AlburyCity in southern New South Wales is about to take an important step towards achieving the ambitious goal of halving the amount of waste the community sends to landfill.
From July, Council will commission a third weighbridge at our innovative waste management centre in a system believed to be the only one of its type in Australia.
The idea is to provide a pricing incentive to encourage residents to recycle, rather than discard, their waste.
The series of weighbridges starts at the entry to the centre where vehicles are weighed before customers proceed through our recycling centre, past drop-off points such as our green waste area, before being weighed again at the entrance to a push pit – an undercover platform where general waste is off-loaded for transfer to the landfill.
Vehicles are weighed again at the exit and with each reduction in weight, the fees paid by customers fall accordingly.
People who recycle their entire load will pay no fee or very little – and in the process they’re helping us to become cleaner, greener and more efficient.
In 2010, Council set its sights on a 50 percent reduction in landfill waste by 2020.
Through a combination of technological innovation, community education and a streamlined system of waste disposal on site, the council has already hit a 43 percent reduction rate and is set to reach the 50 percent target within three months – almost two years ahead of schedule.
Our community deserves an enormous amount of credit for embracing this program.
People tell us our recycling and disposal system is friendly and easy to use, and the community is genuinely proud of a waste management centre that is making a real difference to the sustainability of our city in the years ahead.
