The Orange City Council Waste Diversion Education Strategy 2016-2021 was recognised for its holistic and long-term approach to maximising waste diversion and supporting sustainable waste and resource behaviours through education and engagement. The Strategy aims to assist the Orange LGA to meet or exceed several of the targets set in the NSW EPA’s Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2014-21, including increasing the waste diverted from landfill to 75%.

The awards night was held at Sydney Town Hall on November 7^th 2018 and was attended by EnviroCom’s Regional Manager, Donald Munro and Orange-based consultant Chris Dart, alongside Wayne Davis from Orange City Council. The Strategy was initially developed by EnviroCom General Manager Paula Harrison and overseen by Rachel McIntyre.  While the team were not the overall winners of the Premier’s Awards on the night, the nomination was acknowledgement of the team’s strategic approach to achieving long term waste diversion in the Orange City Council region.

The project aimed to provide Council with recommendations for methods to process food waste to reduce emissions, waste to landfill and to create a product that could be reused on Council owned parks and gardens.

Multiple technologies for organics processing were identified and compared against various criteria specific to Council’s requirements. These criteria included spatial and infrastructure requirements, environmental considerations, capital/ongoing costs, ease of use and legislative requirements.

EnviroCom was able to determine the processing requirements based on data collected in previous assessments of Council facility and event waste and recycling streams.   From this data, potential implementation sites were highlighted and an appropriate processing option recommended.

The research project provided Council with an opportunity to reduce both waste to landfill and the carbon footprint while turning the food waste into an organic resource that could be utilised locally.

In 2017, EnviroCom established an environmental education and projects officer position in Australian Capital Territory (ACT) to support the roll-out of the Green Bin Pilot Program (green waste service). The green waste service is provided by CorkHill Bros. and JJ Richards & Sons on behalf of the ACT Government. The initial pilot program was aimed at households in Chapman, Duffy, Fisher, Holder, Rivett, Stirling, Waramanga, Weston and Kambah only, with expansion planned for 2018.

This greenwaste contract is the first of its kind in the ACT and has been met with growing interest since its establishment. EnviroCom’s role as the educator includes the recruitment of new participants in the opt-in collection, promotion of correct use of the service to minimise contamination and monitoring of current use and contamination.

The pilot has resulted in very low rates of contamination (<1%) in the green waste collected. These low rates of contamination are supported by a range of communication and marketing program elements including regular bin inspections, community consultation events, public place displays and other education opportunities at the request of community members.

In conjunction with the reassessment ‘back of house’ waste audit, an internal ‘walk through’ waste audit was also undertaken at one of Council’s Administration Precincts.

The internal waste audit provided information on:

• the amount and types of waste generation that occurs on each floor
• if the current infrastructure was adequate according to the number of staff located in the area.
• identified barriers and limitations to improve resource recovery diversion
• identified opportunities to minimise recycling contamination and maximising resource recovery.

Ongoing monitoring and assessment of three key elements of effective waste management – behaviour and knowledge, infrastructure and services, and policies and procedures is imperative to ensuring sustainable outcomes.

Since 2005, EnviroCom has worked closely with Moreton Bay Regional Council to develop and deliver a range of initiatives under the Waste Education and Engagement Strategy. Over this eleven year period, a number of highly innovative and effective waste education elements have been developed to deliver community behaviour change in relation to waste generation, disposal, recovery and management. EnviroCom is very proud of the role we have played in assisting Moreton Bay Regional Council to deliver these outcomes and congratulates Moreton Bay Regional Council on their success as winners of the 2016 Premier’s Sustainability Award – Community Award.

For more information on these awards please see https://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/premiersawards/2016-finalists-winners.html#community_award and for more information on the development of waste education and behaviour change programs for your community, organisation or region, please contact EnviroCom.

The program was developed to improve waste outcomes at the show, with a particular focus on reducing recycling contamination rates. Prior to the event, EnviroCom liaised with vendors and show organisers to provide strategic recommendations on waste management logistics for show. During the event, a range of initiatives were implemented to better understand public waste disposal behaviours at the show and to educate visitors on best waste disposal practices. ‘Recycling Rovers’ conducted visual bin audits to determine common contaminants and contamination ‘hot spots’. The Rovers engaged with visitors to the Show, assisting them to use the correct bins and providing instant win prizes for patron seen to be recycling right. . Other public education activities such as recycling trivia were conducted at the Council tent.

The program provided Council with valuable data into patron and vendor behaviours and recommendations to further improve waste management practices at future events through improved logistical planning and further public engagement strategies.

2015 was the Festival’s seventh year and so was the perfect candidate for introducing Public Place Recycling – to increase resource recovery on the day. In partnership with Council, EnviroCom advised with regards to education material, bin positioning on the day, flyers and signage – all with a focus on reducing the amount of waste generated for disposal at landfill and maximising the use of onsite recycling bins.

Throughout the event EnviroCom hosted a recycling education stall on behalf of Council – handing out educational flyers and prizes to individuals who were spotted doing the right thing and recycling correctly. Resident surveys were also completed at the stall, with the community supportive of Public Place Recycling at events. A visual inspection of recycling and waste bins was also conducted on the day, to assess the contamination found within the recycling stream and estimate the quantity of resource loss in the waste stream. Overall the implementation of the program was a success with visual audits showing low levels of contamination in the recycling bins as well as minimum resource loss found within the residual waste bins.

Those were just some of the questions posed by a Orange City Council in 2015. So, in partnership with Council, EnvrioCom set about finding out – through the ‘Fortnightly Waste Collection Trial’ program.

A pilot study was designed and undertaken with around 140 residents volunteering to complete an online weekly ‘Waste Diary’; with a further 20 selected to be ‘audited’ twice during the 12-week trial period. This involved hand sorting the contents of residents’ bins right in front of their eyes!

Supported by educational materials and direct discussion with our consultants, the trial was a success, with the conclusion that the majority of residents could comfortably function on a fortnightly waste collection – with little or no change to current behaviours or practices.

The data gathered was then collated into a final, detailed report which Council can now utilise as they consider whether to go ahead with the implementation of a fortnightly waste collection service.

EnvrioCom has developed an attractive and informative new set of organic waste education resources for South Burnett Regional Council.

These resources focus on composting and worm farming and are used to complement community workshops or in a public place display.

The full complement includes a Pull-up banner, a Fold out display board and a life model of for each worm farming and composting.