Waste Management
Strategy
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 3 Table of Contents
1 Introduction ... 4
2 Strategy Summary ... 4
3 Defining the Waste Stream and Diversion Options ... 5
4 Current Waste Collection Sites... 7
4.1 Bowser Landfill ... 7
4.2 Transfer Stations ... 7
5 Carbon Tax implications ... 9
6 Recyclable waste stream ... 9
7 Organic Waste Stream ... 11
8 Residual Waste Stream ... 20
9 Waste Collection Alternatives ... 22
10 Resource Recovery ... 23
11 Summary of cost to implement strategy ... 27
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 4 1 Introduction
This document sets out a strategy for the management of waste generated within the Rural City of Wangaratta in response to an action within the current Council Plan 2009-2013.
Driving the direction of the strategy is the 2030 Community Vision for the Rural City of Wangaratta which has the goal of a ‘zero waste’ community with no waste being disposed of to landfill within the
municipality in the year 2030.
The Wangaratta Citizen’s Jury listed two recommendations to Council in the development of a waste management strategy;
• Develop an organic processing facility for green (food) waste, and,
• Develop a scheme for use of compost bins / worm farms for households, the same as for recycling bins.
Other factors impacting on the development of a waste management strategy include the Sustainability Victoria waste policy and the impending Federal Carbon Tax.
The sustainability of the strategy is critical not only in environmental terms but also in terms of the community’s capacity to pay for the measures implemented to achieve the goals of the strategy in the short to long term.
The implementation of the Strategy alone will not achieve the first component of the vision of a ‘zero waste’ community. The co-operation and commitment of the community in the implementation of waste reduction and waste sorting will also be essential to bring this vision to reality.
The strategy will significantly assist Council in its journey of achieving no waste being disposed of to landfill within the municipality through diversion of waste streams away from landfill. It will also address the short to medium concerns of using the available landfill space as efficiently and environmentally responsibly as possible.
2 Strategy Summary
Provide larger recycling bin (360 litre) for households with four or more occupants.
Commence an organics collection service with a 240 litre ‘third bin’ for households within the Wangaratta urban area.
Increase the life of the Bowser landfill through the baling of the residual waste stream. Relocate the Wangaratta transfer station to Bowser and create a Waste Recovery Centre. Rationalise the transfer stations by closing the ones within easy access to Bowser.
Partner with NevRwaste and Sustainability Victoria to continue educating the community on the importance of waste reduction and the importance of diverting waste from landfill.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 5 3 Defining the Waste Stream and Diversion Options
There are three sources of waste:
1. Household or municipal waste (also referred to as kerbside waste) 2. Commercial and industrial waste
3. Construction and demolition waste
The waste stream can be divided into three components: Recyclable waste
Organic waste Residual waste Recyclable waste includes:
Plastic Glass Cardboard Paper E-waste Metal
Recyclable waste can also include items such as furniture, building products, which one person considers waste and another considers useful.
Organic waste includes:
Household kitchen scraps
Garden waste including lawn clippings and tree prunings Waste timber
Food waste from restaurants or supermarkets Residual Waste
Residual waste is what is left over in the waste stream after the recyclables, organics and other waste streams such as concrete, metals and tyres have been removed.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 6 Options for sorting waste for diversion from landfill
Sorting at source
Sorting at the source is the preferable means to separate the waste stream into its various components of organics, recyclables and residual waste. Currently Council provides residents with the opportunity to separate recyclables from the waste stream and by providing a third bin then organics can also be separated/.
The effectiveness of sorting at the source relies upon the diligence of the person who generates the waste placing it into the correct bin. Waste placed in the wrong bin is referred to as contamination. Contamination in the recyclable or organic waste stream increases the costs of processing the waste. Too much contamination may see all the waste placed into the landfill as the cost of removing the contamination becomes too great.
For sorting at the source to be effectively implemented, experience has shown that education is required to continually remind the community of the importance of remaining diligent in placing the correct waste into the correct bins to reduce contamination and maximise the amount of waste diverted from the landfill.
Sorting at landfill
Sorting at the landfill can be an acceptable solution for construction and demolition waste depending upon the materials and types of materials being disposed of.
Sorting of household waste at the landfill is a complex and potentially dirty process and is only suitable to large scale waste processing facilities where the volumes of waste will justify the scale of equipment that is able to undertake this task, typically around 80,000 tonnes per annum. The volumes of waste disposed of at Bowser are nowhere near the quantities that would justify the capital investment required to install and operate this sort of infrastructure.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 7
4 Current Waste Collection Sites
4.1 Bowser Landfill
Council owns and operates an EPA licensed landfill at Bowser 6 kilometres north of Wangaratta. The landfill has been operating since the early 1990s and has an estimated remaining life of around 10 years, if current practices and waste volumes continue. In the 2011-12 financial year, 16,700 tonnes of waste was received at Bowser. This is down from approximately 18,000 tonnes in the 2010-11 financial year. The drop is attributed to the increased gate fee and waste being diverted to Albury landfill by waste contractors with depots in Albury/Wodonga.
The capital costs associated with the landfill are significant. The recently constructed Cell 8, cost $1.4 million and the rehabilitation costs for a single cell are now estimated at $600,000.
The changes to the State regulatory framework around landfills in 2011 means that a new municipal landfill within the Rural City of Wangaratta will be difficult and expensive to establish and it is in Council’s interest to extend the life of the Bowser landfill for as long as possible. This can be achieved by reducing the volume of waste being deposited and increasing the density of the waste with greater compaction. The other benefit to Council in extending the life of the Bowser landfill is that once the landfill is at capacity, the waste will need to be transported to another landfill for disposal. This adds to the cost of disposal. The freighting of the waste will also increase Council’s carbon footprint, and the receiving landfill will almost certainly impose a carbon tax.
Bowser Landfill accepts waste from Council’s kerbside collection service, transfer stations, and from commercial waste contractors. Construction and demolition waste such as concrete and steel will also be accepted at Bowser in quantities greater than 3 cubic metres. The general public is not encouraged to take waste to Bowser unless it is asbestos and they have made an appointment to drop it off.
Council is continuing to invest in infrastructure at the landfill with the recent installation of flares to burn methane generated by waste in Bowser West. In addition a pipe connection is being installed to the sewer system to allow for excess leachate to be disposed of more cost effectively after major rain events.
4.2 Transfer Stations
Council operates transfer stations at Wangaratta, Markwood, Moyhu, Whitfield, Springhurst, Boorhaman, Eldorado, and Glenrowan. Wangaratta is open to the public 6 days a week whilst the rural transfer stations are open either weekly or fortnightly. For example, Moyhu is open every Saturday and Springhurst is open fortnightly.
Transfer stations are the next step to collect and segregate waste from the community. Waste is segregated into various streams that are then subsequently sold for scrap value, recycled, re-used or as a last step transferred to the landfill. In determining the number of transfer stations, consideration should be given to ensuring an adequate geographic footprint and the economic feasibility of running the transfer stations.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 8 A financial summary of the transfer stations operated by The Rural City of Wangaratta is shown in Table 1. Table 1: Financial Summary for Council’s Transfer Stations
Location 09/10 Actuals 10/11 Actuals 11/12 Actuals
Income Expenses Net Income Expenses Net Income Expenses Net
Wangaratta Operations $137,067 -$260,998 -$123,931 $163,040 -$281,233 -$118,194 $155,793 -$302,276 -$146,483 Wangaratta Recycling $20,828 -$136,761 -$115,933 $26,523 -148,948 -$122,425 $82,130 -$165,633 -$83,503 Markwood $2,675 -$17,201 -$14,527 $11,593 -$19,533 -$7,941 $2,068 -$20,478 -$18,410 Moyhu $2,881 -$17,020 -$14,139 $7,232 -$16,009 -$8,777 $2,433 -$18,913 -$16,491 Whitfield $1,983 -$15,498 -$13,515 $12,007 -$24,246 -$12,007 $1,355 -$15,582 -$14,227 Springhurst $1,190 -$3,529 -$2,339 $1,302 -$5,178 -$3,876 $1,819 -$5,690 -$3,871 Boorhaman $405 -$9,046 -$8,641 $607 -$8,178 -$7,571 $2,282 -$8,688 -$6,404 Eldorado $4,084 -$22,469 -$18,386 $13,268 -$22,760 -$9,493 $3,215 -$31,677 -$28,462 Glenrowan $1,875 -$14,682 -$12,807 $1,244 -$11,295 -$10,051 $1,288 -$13,725 -$12,437
The costs to run the transfer stations also include $5 hard waste vouchers, ($34,500 - 2010/11), free green waste in November, and maintenance ($6,921 – 2010/11).
In setting up transfer stations, it is important to have an adequate footprint of locations to encourage the recycling and the proper disposal of waste. However, it would appear that a significant number of these transfer stations fall below a reasonable level of activity to justify the expense of the set up and operation of a transfer station.
Table 2: Transfer Station Patronage 1 July 2011 to 31 May 2012.
Transfer station Opening times Total No. of Customers (1 July 2011 to May 2012)
Average No. of Customers (per day opened)
Markwood Twice a fortnight 303 6.4
Moyhu weekly 163 3.5
Whitfield Twice a fortnight 178 3.8
Springhurst fortnightly 119 5.1
Boorhaman fortnightly 64 2.7
Eldorado weekly 498 10.6
Glenrowan fortnightly 236 5.0
A look at the financial performance of the transfer stations makes it self-evident that a review is required of the municipal footprint and to consider various options on the number, location and size of the transfer stations.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 9 5 Carbon Tax implications
There will be no direct Carbon Tax implications in the short term should a ‘do-nothing’ approach be taken at Bowser landfill. Assuming Bowser has a life of 10 years and the waste volumes increase in proportion to the population, the estimated maximum annual CO2-e over the remaining life of the landfill is under 14,000 t. As this is less than the 25,000 t CO2-e threshold, Bowser will not be required to pay the Carbon Tax on landfill emissions.
Where Bowser may be impacted by the Carbon Tax is if the ‘rope-in’ clause that was set to 0km is changed back to the original figure proposed of 80km. This clause is included in the Carbon Tax legislation to prevent waste being diverted to smaller landfills from larger landfills where the Carbon Tax applies. Had the 80km distance remained, Bowser landfill may have incurred a carbon tax liability due to the proximity of the Albury landfill. If a regional landfill was established that would service the majority of the North East of Victoria then unless organics are removed from the waste stream, it is most likely that the carbon tax would apply. This would add around $30-$35 per tonne to the gate price.
If organics can largely be removed from the waste stream, the carbon tax liability should decrease considerably and should allow Bowser to remain outside the carbon tax system.
6 Recyclable waste stream
Council currently provides a kerbside recycling service using a contractor to collect and process the recyclable waste. The collection frequency is fortnightly and a 240 litre bin with a yellow lid is provided to each property with a waste collection service.
There have been some apparent inconsistencies in the figures reporting the tonnages of recyclables being collected. This came to light when it appeared that recycling volumes were decreasing. It has since been determined that the mass of recycling is determined by weighing one truck per week, dividing the weight of recyclables by the number of bin lifts and then applying this over the total number of bin lifts across the municipality.
One truck might only represent 2.5 to 5% of the total bin lifts. This is a small portion of the total lifts and the end figure could be heavily influenced by any variations in the weights of recyclables being disposed of on the round the truck collected from.
In late 2012, the recycling contractor installed a weighbridge at their Wangaratta facility with the result that the quantity of recyclables is now being more accurately recorded.
Anecdotally, it is reported that in some instances the 240 litre bin may not be large enough for some households. NevRwaste are suggesting that households with four or more occupants may need a 360 litre bin to cater for the increased volume.
The cost to provide a new 360 litre bin is $95 per bin. There would be no additional charge in emptying the bin as the contract is on the basis of properties serviced (bin lifts) rather than tonnage of recyclables.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 10 The 2006 census identified 2300 properties within the Rural City of Wangaratta with four or more occupants. To replace the 240 litre recycling bins with 360 litre recycling bins would cost $220,000. There may be some grant funding to offset some of this cost should Council proceed. There will be the opportunity to reuse the returned 240 litre bins by replacing the lid with a lime green coloured one designating it for organic waste. Otherwise, they can be recycled.
Action: Through NevRwaste apply to Sustainability Victoria for funding to contribute to the purchase of 2300 360 litre recycling bins.
In 2010 NevRwaste1 commissioned an audit of bin waste going to landfill. The audit found that, on average, in household waste going to landfill, 17% (by weight) were recyclables and 35% (by weight) were organics. Given the average weight of waste per household per week was 10.29 kg, this represents a further 1.75kg of recyclables that could potentially be diverted from landfill.
Action: Through NevRwaste and Sustainability Victoria reinforce the message to the community about the importance of recycling.
Council does not have any means to facilitate the reuse of items such as furniture and it is recommended that any redevelopment of the transfer station would include an area protected from the elements where unwanted furniture in reasonable condition could be placed at a nominal cost. This area would be accessible to the public who would be able to take items that they can recycle.
When the last recycling contract was awarded, significant consideration was given to the triple bottom line value provided by a local contractor in the Wangaratta area and the community benefits that flow on from this.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 11 Recyclable Waste Stream Recommendations
1. Provide 360 litre bins to household of 4 or more occupants.
2. Through NevRwaste apply to Sustainability Victoria for funding to contribute to the purchase of 2300 360 litre recycling bins.
3. Through NevRwaste and Sustainability Victoria reinforce the message to the community about the importance of recycling.
4. Provide a space at the transfer station protected from the elements for unwanted furniture items to allow other members of the community to collect and reuse.
7 Organic Waste Stream
Separating Organics from the Waste Stream
Sustainability Victoria’s preferred approach is to remove as many organics from the waste stream entering landfills as possible and that this would be best achieved through separation at the source, that is a third bin for household organics.
The implication for Council from this position is potential funding support towards capital works necessary for the introduction of a third bin for organic household waste. The additional benefit is there will be a consistent message across the state to the community for what should go into the bin. There should also be funds available to educate the local community should Council decide to implement the third bin. The introduction of a third bin will require significant changes to how Council currently manages its kerbside waste collection and disposal. Council runs five waste collection trucks; four 22 tonne trucks and one 18 tonne truck. The 22 tonne trucks can collect up to 11.8 tonnes of waste and the 18 tonne up to 5.9 tonnes. The time it takes to complete the garbage round is more a function of the number of bin lifts than of the tonnage of waste collected. The tonnage of waste collected becomes significant when a truck is required to leave the round and travel to Bowser to empty and then restart the round where it left off. The further away from Bowser this occurs, the greater the impact upon the time to undertake the round. The 2008 Kerbside Domestic Garbage Audit2 commissioned by NevRwaste in late August 2008 found that the percentage of organics in the 100 sample of bins from the Rural City of Wangaratta was 52% (by weight). Of this 31% (by weight) were garden organics, primarily grass clippings, weeds and small prunings.
The weight of organics collected could be up to 10.8 tonnes per day if we conservatively estimate that 46% of the kerbside collection tonnage is organics and that 60% of this could be separated in the waste stream at the source through the introduction of a third bin.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 12 Table 3: Kerbside collection weights based upon weigh bridge data over January and February 2012
Collection Day Average No Truck Trips to Bowser Average Total Tonnes per day Estimated Average Kerbside Organics per Day (tonnes) Estimated Residual Waste per Day
(tonnes) Monday 3 19.5 01 19.5 Tuesday 4 18.6 5.1 13.5 Wednesday 7 39.3 10.8 28.5 Thursday 6 33.8 9.3 24.5 Friday 6 34.8 9.6 25.2 Saturday 1 1.7 0.5 1.2 147.7 35.4 Estimated Average Kerbside Organics per Week 35.4 1
the Monday collection does not include any part of Urban Wangaratta.
To limit the impact of a third bin on overall waste collection costs, it is proposed that the residual waste collection be made fortnightly rather than weekly, preferably on the alternate week to the collection of recyclables.
No organic collection is planned for rural areas as they have sufficient land to allow disposal on site through composting or chooks. However there is an opportunity to reduce the collection rate to once a fortnight if the volumes of waste allow efficient use of trucks.
To manage the ability of the current fleet of trucks to collect the residual waste tonnages, changes will needed to the routes and collection days to even out the amount of waste collected on each day. Two of the waste collection trucks are due for replacement. Hence there is an opportunity to look at the mix of truck sizes to ensure the best balance between the 18t and 22t vehicles in the fleet.
Action: Review current waste collection routes in the urban area to assess what changes are needed to the routes and the mix of vehicles in the fleet as a consequence of providing a weekly organic waste collection and evaluate the cost implications.
Offering an organics collection through a 3rd bin will require Council to purchase sufficient bins for each collection service in the urban area of Wangaratta, shown on the map of Urban Garbage Collection Routes. The recommended size of bin is 240 litre (the same size as the current recycling bin). It will have a lime green lid to differentiate it from recyclables (yellow lid) and residual waste or waste to landfill (red lid). Existing 140 litre bins currently used for waste to landfill will have their lids replaced with red lids (if required) so that bin lid colours are consistent with the standards issued by Sustainability Victoria. This will be important to reduce confusion in the community, when Sustainability Victoria runs state-wide education campaigns for waste management.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 13 The estimated cost to provide the additional bins for organic waste is $500,000 and to change over lids on existing 140 litre bins is $190,000. To fund the additional bins, a once off charge could be applied to the 2013-14 rate assessment to either cover the whole cost to provide the new bin ($65) or a contribution toward the cost of the new bin. The outstanding balance could be covered through a successful application to Sustainability Victoria for funding or absorbed into the total cost of implementing the waste management strategy. This would be via a loan that would be paid off over time by the income received for waste management.
In addition to the new bin, kitchen tidies with bio-degradable liners will be provided to each household for disposing of food scraps. The bags are manufactured from corn starch and do not contaminate the composting process. The costs of the kitchen tidies and a roll of bags are estimated at $30 per household or $230,000.
Action: Propose the cost of bins for the organic collection be recovered in a once of charge on the property of $65.00 and provide kitchen tidies and bags for free.
There may be an ongoing cost to provide new rolls of bio-degradable bags depending upon which model Council uses to process the organic waste. Cleanaway who have won the contract for the collection and processing of organic wastes from Wodonga, Indigo, and Towong councils provide the bins and bags for the householders as part of their contract.
Community education
A pilot program run in South Australia concluded ‘The ability of participating councils to mount an effective community education campaign was integral to the success of the pilot’ (Valuing our food waste, South Australia’s Household Food Waste Recycling Pilot, Summary Report 2010, Zero Waste SA).
In these trials diversion rates of around 60% were achieved. The kitchen collection system of Bio Baskets and bags outperformed the kitchen caddy system consistently and would be the preferred system for collection of food wastes.
The trial did suggest that the community is reluctant to pay any extra for an organics collection service or for the bio bags with 53% believing that the service should be covered by the waste collection fees they are already paying to Council.
The conclusion of the trial was that there cannot be enough community education and Rural City of Wangaratta would be looking to partner with NevRwaste and Sustainability Victoria to provide this education.
Action: To develop a communication plan in conjunction with NevRwaste and apply for a funding grant from Sustainability Victoria to implement the plan.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 14 Estimated quantity of organic waste generated in the Rural City of Wangaratta
The estimated overall tonnage in the organics waste stream is 6500 tonnes per annum and this is made up as follows:
Organics source
Kerbside organics 2100 tonnes
Commercial organics 1400 tonnes
Green waste 3000 tonnes
Total 6500 tonnes
This is based upon the results of bin audits undertaken in the Rural City of Wangaratta and adjoining municipalities, data from the green waste mulching contractor and from estimates of the proportion of green waste entering the landfill through commercial contractors.
Separating organics from the waste stream is half of the solution. The other half is what happens to the organics once they are collected. Council can either engage a contractor to take the organic waste and process it off site or it can choose to process the waste on site at Bowser. These two options are discussed in the following pages.
Organics processing off site Collection procedure:
3rd bin collection weekly (240 litre bin with lime green lid and ‘ORGANIC COMPOSTING’ label) Tipped out of truck onto sorting area and contaminates removed
Blended with green woody waste
Pushed into shredder and shredded.
Placed in truck to be transported to processing plant
There are at least three companies operating or planning to operate composting facilities that may submit a price to any open tender process that Council might run. The three companies are:
1. Cleanaway
2. Western Composting 3. Bio Fert
Cleanaway are planning to have a facility operational in September 2013 at Gerogery, north of Albury to compost organic waste from the third bin collection service being implemented by Albury City Council, City of Wodonga, Indigo Shire and Towong Shire. The Cleanaway facility will use GoreTM Technology to process the compost and have a capacity of 20,000 tonnes of organic waste per year with room to expand to 40,000 tonnes per year should there be sufficient demand.
At Shepparton, Western Composting have a facility established which is currently composting green waste in concrete tunnels and is expected to expand into composting household organics in the near future. They currently have the contract to compost green waste from the City of Greater Shepparton and have been involved in household organics trials with Moira Shire Council.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 15 At North Wangaratta, Bio Fert is currently working through the EPA approval process for an enclosed vessel organic processing plant that will convert agricultural organic waste into fertiliser or soil conditioner. They have indicated that a kerbside organic waste stream is a major component of the business case for their development.
In processing offsite, Council will have to pay a processing fee and a transport fee to dispose of the organics waste. In return Council’s risk to prosecution by the EPA for any odour issues is negligible.
Cleanaway indicated that Council’s supply of green woody waste is a valuable component in the composting process and that it has been competing with another Wodonga composting firm for supplies. Whether it is so valuable as to allow a reduction in the estimated gate price is yet to be determined in the market place.
The process to award a contract for processing Council’s organics waste would involve a ‘separable portions’ tender which allows tenderers to supply a price to either:
collect the waste from Bowser landfill and transport to their respective processing facilities, receive the organic waste at the processing facility gate, or,
transport the waste from Bowser landfill to the processing facility gate.
kerbside collection of the waste by the contractor, initial processing of the waste, if any, and transport to the respective processing facility.
The tender process would consider allowing successful tenderers to install infrastructure at Bowser landfill that could reduce transport and/or processing costs for composting Council’s organic waste stream.
In the first instance, should the strategy be adopted, an ‘Expression of Interest’ process will be run to identify the companies in the market to process the organic waste and to obtain information on what services they might offer the Rural City of Wangaratta.
Cost of organics processing off-site Benefit of organics processing off-site
Gate fee at processing plant (profit margin for processing company)
No need for works approval from EPA
Transport costs No risk of odour complaints
Loss of income for rehabilitation Reduced capital outlay Need for a covered building to
decontaminate the organic waste stream.
Organics processor may contribute to the education campaign about contamination in the organics bin.
Having access to a local composting facility makes off site processing of the organic waste stream an attractive option. Particularly when the supply of woody green waste is considered, as the carbon contribution from this material is a valuable component in the composting process. The gate price negotiated with any processor should reflect the value of the green woody waste to the process.
Decontaminating the waste stream before it leaves Bowser should reduce the gate price. If it was determined to leave the decontamination to the processor, then they would set their fee based upon an assumed contamination rate. It is important to note that the current recycling contractor, VATMI,
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 16 reported that Council’s kerbside recyclable collection only has 2% of material that cannot be recycled. This indicates the community understands what can and cannot be recycled and may flow onto lower contamination rates in the organic waste stream.
For decontamination of the organic waste stream to take place at Bowser an area protected from the elements would be required where the trucks would be able to unload allow an inspection and removal of items of waste suspected of not being ‘compostable’. The items suspected of contaminating the organic waste stream would be put in the residual waste stream and would end up in the landfill.
It is proposed to construct a Waste Separation Facility, an enclosed building with a high roof that allows the waste collection trucks to unload onto a concrete slab for sorting. The area of the proposed building is 500sqm and will include an area where the residual waste stream is processed. Combined with a Waste Recovery Centre, the constructed infrastructure is estimated to cost $2.0 million.
This infrastructure would also be required should Council decide it will establish a composting facility itself. Organics processing on site
Council will be required to obtain an EPA works approval to process organics at the Bowser landfill or anywhere within the municipality. This will be difficult to obtain at Bowser due to the proximity of residences and the buffer distances (1500m) currently required under approval guidelines.
An investigation of the technologies available for Council to employ to compost its organic waste stream has concluded that the GoreTM system would be preferable system to use. This system uses tarpaulins made from the GoreTM fabric that allows CO2 and moisture vapour to pass through but not odour or liquid. The temperature of the process is controlled through varying the supply of air into the covered windrow. The GoreTM system was successfully used in Wodonga in a trial undertaken by Cleanaway during 2011 with grant funding from Sustainability Victoria to compost household organic waste sourced from a selected number of households in Wodonga, Indigo and Towong Council areas.
The process procedure is as follows:
3rd bin collection weekly (240 litre bin with lime green lid and ‘ORGANIC COMPOSTING’ label). Unloaded from truck onto sorting area and contaminates removed.
Blended with green woody waste. Pushed into shredder and shredded.
Moved to composting area and placed in bay. Moisture added and covered with Gore tarpaulin.
It is expected there would be sufficient organic waste to fill one bay per week. The compost is required to be turned at week four of the composting process. At this point there would be an odour risk. The process is completed after eight weeks.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 17 Labour demands
Two people 15 minutes per load to quickly remove any contaminates from the 3 or 4 tonne load (about 4 to 5 cubic metres).
Up to 11 tonnes of organics per day from kerbside collection (based upon kerbside collection tonnages from Jan – Feb 2012). It is estimated that the commercial tonnages of organics may be as much as 5.2 tonnes per day.
The organics are then blended with woody green waste and fed into shredder with a loader or bobcat.
Shredded organics are then placed either under Gore tarp with a loader or fed directly into a bin for transport to off-site processing facility.
Therefore to process a maximum of 17 tonnes of organics per day should take two people about 3 hours.
Risks
The EPA may not approve an organics processing facility at Bowser landfill due to the proximity of residences to the landfill site. The current minimum buffer distance for covered organics composting is 1500 metres. The closest residence is approximately 200 metres from the potential site for the organics processing area.
500m radius from possible organics processing area
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 18 If the EPA approves an organic processing facility, the main operational risk is if the ratio of kitchen organics to green woody waste is out of balance, potentially creating odour issues. The proximity of houses to the Bowser landfill site makes odour complaints a real possibility should there be a problem. The trial site in Wodonga operated successfully in an industrial area with houses within the buffer distance normally prescribed by the EPA for an organics processing facility.
The other risk is when the compost heap is turned halfway through the process. The cover is removed and a loader is used to turn the heap over to unsettle it. This allows air to move more freely through it before replacing the cover.
Cost of organics processing on-site Benefit of organics processing on-site
Need to obtain works approval from EPA which may be difficult due to buffer distances
Operational costs are low.
Odour risks during composting process Compost product can be used in rehabilitation of Bowser East and West
Capital cost to purchase gore tarpaulins, control equipment, and the construction of concrete bays for the composting.
No freight costs
Need for a covered building to decontaminate the organic waste stream.
Council maintains control over the operation Opportunity to access Sustainability Victoria grant funding if the facility is available for other municipalities such as Alpine and Benalla.
Table 4: Capital cost summary – Organics on site Gore composting area
number of bays 10 No. $130,000 $1,300,000
Power and coms to controllers and fans 1 item $100,000 $100,000
Access from shredder bay (concrete or
asphalt) 1000 sqm $65 $65,000
Sub total $1,465,000
30% construction contingency $439,500
Shredder to blend food waste and
kitchen waste for composting 1 No $400,000 $400,000
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 19 Table 5: Operating cost summary – Organics on site
Additional operational costs at Bowser - organics on site and baling residual waste
cost/annum
3 phase power to run shredder and baler $40,000
Contribution to plant replacement reserve to cover additional plant items
Item of plant
Assumed
life (yrs) Cost/year
20% parts and servicing
Shredder 15 $26,667 $5,333 $32,000
Baler 15 $53,333 $10,667 $64,000
Loader to move bales 10 $21,000 $4,200 $25,200
Bins 5 $30,000 $6,000 $36,000
Trailer 15 $4,000 $800 $4,800 $162,000
Building maintenance and
cleaning of work area $50,000
Two additional staff (band 3 +
on-costs) to run new equipment 2 item $75,000 $150,000
Total Operational cost per annum $402,000
Organic Waste Stream Conclusions
There are many benefits to separating and composting the organics waste stream against the current practice of placing it in the cell:
Extending the life of the landfill.
There is an opportunity cost of placing the organic waste in the land fill.
Reduces the capital intensity of the landfill operations through extending cell life. The end product has beneficial uses
The practice is aligned with our Sustainability values and would be a major step towards achieving the stated goal of zero waste.
Separating organics at the source is also supported by Sustainability Victoria which allows Council to leverage off state wide education campaigns paid for by Sustainability Victoria.
There are higher risks for Council associated with on-site processing, including uncertainty in the EPA regulations. With an off-site processor, they carry many of these risks. However Council should be prepared to reassess the case for on-site processing should the gate prices from an expression of interest prove to be excessive.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 20 Organic Waste Stream Recommendations
1. Submit a project to the 2013-14 Capital budget for the purchase of bins for an organic waste collection. 2. Commence an ‘Expression of Interest’ process for the provision of composting services for Council’s
organic waste stream. This process can commence as soon as the strategy is adopted to give Council an idea of market rates for composting services.
3. Approach Sustainability Victoria regarding accessing grants toward the provision of the organic waste bins and toward the infrastructure at Bowser to support the decontamination of the waste stream.
8 Residual Waste Stream
It is an opportune time to be reviewing how residual waste is being handled at the Bowser Landfill. The waste compactor is due to be replaced under Council’s Plant Replacement program and it might be possible to purchase a baler for the cost of a replacement compactor.
A benefit of baling is the residual waste is compacted to a consistent greater density than can be achieved currently through driving the compactor across waste tipped in a cell. This would allow more waste to be placed into the cell, delaying the need to construct the next cell and extend the life of the landfill.
The bales are wrapped in black plastic which reduces the risk of windblown litter escaping the site. The black plastic also hides any insects that might be in the bales that would attract the birds, particularly the Ibis. While the temporary covers currently employed by Council have reduced the need for the daily cover of soil on the tip face, the wrapped bales will remove the need altogether.
Introducing a baling system will remove the need to have all weather access for waste trucks to enter the cell to unload waste. The materials used to provide the access road are never able to be fully recovered and will take up space in the cell that should be used for waste.
In the long term, the size of the bales will allow them to be stacked on the back of a truck or trailer for transporting to an alternative regional landfill once the capacity of Bowser is reached.
Additional built infrastructure will be required to support the introduction of a baler. A large shed will be required to manage the waste into the baler. These areas should be adjacent to each other to enable contaminates from organic waste to also be placed in the appropriate waste stream easily.
The large shed will protect from the elements and allow staff to deal with the waste streams in any
weather as any delay increases the risk of odour complaints. As a mitigation measure, the shed can have a fan and vent to create a negative pressure in the building. The air could be extracted through a simple filter system that would capture any odour.
Summarising the process to manage residual waste in the urban area of Wangaratta.
Fortnightly collection of residual waste bin (140litre bin with red lid and ‘LANDFILL” label).
Unloaded from truck onto area before baler intake. This is adjacent to organics processing area so contaminates in the organic waste stream can be easily relocated into residual waste stream. Waste placed into baler and baled, then wrapped in black biodegradable plastic.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 21 It is proposed that the collection frequency for residual waste in the urban area be once a fortnight on the off week to the recycling collection. It has been previously suggested that there is opportunity to have the collection frequency the same in rural areas as in the urban area.
This opportunity will need further research. Waste truck operators report that there is a tendency for rural residents to put their residual waste bin out only on the week the recycling bin is emptied. It is suspected that rural residents find it easier to put the two bins out at the same time because of the longer distances the bins are transported from residences to the collection points.
Action: Investigate the practicalities of a fortnightly collection of residual waste in rural areas. In the Alpine Shire Council, ratepayers in specific rural areas have the option of a 240 litre bin collected fortnightly for the same price as an 80 litre bin collected weekly.
There is the opportunity to reconfigure 240 litre recycling bins that have been exchanged for a 360 litre recycling bin into residual waste bins by replacing the yellow lid with a lime green one. This bin can then be provided to property owners who find the 140 litre bin capacity of the residual waste bin insufficient for a fortnightly collection. These bins will only be provided on request, as results from trials indicate that most households trialled found the bin was a sufficient size, most of the time.
Weekly combined organics services appear to provide the highest diversion and participation rates and best customer satisfaction. The reduction in residuals service to fortnightly in a 120 or 140 L MGB supports higher diversion of material into the combined organics service and also increases recycling rates. Recycling services are typically conducted fortnightly in a 240 L MGB. Reduction in residuals service intervals and size of container can be met with some marked initial resistance from residents. Concerns are raised about disposable nappies and the requirements of large families. Incentives for reduced servicing of residuals can overcome a lot of resident resistance. Extract from Co-Collection of Domestic Food Waste and Garden Organics The Australian experience Department of Environment and Conservation NSW March 2007
The organics collection trial run by Cleanaway in the municipalities of Wodonga, Indigo, Towong, and Albury with involvement from NevRwaste, it is estimated that the resource recovery level from the
participating households rose from 33% to 67%. An average 7.5kg per week of garden and food waste was collected from the participating households with contamination levels of only 1.2% by weight. This level of contamination is said to be as good as anywhere in the world.
The capital costs for the construction of the waste separation facility are presented later in the strategy. Residual Waste Stream Recommendations
1. Submit a project to the 2013-14 Capital budget for the design and construction of a waste separation facility at Bowser and the purchase of equipment to bale and wrap residual waste.
2. Approach Sustainability Victoria regarding accessing grants toward the infrastructure at Bowser to support maximising the value of the airspace in the Bowser landfill.
3. Implement a fortnightly collection of residual waste in the urban area of Wangaratta. 4. Investigate a fortnightly collection of residual waste in rural areas.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 22 Problem waste items
The most problematic waste items are nappies. There are bio-degradable nappies on the market that can go into the organic waste stream but they have a price penalty. Otherwise they have to go into the residual waste stream which may create issues of odour and capacity if the residual waste bin is only emptied fortnightly rather than weekly.
9 Waste Collection Alternatives
It is an opportune time to evaluate whether Council is achieving the best outcome for the community in running its own fleet of waste collection trucks compared with using a contractor.
Council currently operates a fleet of 5 waste trucks collecting kerbside waste and waste from bins in public places. One of the fleet was written off last September and is yet to be replaced. One truck is currently due for replacement under Council’s plant replacement program. Council’s workshop has advised that replacement of this truck could be deferred up to 12 months if required. A new 22 tonne waste collection truck is estimated to cost $250,000 and has a four month lead time from order to delivery.
The purchase of the two new trucks has been deferred awaiting the outcome of the Waste Management Strategy. Introducing a weekly organics collection service and changing the residual waste service to fortnightly will require changes to collection routes and the weight of waste being collected. This may require a change to the mix of truck capacities to more efficiently collect and transport the two waste streams to Bowser landfill.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, public place rubbish bins in the Wangaratta CBD area are emptied. On Saturdays, public place bins within Council’s parks and gardens and satellite shopping centres around Wangaratta are emptied. The public place rubbish bins in the rural communities are emptied when the trucks undertake the weekly waste collection in rural areas.
If Council was to engage the services of a contractor to collect kerbside organic and residual waste streams, it would still need to maintain one truck to empty the public place bins and perhaps collect the waste from the CBD area. Waste bins in the CBD often need to be wheeled out to where the truck is for emptying. The existing 18 tonne waste collection truck is ideal for this purpose.
The collection of waste from public places and community events in and outside of the Wangaratta CBD area, for example Oxley and Moyhu community markets, football clubs, town parks would also need to be accounted for. Currently these collections are made as part of normal weekly runs. For community events, the waste collection service is currently provided free of charge. Making the collections as part of the normal weekly runs keeps the cost lower than if a special trip is made.
Action: Benchmark Council’s collection costs against surrounding municipalities.
As previously discussed the introduction of a kerbside organics collection and changes to the residual waste collection, will require an assessment of the Council’s current waste collection fleet and routes to evaluate the cost of the additional collection per fortnight.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 23 The options available to manage the additional collection per fortnight will be either to increase the fleet or to extend the number of hours the fleet operate each day. Each option will impact upon capital expenditure through the purchase of new trucks or replacement rate of existing trucks. There will also be an operational impact through additional staff required to drive the trucks or overtime for the existing staff working longer hours. Another option is a compromise solution where the fleet is run for longer hours and the drivers work a longer day, four days per week.
Each option will have costs and benefits that will need to be assessed over the coming months to determine which will provide the best value for Council and the community.
Action: Analyse current waste collection practices to assess efficiencies that can be gained with the introduction of a weekly organic waste collection and fortnightly residual waste collection by introducing variations to routes, working hours, and balance of vehicles within the fleet.
Council made the decision in the past to operate a waste collection service. It is an appropriate time to reassess whether this provides the best value for the ratepayers of the Rural City of Wangaratta.
To be able to make a decision whether to maintain Council’s in-house collection service, an expression of interest process should be undertaken to determine what rates contractors would be willing to offer to win a contract for waste collection. Any expression of interest would be based upon a weekly organics collection in the Wangaratta urban area and a fortnightly residual waste collection across the whole of the municipality.
Engaging a contractor to collect the kerbside waste is not a decision to be taken lightly. The capital costs to re-establish a Council operated waste collection service would be a barrier in the future once the fleet has been disposed of. In addition, it is recommended Council adopt the same triple bottom line assessment process previously applied to the recycling contract. This process is also proposed for any organic waste processing contract to assess the broader community benefit provided through the collection service. Action: Benchmark Council’s collection costs against prices provided through an expression of interest
process from contractors. Waste Collection Recommendations
1. Benchmark Council’s collection service costs against adjoining municipalities.
2. Review current fleet and collection routes and evaluate cost impact of additional collections per fortnight.
3. Benchmark Council’s collection service costs against prices submitted by contractors through an expression of interest process.
10 Resource Recovery
Around fifty per cent of the total waste stream received at Bowser Landfill comes from kerbside collection or from transfer stations. The balance is either:
Construction and Demolition waste, or, Commercial and Industrial waste.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 24 These two waste sources can have the same three components as kerbside waste but there is often little effort made to separate the waste to divert from landfill. One of the options available to Council is to use the gate price as an incentive to commercial operators to sort their loads enabling recyclable or reusable elements to be easily extracted and diverted from the landfill.
Waste Recovery Centre
It is proposed that there be a consolidation of Council’s waste management functions to Bowser. Relocating the Wangaratta Transfer Station to Bowser frees up the land in Sandford Road to be sold for industrial development. The proceeds of this sale could go toward providing the necessary infrastructure to establish the transfer station and other infrastructure to bale the residual waste and decontaminate the organic waste stream. The new transfer station at Bowser would function as a ‘Waste Recovery Centre’. A planning anomaly will need to be rectified by rezoning the Bowser site from ‘Farming Zone’ to ‘Municipal Purposes’ to allow the Waste Recovery Centre to be built.
Action: Apply to correct the planning zone anomaly over the Bowser landfill site.
If Council were to proceed down the path of an organics collection and baling of the residual waste there will be no further need for vehicles to enter the cell (need to decide what to do with asbestos?) All waste deliveries will be made either to the Waste Recovery Centre or to the organic sorting/baling area. Part of the Waste Recovery Centre will comprise an undercover area where contractors with loads of sorted recyclable and reusable construction and demolition waste can be unloaded and relocated within the facility for recycling or reuse.
Unsorted Construction and Demolition waste will be charged an unsorted waste rate which would provide a margin to cover labour costs associated with removing obvious recyclables from the load before it is placed within the baler.
The public will continue to be encouraged sort their waste before they bring it to the Waste Recovery Centre. Commercial operators will also be encouraged to sort their waste before bringing it to Bowser and the incentive will be in the charge for the type of waste they deposit.
Generally, the charges on waste which can be recycled or reused will reflect the costs Council incurs in handling the waste or preparing it for reuse. For example, the cost to deposit waste concrete should cover Council’s costs in having the concrete crushed and any reinforcement removed.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 25 Table 6: Proposed schedule of charges for commercial operators
Description Units Charge
(ex GST)
Concrete:
Includes pipes, kerbs, paving slabs, and other concrete products.
Tonnes $60 Bricks:
Treated the same as concrete as they can be crushed and reused in a pavement sub-base or in landscaping.
Tonnes $60
Wood:
The local woodworkers have made a number of requests to retrieve waste timber for reuse; however how the timber is currently stored presents an OH&S risk. Storing this material to allow safe retrieval will see it being reused.
The carbon within wood that is unsuitable for reuse is a valuable component of the composting process to offset the high nitrogen content of food waste.
Tonnes free
Organics:
Organics received from commercial operators will need to be decontaminated in the same way as the kerbside collection before being shipped to the preferred composting solution.
Should the local organics processor be established, Commercial operators may deliver direct rather than via the landfill.
Tonnes $131
Unsorted waste:
There is the option to either treat unsorted waste as residual waste where it is baled and placed in the landfill, or, the waste can be sorted with reusable or recyclable items removed and the balance baled and placed in the landfill. Either way the charge is the same to encourage contractors wishing to reduce costs by sorting the waste before disposing at Bowser.
Tonnes $175
Green waste:
Woody green waste is a valuable component of the composting process and could be accepted free on the basis there is no cost incurred by Council in the operation of the composting solution accepting the material.
Tonnes free
The free depositing of green waste is predicated upon the organic processor accepting it for no charge due to the benefits that the carbon provides to the composting process.
The Waste Recovery Centre would include an area of around 100sqm where unwanted furniture in reasonable condition could be placed allowing other members of the community to collect and reuse it for a nominal charge.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 26 The estimated costs to construct the Waste Recovery Centre (and Waste Separation Facility) are as follows:
Waste Separation Facility
Earthworks to create baler bay and organics sorting bay
and transfer station. 2000 cum $40 $80,000
Area where garbage trucks discharge for baler and organics sorting
Enclosed shed with high roof and wide span including
tilt up panel walls and concrete floor 500 sqm $900 $450,000
Awning to shed (6m wide) 120 sqm $500 $60,000
Concrete slab under awning 120 sqm $100 $12,000
Retaining wall along set down for baler and organics bin 20 lin.m $1,000 $20,000
Waste Recovery Centre
Covered area for recyclables 500 sqm $350 $175,000
Covered area for residual waste bins 500 sqm $350 $175,000
Crushed concrete pad for scrap metal, building rubble 360 sqm $20 $7,200 Residual waste bin area - provision for eight bins.
Retaining walls 1.0m high 250mm thick 78 lin.m $1,000 $78,000
Foundation to walls 50 cum $445 $22,250
Concrete slab for bin area 600 sqm $100 $60,000
Pavement for public area 700 sqm $65 $45,500
Steel safety barriers and gates 78 lin.m $500 $39,000
Litter fencing around recyclable area 60 lin.m $50 $3,000
Offices 27 sqm $1,750 $47,250
Amenities 20 sqm $2,250 $45,000
Solar panels on roof 25 kW $1,000 $25,000
Electricity supply 1 item $20,000 $20,000
Sewerage connection to amenities 1 item $15,000 $15,000
sub total $1,429,200
30% contingency $428,760
Transfer station bins (shallow) 8 No $15,000 $120,000
Waste Separation Facility and Resource Recovery
Centre Total $1,977,960
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 27 Resource Recovery Recommendations
1. Commence the process to correct the planning zone anomaly over the Bowser landfill.
2. Submit a project to the 2013-14 Capital budget for the design and construction of a Waste Recovery Centre at Bowser.
3. Approach Sustainability Victoria regarding accessing grants toward the infrastructure at Bowser to support the recovery and diversion of waste from the Bowser landfill.
4. Introduce variable pricing that rewards separation of recyclables and recovers staff costs to remove obvious recyclables from construction and demolition waste before entering the landfill.
11 Summary of cost to implement strategy
Capital expenditure Cost
Provide larger recycling bin (360 litre) for households with four or more occupants.
$220,000 Commence an organics collection service with a 240
litre ‘third bin’ for households within the Wangaratta urban area.
Bin supply
Kitchen tidies and bio bags Lid replacement on 140ltr bins
$500,000 $230,000
$190,000 $920,000
Changes to operational expenditure in adding weekly organics collection and making residual waste collection fortnightly
Still to be determined. Increase the life of the Bowser landfill through the
baling of residual waste stream.
Waste separation facility and baling machine and associated infrastructure
$2,600,000 Relocate the Wangaratta transfer station to Bowser
and create a Waste Recovery Centre.
Construction of Waste Recovery Centre at Bowser
$1,000,000 Rationalise the transfer stations by closing the ones
within easy access to Bowser. $20,000 saving?
Partner with NevRwaste and Sustainability Victoria to continue educating the community on the importance
of waste reduction and diverting waste from landfill. Grant funding
The estimated capital expenditure to implement the Waste strategy is $4.75 million which includes the infrastructure works at Bowser and the purchase of new bins.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 28 This capital investment is offset by the following:
Proposed costs of organics bins recovered from property owners $500,000 Plant replacement reserve contribution toward baler in lieu of new
compactor at landfill
$800,000 Grant from Sustainability Victoria toward provision of 360 litre
recycling bins
unknown Sale of existing transfer station land (2.7Ha) in Sandford Street
(4.7Ha bulky goods site estimated value $6.5 million – South
Wangaratta Urban Renewal project) $1,200,000
Total offsets $2,500,000
Balance of funding required is just over $2 million which if borrowed over 20 years would have repayments of $48K per quarter or $192,000 per year.
From an operational viewpoint, the impact upon the collection costs is still to be determined. There are savings identified in moving to a fortnightly collection of the residual waste in the rural areas not serviced by the organics collection. However, there will be a cost impact in the additional collection per fortnight in the urban areas.
The additional operational costs at Bowser to run the baler and to undertake decontamination of the organic waste stream are $318,000 per annum. This includes an additional full time staff member to assist in the sorting process. It is not envisaged that there will be any additional operating costs due to the relocation of the transfer station. In fact some operational efficiency in relation to staff breaks etc can be expected as there will be multiple staff on the site to stager breaks.
The opportunity for cost saving in diverting organics away from the landfill is $137K per annum and by using the baler to compact the waste to greater densities is $110K per annum, a total of nearly $250K. Diverting waste and compacting the waste tighter means less airspace (valued at $24/cu.m to provide) is used up each year. The end benefit of this is that the life of Bowser should extend nearly 20 years to 2030. Further to this is that the EPA levy payable on all waste that enters the landfill will not have to be paid on the organic waste diverted. On the basis of this there is potential for a further cost saving of $105K on the annual landfill levy in 2013-14. All up the opportunity cost savings total over $350K per annum whilst the landfill continues to operate.
Rural City of Wangaratta –Waste Management Strategy 29 12 Conclusion
The Waste Management Strategy provides a way for Council to take a large step toward the goal for the Rural City of Wangaratta to be a ‘zero waste’ community with no waste being disposed of to landfill within the municipality in the year 2030.
Provide option of larger recycling bin (360 litre) for households with four or more occupants. Commence an organics collection service with a 240 litre ‘third bin’ for households within the
Wangaratta urban area.
Increase the life of the Bowser landfill through the baling of residual waste stream.
Relocate the Wangaratta transfer station to Bowser and create a Waste Recovery Centre. Rationalise the transfer stations by closing the ones within easy access to Bowser.
Partner with NevRwaste and Sustainability Victoria to continue to educate the community on the importance of waste reduction and the importance of diverting waste from landfill.
