Fraser Coast Waste Strategy Review

Residents in the areas where waste facilities are closing can still use any of the remaining seven waste facilities. The distances to these facilities are the same or less than what many Hervey Bay residents travel to get to the Nikenbah transfer station. (97 per cent of residents will still be within a 20-minute drive and 99 per cent within a 30-minute drive of a waste facility.

To ensure waste services are provided more equitably and effectively across the region, Council has ensured that the remaining seven facilities operate more efficiently to increase Council’s recycling efforts. Closing the regional waste facilities has saved the community more than $400,000 a year.

Residents in the areas where waste stations are closing will continue to receive a weekly waste and fortnightly recycling kerbside bin collection. Please refer to the Council report for more details here.

The user-pays-principle for waste in excess of the provided wheelie bin volume helps to divert waste from landfill by charging for disposal and not charging for recyclables. When waste items cannot be dropped into the bins provided, residents can bring their waste to one of Council’s waste facilities.

Any materials destined for landfill cause short- and long-term issues and costs are charged. Almost all recyclables are incentivised and can be dropped at Council’s waste facilities at no charge. Where recyclables cause more cost, a cost recovery charge is applied.

The Waste Utility charge is

A feasibility assessment was done in 2020 to compare a few different options for collection of large/bulky items including kerbside collection. Please refer to the Council report for more details here.

Council has decided to not provide a large item kerbside collection after considering a few scenarios.

• Due to the requirements for additional staff and vehicles, the cost to the community would be very high.
• Large item kerbside collection is a safety hazard for pedestrians and children playing outside.
• Due to the nature of the collection, it is a workplace safety issue for the workers having to lift items from the ground into the trucks.
• It not only causes safety concerns but also causes aesthetic nuisance.
• Items left in the kerbside may possibly even attract rodents or vermin.
• Kerbside collections does not support the polluter pays principle. In the past, Council has had to deal with items left on the kerbside long before or long after the collection due date.
• There is no incentive for recycling through large item kerbside collection.
• Large item kerbside collection also attracts waste from commercial customers and/ or outside of collection suburb.

A lot of large items such as furniture, metals, timber and electronic waste can be disposed of free of charge if they are recyclables or reusable items at Council’s waste facilities. The charge for large items is aligned with the polluter pays principle. (Section 10 of the Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011.)

Council does offer residents an opportunity to participate in the annual Garage Sale Trail event (during November) where residents can sell items they no longer require from their own driveways or through Council-organised sites.

The gate fees contribute to the day-to-day operations and long-term management at all of Council waste facilities; some of these expenses are:

• Green waste processing and management
• Polystyrene processing and management
• Mattress processing and management
• Concrete processing and management
• Landfill operation and management
• Landfill and transfer stations general maintenance (mowing, pushing etc.)
• Management of stormwater and leachate.
• Management of landfill gas
• Dead animal collection
• Steel sorting and management
• Chemical and oil sorting, storage and management
• Environmental Licencing
• Staff expenses.

The introduction of any new Council service requires a lot of planning and consideration to ensure effective implementation and value for the community. The time required is to allow Council to do thorough investigation on topics such as community needs, processing cost, contamination issues, participation rates, collection and processing arrangements, resourcing, procurement etc.

The Queensland Government has recently also introduced very strict requirements on the PFAS content of any products derived from organic waste (https://www.desi.qld.gov.au/policies?a=272936:policy_registry/pr-op-pfas-limits-in-compost-era53.pdf )/ Previous considerations are therefore currently under review and will be considered in the revised Fraser Coast Waste Strategy.

The Fraser Coast’s new $31 million state of the art recycling sorting centre at the Maryborough landfill is nearly finished, with operations expected to begin in early 2025.It will be three times larger than the current facility in Dundowran which has reached the end of its operational life

There will be significant improvements on the speed and precision of recycling processes. Better separation of recyclables will increase recovery rates and improve the quality of recycled materials.

The implementation model has not been finalised yet. Council is considering a few different models including an opt-out option with a specific criteria to be met. This will be developed as part of the final feasibility assessment and implementation planning.