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The following article was printed in The Canberra Times on 28 January 2009. It illustrates the lack transparency and commitment to recycling in the ACT which has affected Revolve and robbed the community of an innovative strategy for addressing climate change.

'The announcement by Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope of the abandonment of the ”No Waste by 2010” is an environmental and economic tragedy for the people of Canberra and the region.

As the rest of the world progressively moves towards Zero Waste the Stanhope Government has gone in the opposite direction. Canberra is now left to battle with the issue of Climate Change minus one of the most fundamental platforms of public policy.

Introduced in December 1996 after a two year consultation process, the “No Waste  by 2010” strategy inspired a revolution in waste management around the world which has now resulted in more than 250 communities, local governments and state governments declaring zero waste policies.

As the responsible Minister, Mr. Stanhope’s abandonment of such a focussed policy could only be the result of ill-informed advice from people with vested interest. But what is the source of that advice?

Is it those public servants who abhor any policy which might risk future careers? Is it the landfill manager, because the more they bury the more they are paid? Is it the company collecting gas from the landfill that swayed the Minister? Or is it Treasury who want every bit of waste to pass over their weighbridge to generate more income?

Regardless of the beneficiary of this policy change, the ACT taxpayer will foot the bill - now and into the future.

Mr. Stanhope, in one statement, makes extraordinary claims for recycling levels which are yet to be substantiated by a public audit, then declares an end to a community supported policy of which he has no knowledge. He needs to check the figures. They don’t add up – socially, environmentally or economically.

Looking at the Numbers

The numbers on waste tonnes to landfill are relatively easy to work out. Simply take the total value of a contract and divide it by the number of tonnes disposed of. In the 2001 contract the cost was $8 per tonne. In the current contact the cost is $29 per tonne

This is an increase in cost in disposal alone of 360%. It does not include additional infrastructure costs for earthworks.

The cost of landfill
In 2001 a report identified the true cost of landfill in the ACT at $105 per tonne.

The 2001 contract price at $8 per tonne was part of this total. The ‘net economic, environmental and social cost’ was $97 per tonne.  Therefore the actual cost of waste to landfill under the new contracts is $126 per tonne.

Surely it would make economic and social sense to encourage diversion from landfill by paying recyclers up to $50 per tonne or more to create viable businesses and employment as is done in the UK.


Landfill Management Costs

Under the new contract if 100,000 tonnes of waste goes into landfill per year the contractors receive a base rate of $1,532,124 or $15.32 per tonne. However, if they put 200,000 of waste into landfill they receive $1,880,304 or $9.40 per tonne.

The cost per tonne falls but the overall fee rises. This gives the waste company a very strong interest in maximising waste to landfill.

If they succeed in maintaining 200,000 tonnes into landfill, they receive an additional payment of $348,180 per year or another $1,740,900 over the five years of the contract for more, not less, waste to landfill.

You could be led to believe that both the waste contractor and Treasury see the landfill weighbridge as a ‘cash cow’.

Double dipping

Under the watchful eye of the waste contractor, another company is now paid $5 million under contract to recycle materials at the domestic Transfer Station, after people have paid at the weighbridge, for disposal.

What happened to recycling before the weighbridge? Perhaps Treasury would not approve?

The Stanhope Government says it will introduce a hard waste collection at an additional cost to ratepayers. This will see even more waste go to landfill - not less.


Check the Figures

Since 2001 the waste to landfill figure has ‘flat-lined’ at around 200,000 tonnes according to the budget papers. Yet there is an amazing claimed increase in recycling!

These figures were collated when the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment stated in her 2007 report that in the years 1994-95 to 2006-07 the ACT population had increased by 10% yet total waste increased by 87%.

This is an extraordinary increase!

If the waste to landfill figure is unchanged, the only way you can have an increase overall is if the recycling figure has increased dramatically. Yet this is not audited.

Landfill Gas

The building of a new landfill cell last year adds another $11 million to the cost of waste management. It also adds another $9 per tonne to the cost of waste disposal over the next five years.

Putting organic material into landfill creates landfill gas and gas capture systems have been retrofitted to the landfills. However, these systems are very inefficient, sometimes collecting only a fraction of the gas produced.

Methane, the main gas captured for energy production from landfill is a very dangerous Greenhouse gas. It has a global warming potential 21 times that of carbon dioxide.

The most recently installed systems claim a capture rate of only 90%. This means that for every 100 tonnes of Greenhouse Gas captured 10 tonnes escapes to the atmosphere. So for every 90 tonnes captured 210 tonnes of CO2 equivalent gas is pumped to the atmosphere.

This means that the ACT Government has invested $11 million dollars of taxpayers money in a gas capture system which is doing a lot more harm than good.

The obvious solution is a total banning of any organic material to landfill and its return to agriculture as high quality compost.

It is fortunate for both the waste contractor and the ACT Treasury that waste to landfill is not decreasing. They are the only ones who benefit. It is certainly not the taxpayer, nor the environment.

Investment in true recycling programs with a focus on the Climate Change benefits is the only secure future for resource management.

Allowing opportunistic, and ill-informed people to run landfills and recycling can only result in increased Greenhouse Gas production and future liability for both the local and Australian communities.

There is no such thing as sustainable waste management. Landfill is the graveyard of sustainability.

The abandonment of good public policy based on poor advice is a social calamity.

The Secretary of ACT Labor, Bill Redpath, stated after his recent appointment, that Labor had failed to listen to the Canberra community. Has anything changed?

Ill conceived decisions based on poor information are not a substitute for good environmental public policy. It gives the impression that you are not listening'.





Please support the new Revolve site by dropping off your goods at the new site at the junction of the Monaro Highway and Mugga Lane. To contact Revolve please call the office on (02) 6230 7122 or the yard on 0407 005 333.
 
Tackle Climate Change - support Revolve!
Revive the age old spirit of self sufficiency.  Whether your are building a house or a shed, furnishing a flat, fixing a broken bed, building a bike, or looking for a pre-loved book, REVOLVE is likely to have the bargain priced item you need. 

REVOLVE is a community based "not for personal profit" enterprise dedicated to  generating jobs through Recycling.