The Draft Strategy is now available on Council's website for the community to share their thoughts until Wednesday 12 April.
AlburyCity owns and operates the Albury Waste Management Centre (AWMC), which is the region’s major waste disposal facility servicing Albury, Towong, Greater Hume, Wodonga, Indigo and Federation Councils. The Centre typically receives between 150,000 and 210,000 tonnes of waste each year.
In 2010, the six Councils using the AWMC joined forces to establish the Halve Waste initiative. At the time, the facility was diverting approximately 15% of waste from landfill and had a lifespan of 12 years. The objective of the initiative was to dramatically reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and extend the facility's lifespan for 30 plus years.
Currently, 53% of all material coming into the AWMC is being diverted from landfill, and recycled or recovered for other purposes - one of the highest diversion rates in NSW.
The facility currently provides a range of services for resource recovery and waste disposal, including a recycling facility and second-hand good shop, general waste landfill, disposal and management of construction and demolition waste as well as commercial and industrial waste, disposal of garden organics, and disposal of general putrescible waste.
There are 54 actions in the Draft Waste Management Strategy, which cover new infrastructure identification and development; existing infrastructure optimisation; provision, configuration and delivery of services; and waste reduction, education and community engagement.
Some of the key actions within the strategy include:
- Commission operation of construction and demolition materials recycling facility, which is currently being built
- Implementation of an in-vessel composting facility to accept organics, including biosolids and commercial food
- Implementation of a mechanical biological treatment facility to accept residual, and commercial and industrial waste
- Comprehensive landfill cell fill plans
- AWMC site configuration and master plan
- Opportunities to expand range of kerbside collected materials
- Halve Waste contract extension to other Councils… and more
AlburyCity Mayor Kylie King said that continued investgations into new waste diversion techniques will ensure Albury continues to lead the way in the waste industry.
"We want future generations to experience the same beautiful, natural, and clean city that we all enjoy," said Mayor King.
"By making the most of our resources and reusing them for other purposes, we'll end up with less waste and carbon emissions, protecting our environment and community."
Have your say on the Draft Waste Management Strategy on the AlburyCity website.