Council is constantly balancing the waste management needs of residents and ratepayers against managing the total volume of waste produced across the local government area (LGA).
Scale
Council has to consider the total volume of waste going to landfill across the Shoalhaven LGA of 4567km2. For comparison, our neighbouring councils of Kiama and Shellharbour cover only 258km2 and 147km2 respectively.
Shoalhaven City Council manages the waste produced by over 100,000 people (and up to 400,000 people during peak tourism seasons) every day.
This is a complex logistical challenge that requires careful management.
Cost of living
Councils that provide a green bin service have incorporated the cost of this service into their annual domestic waste management charge, which forms part of the rates for those ratepayers.
Our financial estimates have indicated that a green waste bin will cost the average Shoalhaven ratepayer at least an additional $150 per year in rates.
Fairness
Many ratepayers have let us know that they don’t want to pay for a green bin service. These residents are producing little to no green waste, due to either having small gardens or managing their green waste diligently at home through composting and other means.
While a green bin collection service would satisfy the needs of some residents, it would unfairly financially disadvantage others.
Council needs to consider how waste management services affect all residents. A fairer user-pays scheme to remove green waste.
The goal
When managing waste, the primary goal of local governments is to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
Kerbside recycling collections were introduced into NSW during the 80s. This was a quantum leap in diverting waste from landfill. Now, almost every household participates on a regular basis, reducing the amount of their domestic waste being sent to landfill, by sorting their recyclables into a separate bin.
The goal of the green bin is to divert garden waste (and in some cases organic such as food) from ending up in landfill. However, this isn’t always successful and has downsides.
It’s counterproductive to reducing waste
An extra bin gives a household more capacity to dispose, which is counterproductive to the goal of reducing waste to landfill.
More space in the red-lid bin encourages people to use the space, meaning more waste going to landfill.
Contamination
On the flip side, some Council’s reduce the size of the red-lid bin when a green bin service is introduced, causing some residents to add overflow landfill waste to the green bin.
Whether by accident or lack of care by residents, the contents of green bin waste are often reported by other councils to be contaminated with materials other than garden waste (mainly plastics).
The contents of highly contaminated green bins end up going to landfill.
Costs
The introduction of a green bin service would be a financial impost for residents who are already successfully managing their green waste through composting and other methods.
Another bin to manage
Not all residents want, or have the capacity to manage a third bin, which includes taking bins out, retrieving bins and storing bins.
Environmental impact
Adding a bin service results in an additional fleet of trucks to collect those bins.
More trucks on the large and varied expanse of Shoalhaven roads not only adds pressure to our road network but increases the output of greenhouse emissions.
Council’s priority in waste management is to reduce landfill in the most environmentally and economically sustainable way possible.
A green bin service falls short of our goal for a holistic (big picture) approach to doing what's best for the environment and the people who live in it..
Council’s policy is to continue providing a two-bin system consisting of the landfill bin (red lid) and the recycling bin (yellow lid) at the kerbside.
To support residents in disposing of garden waste in a more sustainable way, Council offers a range of options to meet the needs of all residents.
Take it to a recycling and waste depot
Council offers convenient drop-off points for garden waste at any of the ten (10) recycling and waste depots across the Shoalhaven.
This waste is converted into shredded garden organics. A ‘mulch-like’ product available for free to Shoalhaven residents.
Have us collect it from you
If you aren't able to make a trip out to a depot yourself, we offer a garden waste collection service, where we come to you and collect the garden waste from your kerbside.
You can use your household waste disposal or garden waste disposal voucher to pay for these services.
Use it as mulch
Using your grass clippings, leaves, etc. for mulch is also a great way to keep your garden healthy and use less water.
Attend a workshop and get a free compost bin from us
We run regular home sustainability workshops where you can learn how to compost your garden waste.
By attending a workshop you will receive a free compost bin to get you started.
Increase your red lid bin size
If you find that the above options still don't work for you, you can choose to increase the size of your red bin to match the size of your yellow lid bin.
Please be advised that fees apply for this option, and it does result in an increase to the property rates.
Council provides a range of recycling services at the ten (10) recycling and waste depots, for common household waste items, including things that are difficult to dispose of (e.g. electronic waste, batteries and paints).
The West Nowra Recycling & Waste Depot has a range of on-site recycling facilities including, polystyrene, glass and electrical cabling.
We work in partnership with government and private organisations to operate an Australian-first Green Ceramic Microfactorie™, which recycles plastics, glass, textiles and mattresses into building materials.
There are more facilities in the pipeline as we continually seek out new technologies and best practices to recycle materials that would otherwise go to landfill.
As always, we continue with our public education programs that address avoiding, reducing, reusing and recycling waste.
Our ultimate goal is to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill as much as possible, if not entirely.
Council is assessing sustainable and reliable waste management technologies that will allow us to sort the mixed waste of red lid bins. This will allow us to work towards a future where up to 90% of the contents of the red lid bin (landfill bin) will be recycled, including organics.
It was agreed by Council in 2019, that extracting the recyclable from waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill is the best long-term investment, both financially (through saving money on resources and materials that would otherwise have to be purchased new), and environmentally (through reducing the size and number of landfills that impact the environment).
Emerging technologies have shown the potential to reduce and recycle up to 90% of waste from the red lid bin. Being able to convert 90% of the LGA's waste materials into resources that can be used to build homes and support farms and gardens, would be an incredible benefit to the Shoalhaven.