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No waste in managing waste at Port Adelaide Enfield

At $3.5 million, collection and disposal of rubbish in the City of Port Adelaide Enfield was the Council's largest, single expenditure item each year. To reduce this cost to ratepayers, a strategy has been developed to minimise the amount of waste going into landfill.

For its efforts, Council has recorded a dramatic decrease in the quantity of rubbish going to landfill. The new waste management strategy has also recorded the highest level of customer satisfaction of all Council's services. The City's Waste Management Officer, Ken O'Neill, is justifiably proud of the vast improvement the new measures have achieved in just eight months.

"We aimed to provide residents with the most comprehensive, convenient and environmentally sensitive waste management services which are technically achievable in the most cost effective manner," he said.

"Waste management recorded the highest importance rating &endash; in the very high range of services. Residents also perceived Council's performance in delivering this service to be high.

"Last year, we collected 44,000 tonnes of rubbish and only 4,000 tonnes were recycled.

"Half of what goes into domestic rubbish bins is organic matter, including garden and kitchen waste. The rest is made up of 22 percent cardboard, eight percent glass, eight percent metal and seven percent plastic &endash; all of which is recyclable.

"This leaves about seven percent of our total rubbish that can't be recycled, which is all that should be in our normal household bins."

Domestic rubbish is now collected in three separate ways. Each household has been issued with a 140 litre bin for domestic waste. The existing 240 litre bin previously used for all domestic waste is now only used for green waste. Residents were also provided with crates for recyclables. Timetables have been issued that outline clearly the collection days for green waste and for recyclables.

In comparison to last year's quantities, Council's waste contractors now collect 25,000 tonnes of domestic waste (a drop of 19,000 tonnes), 6,000 tonnes of recyclables and 14,000 tonnes of green waste. Another innovative service is the provision of secure waste disposal bins in all libraries and customer service centres so that residents may dispose of confidential letters and documents.

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