Apr 7, 2023 1 min read

Toward Zero Waste

Are you committed to waste reduction? Do you want to graduate from thinking about it to doing it?

Banyule Council is serious about waste reduction. Are you?

Dumped rubbish collected by Friends of Eaglemont Village volunteers during Clean Up Australia Day 2023. Council collected this material. Off to landfill?

Can we help ourselves, the planet and reduce Council's waste management charges?

Friends of Eaglemont Village was represented at a Banyule Council seminar "Towards Zero Waste" at the Ivanhoe Learning and Cultural Hub (a.k.a. the Library) last Thursday.

Council presented some facts about the current waste management process, their ambitions and their challenges.

They sought observations and ideas from the groups of attendees.

14% of Council's $180 million budget is devoted to waste management - a significant portion is for landfill charges, which are escalating rapidly.

Reducing the amount of waste leaving residential premises, and proper segregation of the waste will help. Home composting, more selective purchasing of products and pressing for less plastics including Styrofoam will be pursued.

The Food Organics & Garden Organics system introduced recently is exceeding expectations in diverting waste from landfill at Wollert.

Interestingly, Heidelberg West was identified as a particular problem. Difficulties in messaging "Toward Zero Waste" were pointed out - many in the Somali community are not literate in their native language due to the social breakdown in Somali during the civil war, so written communication is ineffectual.

For many others in the suburb multiple confronting social, health and financial problems crowd out thinking about better ecological approaches.

For more information visit:
https://shaping.banyule.vic.gov.au/wastesurvey2018