By Paul Hemsley
In a $10.4 million effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as methane, the council has endorsed a deal to decrease the quantity of rubbish transported to the outer Sydney suburbs.
Mayor Clover Moore said in five years time, the main landfill sites at Eastern Creek and Lucas Heights will be full and the rest of Sydney's waste will be hauled two hundred and fifty kilometres south-west of Sydney.
"It won't just produce more carbon pollution, it will be more expensive. Every load of rubbish will cost more for ratepayers," she said.
"Rubbish tips produce huge amounts of methane, a long-term greenhouse gas pollutant with 25 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. The noxious gas leaks out over decades as food and other organic material rots."
Instead, the waste will be sent to a recycling facility that will recover glass, paper and metal, and convert other materials to electricity.
Decomposable waste will be used for compost and the remaining waste will be sent to landfill.
According to a council spokesperson, using the SITA facilities for all residual waste will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 6000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in the first year.
"This will contribute to the city's overall target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent by 2030, based on 2006 levels," he said.
The new deal was combined with existing kerbside recycling in mind, so the current residential collection service will be unaffected.
However the council's fees and charges (including the domestic waste management charge) for the 2011/2012 budget has not been approved.
"Budget projections for 2011/2012 are currently at $10.4 million,” the spokesperson said.
“Without all of the city's waste going to the SITA facilities (a combination of landfill and waste processed at AWT), the budget projection would be $9.4 million."
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It is good to see Sydney addressing its waste problem. However,the root cause should be dealt with which is overconsumption, over-packaging and waste. It is about behaviour change and modifying excessive manufacturing processes. A marketing campaign would assist awareness and behaviour change also.