Wollongong City Council will consider a waste and resources recovery strategy at its meeting on 30 January.

Waste is one of the biggest budget items in Council’s finances, accounting for $41 million in funds with Council managing about 150,000 tonnes of waste each year.

Council is planning a strategy that will extend the life of the city’s putrescibles waste site, Whytes Gully, and take into account the changes in Federal and State legislation, such as the Clean Energy Future and the Federal government carbon tax.

The strategy plans a target of increasing the percentage of material recovered from landfill to 66 per cent by 2014. Council recovered about 54 per cent of material from land fill in the 2010/2011 financial year.

“One of Council’s most basic functions is to manage waste for the community and deal with it in an environmentally sustainable method,” Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery OAM said. “This waste and resources recovery strategy will provide a road map for Council so we are able to work with the community to avoid, reuse and recycle more of the materials that are going to land fill. Community education will play a big part in this strategy.

“Council already has a major education program aimed at making households aware of composting and how they can deal with their green and organic waste on their property or among the apartments they live in. We offer environmental education which has been raising awareness of recycling materials. We have also introduced an on-call Council Clean Up which encourages households to recycle their household waste rather than sending it to landfill.”

Council’s strategy also provides details on the waste disposal facility at Helensburgh and the Whytes Gully Resource Recovery Park. In the Wollongong city area the strategy deals with:

• Planning controls to ensure developments produce minimal waste and how it is managed
• Education programs for all citizens in the community
• Council services to underpin the overall objective of waste management; price controls to encourage and reward separation of materials and material reuse
• Council’s advocacy within State and regional waste programs
• Enforcement in relation to illegal dumping and littering
• Council facilities.

“With the changes in technology Council will also be researching new opportunities within the areas of green electricity through captured landfill gas, recycling facilities, alternative waste technologies, education and collection services,” Cr Bradbery said. “But it is essential that we have the community at our side for this.

“This strategy is a framework and following Council’s decision it will be placed on public exhibition for comment by the community, and we need to hear from all areas in the community on how we can deal with waste in the city.”