Organics trial at Clunes

About a Low Waste Shire

This theme will focus on the reduction of waste to landfill as a community. We can all make changes to lessen our impact on the environment by designing products and services that generate less waste, use products to create more value and supporting the reuse economy, by recycling more resources and by managing our waste more appropriately and protecting our environment from harm and pollution.

The specific focus of this theme is to create an action plan that will work towards achieving and maintaining:

  • Waste to landfill has multiple environmental impacts such as methane generation, soil contamination, use of large unproductive areas and more. Reducing, reusing, and recycling are ways to reduce waste to landfill. Improved data collection and reporting systems can help us better understand and improve waste management.
  • Reusing and recycling waste products, treats waste as a resource (maximises its value), and keeps it out of landfill. Recycling right is important as contaminated recyclables end up in landfill. Working together we can develop solutions to make this easier.
  • A circular economy continually seeks to reduce the environmental impacts of production and consumption, while enabling economic growth through more productive use of natural resources. It allows us to avoid waste with good design and effective recovery of materials that can be reused. It fosters innovation, productivity and new business models.
  • Victoria’s transition to a circular economy will be guided by four goals spanning the life cycle of materials (make, use, recycle and manage). Each goal is designed to maximise value and minimise waste. See here to read more about this 10 year plan which will guide future local waste services Recycling Victoria A new economy.pdf (www.vic.gov.au)

What projects (related to this theme) would you like to see introduced, repeated or expanded across the Shire? Feel free to direct us to good ideas from other councils and communities.

Actions that could contribute to this theme may be improvement to community education programs, setting criteria for curb side collection, reducing contamination of recyclables and working to find local solutions to both reuse and minimise waste.