Albury Wodonga region hits 82% landfill diversion
The Albury Wodonga region is the best in both NSW and Victoria for household recycling.
That’s according to a recent audit of kerbside household waste, which shows that total diversion rates of the four councils that introduced a combined food and garden organics service this year was 82% on average.
The councils that achieved this impressive result are AlburyCity, Corowa Shire Council, City of Wodonga and Indigo Shire Council.
These figures refer to the total percentage of kerbside household waste diverted for recycling as opposed to being sent to landfill, making the four councils the top performers in their respective states.
The state resource recovery targets for kerbside household waste recycling is 70% for NSW and 65% for Victoria*.
Speaking on behalf of the participating councils, AlburyCity Mayor, Cr Henk van de Ven says, “The audit results are extremely pleasing and show that local residents have not only adapted very well to the new organics service, but that they are also leading the way in other areas of recycling.”
“Overall, the audit results indicate that the performance of the new organics service is very strong, with the service delivering high yields and very low contamination rates”.
“Whilst a lot of this increased diversion is thanks to the new organics service, it is also due to residents recycling more than ever through their yellow-lidded recycling bin,” Cr van de Ven said.
Greater Hume Council which does not have an organics service, has experienced a 3% increase in kerbside household recycling rates.
Cr van de Ven says while the results are outstanding, there is still approximately 1% contamination in the organics bin. The most common contaminants being plastic bags, timber and some textiles.
For more information about what materials to put in what bin, please visit halvewaste.com.au.
Further information contact Amber McSwiney, AlburyCity Media officer, on 6023 8146.
*State of NSW and EPA, 2014 and P Randell, 2014 and DOE, 2013
