’s Project Control Group for ZEN
requested that Waste officers explore the potential for a community ‘behaviour change’ strategy
to improve waste management practices and reduce waste generation in the Noosa Shire.
The Waste Section has now produced a plan to deliver a behaviour change program for waste
reduction and improved recycling across the Noosa community. This will commence with a pilot
scheme to be delivered between September and December 2019. The pilot scheme will
concentrate on ensuring that residents in selected unit complexes and residential streets
correctly utilise the three bin system and prevent garden waste going to landflll and the address
the underuse and contamination of the recycle bin. The process will involve; checks of bins
presented for collection, tags left on contaminated bins, letters to residents, face to face
engagement of residents, regular feedback to residents on ‘good’ or ‘bad’ behaviours and the
escalation of warning measures to reduce contamination - resulting in regular offenders having
their bins left at the kerb. The process reflects the best practice being utilised elsewhere in the
country and extensively in NSW and South Australia.

3.   PEOPLE
The Waste Section’s staff numbers have remained static over the 2019FY. Council’s
Environment Officer commenced in August 2019 with 50% of the position working in the Waste
Section.

4.   SYSTEMS & PROCESSES
Queensland Waste Levy
On 1 July 2019 the Queensland Government introduced a $75-per-tonne levy on waste disposed
of to landfill. The Queensland Government has committed to ensuring that the introduction of the
levy will have no direct impact on households. To deliver this, the State has made prior payments
to Council to offset the cost to households, i.e. the levy should not impact householders’ rates, or
charges at the landfill gate. Commercial operators now incur the waste levy. For businesses to
minimise the effects of the levy they need to reduce their waste generation and recycle as much
as possible.


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