Council adopts new plan to reach vision of a zero waste society by 2050

Redland City Council has adopted a new Waste Reduction and Recycling Plan which will put Redlands Coast on the path to becoming a zero waste society by 2050.

Mayor Karen Williams said the key focus of the plan is to encourage residents to ‘lift the right lid’ to ensure the right waste was going in the correct bin to reduce how much waste was going to landfill.

“Waste is one of the biggest challenges we face as a city, state and nation and this plan is all about reducing our waste footprint by encouraging the community to adopt some simple but important practices,” Cr Williams said.

“Currently as a city we are generating too much waste with each Redlands Coast resident producing over 700 kilograms of waste annually, compared to the south-east Queensland average of 540 kilograms per person.

“About half of what currently goes in red-lid bins could be kept out of landfill, either through recycling or organic material that could go in our green lid bins.

“We also know our community is committed to doing the right thing, with the Redlands having high recycling rates, and this plan will support them in continuing to increase our recycling rates.

“The global waste sector has changed significantly in recent years, including changes to the State Government waste levy which will significantly increase the cost to landfill household waste from 2023-24.

“The Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games also has a goal of being the first climate positive Summer Games making it more important than ever to ensure we as a city reduce our waste footprint.”

Cr Williams said the plan date had been extended from 2025 to 2030 to align with the Queensland Waste Management and Resource Recovery Strategy and commitments in the South East Queensland Council of Mayors Waste Plan.

Council is committed to the 2030 waste reduction and recycling targets set by the Queensland Government, which aims to reduce the amount of waste generated by residents by 15% and increase the amount of materials recycled to 60% by the end of the decade.

There are four key components outlined in the Waste Reduction and Recycling Plan 2021-2030 to achieve that target:

• Reduce recyclables, green waste and food waste lost through the red (general waste) bin
• Halve recycling contamination in the yellow bin
• Increase the number of households with a green waste bin
• Produce an organics transformation plan, building on a roadmap for growing green bins and investigating options and affordability of food waste reduction from landfill.

The Waste Reduction and Recycling Plan 2021-2030 was informed by consultation with residents and feedback which was generally strong and supportive of the draft plan.

To learn more about how to reduce food waste, implement a composting system and recycle well, visit Council’s website.