LODDON MALLEE

WASTE AND RESOURCE RECOVERY GROUP

In This Issue

• Implementation Plan update

• Member Council Report

• Australian Citizen Science Conference

• ResourceSmart Schools Update

From the Chair

The last couple of months have been busy with the development of a Regional Procurement Strategy and Draft Regional Organics Strategy: both documents will feed into the Loddon Mallee WRRG Business Plan and steer the future direction of regional programs. The Board have approved four projects for funding through the Loddon Mallee Fund Round 2. Over the next few weeks a number of industry events are scheduled with details included within this newsletter. We have also continued to provide support to all Councils in the region regarding kerbside contracts for recyclables.

Jennifer Anderson

LMWRRG Chair

From the Executive Officer

The profile of waste and resource recovery has been highlighted recently with the trade restrictions on recyclable product imposed by China. This has provided the opportunity to spread the message about the positives associated with recycling, what can and cannot be recycled and where recycling goes. There has been a genuine interest by residents to recycle correctly. This edition of the newsletter highlights a number the projects being undertaken across the Loddon Mallee region.

Karen Fazzani

LMWRRG Executive Officer

karen.fazzani@lmwrrg.vic.gov.au

Newsletter April 2018

Sustainable Waste Management in Health Care Conference

On Wednesday 18 April, 53 people attended the Sustainable Waste Management in Health Care Conference organised by the Loddon Mallee Waste and Resource Recovery Group.

Aimed at both clinical and non-clinical staff, the conference was an opportunity to hear from hospital staff within Victoria who have implemented successful resource recovery programs. It provided participants with the skills, guidance and networking opportunities to aid in identifying resource recovery opportunities within a hospital environment and strategies for successfully actioning them.

Guest speakers included Roslyn Morgan (Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation), Monika Page (Royal Melbourne Hospital), Rachel McConville (Department of Health and Human Services), Bradley Keam (Baxter Healthcare) and Catherine O’Shea (Western Health).

Loddon Mallee Organics Recovery Series: Poultry and Horticulture Industries

Aimed at business and industry who generate or process organics wastes, this information series is an opportunity to hear from business and industry within Victoria who have implemented successful resource recovery programs. It will provide skills, guidance and networking opportunities to aid attendees in identifying resource recovery and processing opportunities for organics waste and strategies for successfully actioning them.

Bendigo (Poultry) Tuesday 29 May 2018 from 8.30am to 5.00pm

All Seasons – 171-183 McIvor Hwy, Bendigo VIC 3550

Bookings required by Wednesday 23 May

Swan Hill (Horticulture) Wednesday 30 May 2018 from 8.30am to 5.00pm

Swan Hill Club – 5/17 McCallum St, Swan Hill VIC 3585

Bookings required by Wednesday 23 May

RSVP

Contact Melanie Bell on 0488 911 700 or by email at melanie.bell@lmwrrg.vic.gov.au.

LMWRRG Implementation Plan - PROJECTS UPDATE

C&I and C&D waste - Network Event In conjunction with Sustainability Victoria the LMWRRG will be holding two network events on 29 May 2018 in Bendigo and 30 May 2018 in Swan Hill for major waste generators, collectors and reprocessors including organics business and industry to enable discussions about increased recycling, reprocessing, employment, economic development and more efficient systems in the Loddon Mallee region as an alternative to landfill.

C&I and C&D waste - Market Development Stakeholders who indicated in the initial survey last year that they wanted further contact with the LMWRRG were contacted in March 2018 by the Market Development Manager to follow up opportunities to reduce waste to landfill and for materials to be reprocessed and used inside the region; to assist with networks, growth opportunities, and promote new activity in the region.

Local Buffer Support Program The LMWRRG is currently working with its member councils to reference the regional implementation plan and ensure the schedule aligns with the relevant council planning schemes; protect buffers of current and future waste and resource recovery facilities from encroachment; protect communities from the potential negative impacts of waste and resource recovery facilities; and support councils to effectively use buffer protection tools.

To date, the LMWRRG has provided submissions to the Gannawarra Shire, City of Greater Bendigo and Mildura Planning Scheme Reviews, and assisted the City of Greater Bendigo submit an application for funding to the Metropolitan WRRG which has been successful in receiving $40,000 funding.

The program also provided Planning Institute of Australia training for council, EPA, DELWP and LMWRRG staff on Friday 16 March 2018 at Swan Hill. The ‘Planning for Major Waste and Resource Recovery Facilities’ course dealt with how the planning system manages waste after it has been collected.

Risk assessment of closed landfills

The LMWRRG is working with the EPA and councils to identify the closed landfills in the region, assess their risks and prioritise actions at a regional scale to address these. To do this the Loddon Mallee Local Government Waste Forum Technical Sub-Committee developed a closed landfill risk assessment tool for councils to use to assess the residual risk of closed landfills. The tool has recently been released by the EPA which will now enable councils to commence assessing their closed landfills and allow the region to better understand the risk relating to legacy landfills and collaborate on how to tackle the various issues.

Contingency Planning

As part of the regional implementation plan the LMWRRG is required to factor contingency requirements into the assessment of landfill and resource recovery needs. Planning for, and allocating contingency allowances ensures that sufficient landfill or reprocessing capacity is available if an adverse or emergency event occurs, such as fire, floods or market failure.

The LMWRRG has developed a Contingency Plan in 2017 and consulted with councils to identify what support from the LMWRRG would be useful for council to receive going forward in relation to managing incidents. This has resulted in the commencement of the following pieces of work:

• Annual assessment of the capacity of the regions waste infrastructure.

• Development of templates for specific incident planning with Metro WRRG and councils.

• Development of MOU’s between councils.

• Referencing the Contingency Plan in Municipal Emergency Management Plans.

• Rawtec in partnership with Waste Management Services will be delivering Better Practice and Contingency Training for Resource Recovery Centres to council managers and operators of these facilities on 8 and 9 May 2018 in Bendigo.

Member Council Report Buloke Shire Council

Buloke Shire Council appointed local contractor GWM Solar to supply and

install an off grid solar power solution to provide electrical power to the Donald

Landfill site office. The 4kW solar panels have been mounted using a ground

mount system to maximise the collection capacity. Any power generated by the

panels not used immediately is stored in 20kW of battery storage. Power from

either the panels or batteries is converted to 240 volt power by a pure sine wave

DC to AC converter.

Initial testing has been encouraging with sufficient power generated by the

panels to run the air conditioner without drawing on the stored battery power even on an overcast day as pictured above. The

installed system should have sufficient capacity to provide two to three days of power if the panels are not capturing any

energy. The plan will be to roll this out to other sites in Buloke Shire as funds become available.

City of Greater Bendigo

A commercial organics trial will be running in the CBD from March to June 2018, 16 businesses so far have signed up for the twice weekly collection.

Free education sessions have been offered to 88 Secondary Colleges, Schools and Kindergartens with 11 so far taking up

the offer.

E-Waste Disposal units have been installed in the main office in Lyttleton Terrace and a second to be installed at the

Heathcote Customer Service centre in the coming weeks.

Recycle lid changeover will commence in March 2018 - Access Australia have been engaged to change 3000 blue lids to

yellow to be in line with Australian standards and make community education easier for residents .

Gannawarra Shire Council

There is a new face in the environment area of the Gannawarra Shire Council with Katina Fitzgerald (Tina) commencing

duties on 19th February 2018. Tina’s role as the Environmental Officer covers a number of programs including waste and

resource recovery, pest and weeds, saleyard truck wash and energy efficiency.

Loddon Shire Council

Simon Dobie has been employed as Assistant Manager of Works, and will oversee the Waste Management Portfolio.

Loddon Shire is continuing its trial of ‘Fee Free’ Waste Disposal at all Landfill and Transfer Stations with the second

weekend held in late February 2018. The quarterly trial has allowed residents of the Shire to dispose up to 4 cubic metres of

general domestic waste free of charge.

Loddon Shire has also just concluded its Annual Hard Waste Kerbside Collection within the townships of Boort, Pyramid Hill,

Mitiamo, Dingee, Serpentine, Borung, Wychitella, Korong Vale, Wedderburn, Inglewood, Newbridge, Tarnagulla,

Laanacoorie and Eddington. With a strong response, over 122 individual collections and over 300 cubic metres of metal

items, recyclables, and white goods were recorded.

All landfill and transfer stations continue to be cleaned up including the removal and recycling of steel, whitegoods and E-

Waste prior to the end of financial year.

Macedon Ranges Shire Council

Macedon Ranges residents looking for free or cheap second hand furniture, bikes, books and other pre-loved items can now

find a bargain at Council’s new tip shop located at the Kyneton Transfer Station. The new shop is being trialled as a way of

reducing waste going to landfill. Items that are in good condition and deemed to be re-usable are selected by staff and

displayed at the shop. Most items will have a bargain-basement price tag – to help cover some of the shop’s operating costs.

Council is hosting a free Zero Waste Forum on Thursday 3rd May 2018 at the Woodend Neighbourhood House and will

feature a talk by zero waste advocate and writer Erin Rhoads. Erin is known for The Rogue Ginger blog, which documents

her experience of participating in Plastic Free July – a month going without single-use plastic items like shopping bags,

straws and over-packaged foods. To find out more or to book, visit mrsc.vic.gov.au/environment-events or call 5421 9660.

Ground mount solar panels at Donald Landfill

Member Council Report Mildura Rural City Council

Mildura Rural City Council is seeking expressions of interest (EOI) for the receival and processing of greenwaste that currently is taken to Mildura Landfill by residents and businesses.

Mildura Landfill on average receives 6,000 tonnes of garden waste (greenwaste) and timber products each year. Garden waste is currently mulched on site, and used for landfill rehabilitation. Over the last few years there has been a significant increase in the management of onsite activities to monitor and mitigate potential offsite impacts from mulching activities. This has increased staff time and resources in managing mulching activities on site and modifying mulching activities when the weather in not favourable.

Council is open to new and innovative ways to process garden waste, while also taking into consideration value for money and environmental benefits. The aim is to continue to divert garden waste from going to landfill.

Mount Alexander Shire Council

Mount Alexander Shire Council is in the process of evaluating tender responses for services to collect, transport and process waste materials for a contract beginning 1 October 2018. A consultant has also been engaged to prepare detailed designs for a permanent cap of two landfill cells at Castlemaine landfill. A food waste reduction project using converted wheelie bins as worm farms is about to commence next month and research and design for the future of the Castlemaine resource recovery centre is underway.

Swan Hill Rural City Council

Swan Hill Rural City Council recently ran a competition for its residents aimed to increase recycling awareness and reduce contamination within the recycling stream.

Residents had to download the Loddon Mallee Waste Info App, take a screen shot of the App and send the screenshot to Council. The lucky winner received a free kerbside green waste service for a year or equivalent rates discount as well as an Eco hamper full of reusable goodies.

Kimmly Johnston, Projects Officer Infrastructure with

lucky winner Gayle Taylor

Australian Citizen Science Association Conference, Adelaide 2018

Michelle Barton, ResourceSmart Schools Facilitator

I spent three hot February days immersed in the intense and exciting world of Citizen Science - intense because of the breadth, depth and number of simultaneous discussions and exciting because, as it turns out, the applications for Citizen Science are endless.

The discussions began with what had been done and flowed into what could be done and as such, are still open. Criteria for worthwhile Citizen Science projects were determined through outcome analysis and reflection from funders, project managers, scientists and participants:

1. Valid and rigorous science,

2. Contributory, relevant and rewarding for citizens at each stage,

3. Ongoing communication about process and outcomes with participants, local community, broader community and scientific community,

4. Makes a positive difference.

It was also agreed that outcomes needed to be identified and measured more broadly than in pure science, including hours of volunteer time, retention of volunteers, volunteer satisfaction, and quantity of data. Indeed, outcomes that mattered differed across projects, contexts, and role within a project.

Types and scopes of citizen science projects varied enormously, from single day site specific BioBlitzes to longitudinal data collection for Local Council park management programs and air monitoring for the State Government and Gippsland communities by DELWP and EPA.

What does this mean for LMWRRG and residents of the Loddon Mallee region?

Citizen science projects may be used as a tool for engaging citizens in collecting data, analysing data, problem solving, innovation for overcoming local challenges and environmental concerns, and behaviour change. Marketing, or how messages are shared, was a recurring theme in the talk as was partnerships. Understanding motivations of both citizens and scientists was essential. Volunteer time made possible projects that would otherwise never get off the ground.

We can think about what data we want to collect and why, what projects we want to implement and why, and how these fit together and how citizen science may provide a better outcome than traditional top down projects delivered into a community rather than evolving and led by a community.

But more than that, it is emphasising planning, partnerships, and addressing shared problems, where citizens are key drivers in project delivery.

Our Team

Executive Officer

Karen Fazzani

P: 03 5494 3711

M: 0417 123 012

F: 03 5494 3491

PO Box 144

Wedderburn VIC 3518

Program Director

Melanie Bell

Market Development

Manager

Ian Gillingham

Project Officers

Andrea Girotti

Sharna Ross

Trinity Mawson

ResourceSmart

Schools

Coordinator

Ellen White

ResourceSmart

Schools Facilitator

Michelle Barton

Administration

Officer

Julie Bateman

www.lmwrrg.vic.gov.au

ResourceSmart Schools

Sustainability in our day to day activities in schools was the theme for a workshop held recently for ResourceSmart Schools in the region. The day started with an acknowledgement to Country from Castlemaine Secondary School student Alice Coff, then we explored “Indigenous Perspectives of Sustainability” with Kathryn Coff and Jeanette McMahon. From a waste perspective, Indigenous people make things for life, which avoids waste.

Laura from the Design and Technology Teachers Association (Vic) then described how design and technology in the curriculum is a vehicle for teaching sustainability and STEM. Problem solving is one of the main methods used in design and technology teaching at all year levels. Students at Winters Flat Primary School identified plastic straws as a waste product that could be avoided and set about developing their ideas to reduce their use, repurpose them and recycle them.

Sam Harrison a teacher at Newham Primary School spoke about integrating science, literacy and sustainability. Students he has worked with collected litter, recorded the data, graphed it and through this process learned about their school grounds and designed a frog bog, giving them a better understanding of what land can be used for, and why littering is bad.

The day finished off with a walk around Lockwood South Primary School, which has been participating in the ResourceSmart Schools program for four years. They have developed their waste systems and have a goal to have zero waste eventually. They have already reduced their waste to landfill from 1cm3 per student in 2013 to 0.06cm3 in 2017. A great effort, and all done by reducing, recycling, re-using, and composting.

In May, we will be holding a Student Sustainability Summit, where students will share their sustainability stories, projects and ideas. We look forward to seeing your school there. Contact coordinator Ellen White for more information at resourcesmart@lmwrrg.vic.gov.au

For more information about the ResourceSmart Schools program, please go to www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/schools