Ipswich City Council has announced that from now, all contents from yellow lid recycle bins will be sent to landfill.
Ipswich Mayor, Andrew Antoniolli, said Ipswich was the latest domino to be affected by a nationwide issue – one which required a three-tier government solution.
Eventually, all councils would be impacted by the viability of recycling household waste, Mayor Antoniolli said.
Recycling contractors notified council that the cost to council would skyrocket if recycling was to continue.
The increase in the order of $2 million per annum could potentially equate to a 1.5%-2% rate rise.
In addition, the current contamination levels in the city’s recycling is unacceptably high. About half of everything collected from yellow lid bins is not able to be recycled.
For recycling to continue, the City needs to reduce the amount of pizza boxes, food waste, plastic bags, disposable nappies, grass clippings and garden waste, broken plates, coat hangers, light bulbs, dirty tissues and serviettes, and foam packaging put in the recycle bin.
“As a city, we need to move forward,” Cr Antoniolli said.
“We want to become a leader in the waste-to-energy space, which will in the medium to long-term provide us with an environmentally-friendly energy source, jobs and a better economic outcome for Ipswich.
“We’ve actually been looking at waste as an energy source for some time, and this gives us the ideal opportunity to be ahead of the game in that space.
The City is set to embark on a revolutionary program which takes waste management into the next decade and beyond.
By mid-year, council will call tenders to bid on waste-to-energy projects which will enable a portion of the city’s energy to be environmentally-friendly.
“While it is fair to say the national recycling system broke sooner than we expected, Ipswich has been looking to the future. We’re making sure we tackle this issue head on.
“I have spoken personally to the minister on this issue, and made it clear that we’ve been backed into a corner on recycling.”
In the meantime, council has not given up on looking for recycling solutions.
