An innovative new waste contract will provide a rare opportunity to integrate and modernise the whole waste management system across the Northern Beaches providing next generation technology, improved service levels, further cost savings and a better outcome for the environment.
This new waste collection service along with the new waste processing contract will mean a huge increase in diversion from landfill, with 70% of Northern Beaches household waste to be recycled from mid-2019
The new waste collection contract will also deliver further savings to the Council which will again be able to be passed on the ratepayers over the coming years.
Northern Beaches Mayor Michael Regan said the new contract was a great outcome for service delivery for residents. And it comes with an entire modern and new truck fleet.
“All trucks will have on-board GPS technology and video/camera systems making it easy to locate and track collection vehicles in real time and advise residents via a smartphone app where services are up to, or to retrieve bins which have been reported as missing from a property.
“This technology will also assist in monitoring and investigating contractor service, compliance with service requirements, and workplace health and safety obligations.
“This opportunity to integrate and modernise the whole waste management system across the Northern Beaches, from your household separation practices to smart collection, recycling, resource recovery and processing for beneficial reuse and minimising what we dispose to landfill,” Mayor Regan said.
Other features of the contract include:
- Brand new vehicles;
- Fully enclosed covers for the loading ‘hopper’ when not in use to stop any plastic, paper or other material escaping;
- Modern emission controlled engines to reduce pollution;
- Vehicles fitted with all the latest safety features including large glass surround windows providing improved visibility, forward and rear facing video cameras which continuously record the truck’s operations and an emergency braking system;
- Smartphone app for residents; and
- Tracking programs to alert both the driver and vehicle of approaching anomalies on service routes, such as difficult to access properties.
The contract was awarded to United Resource Environmental Management Pty Ltd (URM) for a ten-year period commencing 1 July 2019.
The new waste and recycling collection contract will complement the waste processing contract awarded to SUEZ last year and will also commences on 1 July 2019.
The waste processing contract will see technology sort recyclables, organics and food waste from residents’ red bin without the need to separate these from other rubbish. This will ensure as much as possible is diverted from landfill, recycled for reuse and turned into compost for broad acre agriculture and mine site regeneration.
Additionally, residents will also benefit from up to two on-call service call outs for bulky goods per year unifying services across the region.
A/CEO Ben Taylor said Council had followed a thorough tender process to find the best organisation to deliver environmentally responsible, high quality responsive and safe domestic waste services for our community.
“We’re passionate about recycling and diverting as much material from landfill as possible.
“While a win for the environment, the new service will provide significantly higher levels of service and savings compared with current costs.
“Residents now have the convenience to book a collection when it suits them and it will improve the street amenity.
“And it gets better… Council will also have a separate metal collection and work closely with local community groups to recover and separate items of value like furniture, mattresses and white goods from kerbside collections.
“We will really be encouraging everyone to up-cycle. We want people to repair, reuse and resell items they no longer want through charitable organisations or online sites such as Freecycle before considering putting them in landfill.
“We really owe it to our environment and we are committed to recovering more than 70% of all domestic waste put out by residents in waste and recycling bins,” Mr Taylor said.