Challenge Facing Perth - Waste Management

Question 1

Scope

Answer 1

Perth Metro area generated 5.8 million tonnes of waste in 2019-2020, with over 35% of this being landfilled

Question 2

Causes - Food Waste

Answer 2

Households waste an average of 4kg of food a week due to not finishing meals and food spoiling - at least 54% of this is avoidable

Question 3

Causes - Population Growth

Answer 3

The metro area saw a population increase of 600 000 between 2006 and 2022, which saw waste generation increase by almost 150%.

Question 4

Cause - Contamination

Answer 4

27% of the waste in waste bins is actually co-mingled recycling.

Question 5

Cause - Recovery Centres

Answer 5

The metro area only has 3 recovery centres, and issues with any of these will cause recoverable material to be sent to landfills.

Question 6

Environmental Impacts

Answer 6

Landfill sites suffer from ‘leakage’ of toxic chemicals.

Organic matter decomposes to produce methane which is 25 times more potent than CO2 and contributes 2.3% to Australia’s total emissions.

Question 7

Economic Impacts

Answer 7

Illegal dumping induces a high cost to the local government, the city of Baldivis had 114 reports of illegal dumping within 3 months, which cost $4000 a week to taxpayers.

Question 8

Social Impacts

Answer 8

The social cost of waste management can include the inconvenience to people living nearby waste end facilities due to odour, traffic noise and the attraction of feral animals or pests to the site. Some landfills can have as many as 200 garbage trucks arriving and leaving each day, which creates noise pollution and traffic congestion to residents of the area.

Question 9

Stakeholder Groups - Western Australian Waste Authority

Answer 9

• The WAWA is charged with promoting better waste management practices in WA, and released the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Scheme 2030
• Since the the introduction of the waste recovery scheme in 2019, the total quantity of waste generated declined by 7% between 2019-2020
• However, this may be caused instead by the waste levy
• The authority is reliant on the support of local governments to implement changes across the metropolitan area, and are encouraging them to adopt a three bin FOGO system (since the city of Bunbury had 63% material recovery rates utilising it)

Question 10

Stakeholder Groups - City of Bayswater

Answer 10

• The city of Bayswater has a population of over 66 000 people and encompasses 10 suburbs
• A specific goal identified in relation to waste management is their Strategic Community Plan 2021-2031, which aims to decrease the amount of general waste sent to landfill each year
• The City of Bayswater implemented FOGO in 2021
• In May 2022, household bins were checked to see if citizens were recycling properly, and received bins stickers to see if this could improve recycling rates. There was an improvement in the rate of recycling by 25%, and decrease in contamination y 60%
• The City of Bayswater has created 9.2 full time jobs in relation to the execution of FOGO per 10 000 tonnes of recycled waste
• The City of Bayswater has implemented initiatives to engage residents, such as a 50% cloth nappy rebate (with one child using disposable nappies generating 640-900kg of waste each year, compared to around 8-14kg for reusable nappies