Solid Waste Strategy 2024

Why do we need a Solid Waste Strategy?

City of Gold Coast is the second largest local government area in Australia and the sixth largest city by population. By 2024, we expect to grow by another 130,000 residents – that's more than 60,000 extra homes nine years from 1 September 2015, when the Solid Waste Strategy 2024 was adopted by Council. Add in the 12 million tourists that visit our city every year and our expected growth in commerce and industry and that's a lot of solid waste to manage!

What is solid waste?

This is the unwanted solid material that usually ends up in a bin. Otherwise called rubbish, refuse, garbage or trash, it includes litter, illegally dumped waste and recyclables. It doesn't include wastewaters, sewage or other liquid wastes.

Developing the strategy

The strategy is the culmination of extensive community consultation and internal collaboration. The community consultation phase was conducted 3 November to 5 December 2014. 1721 responses were received. Responses showed general support for the draft strategy. All feedback was collated and considered in the development of the final strategy.

The new strategy

The Solid Waste Strategy 2024 was adopted by Council on 1 September 2015.

The strategy outlines the extent of the waste management challenge in the next nine years and how we intend to meet it. Our vision is ‘Managing our resources for a sustainable future’.

Our four proposed outcomes in 2024 are:

• The City and the community actively practise waste avoidance and other positive waste behaviours
• Waste avoidance, re-use, recycling and recovery opportunities are maximised prior to landfill disposal
• Our capacity to manage future waste is secured
• Solid waste management has minimal negative impact on our environment and public health.

To achieve these outcomes, we propose to focus on:

• Actively involving the community and City staff in practical recycling and waste reduction programs.
• Diverting identified priority wastes from landfill, especially organic waste. Organic waste includes garden waste, food waste, timber and cardboard.
• Providing more recycling options in public places, for medium to high density housing, business premises and at major events.
• Planning ahead to build cost effective, best-practice waste and recycling infrastructure that will meet predicted demand.
• Implementing best practice collection services and waste facilities that meet the community's needs, as well as financial and environmental factors.

The City's strategic program is defined by 19 key actions. Progress on these actions will be measured via interim targets reviewed during the nine year term of the strategy.