We're on a mission to transform waste management on the Beaches and be a leader in circular economy practices with a waste and litter service that delivers the cleanest public spaces in Sydney.
Council has taken a major step towards a sustainable 'reuse, repair and recycle' model of waste management with the launch of our first waste and circular economy strategy.
The draft Waste and Circular Economy Strategy 2040 – Rethink. Reduce. Reuse and action plan is a blueprint for future waste management, aiming to transform waste and litter management services and move towards a cleaner, more sustainable future.
This strategy is central to support our move to a fully functioning circular economy that will benefit the environment, local business, and residents. It delivers on Council's commitment to deliver a new long-term waste and circular economy blueprint and action plan.
Our waste service is one of Sydney's largest, generating over 100,000 tonnes of household waste each year, which is equivalent to almost twice the weight of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The Northern Beaches community wants a cleaner, greener environment and is prepared to make changes to get there. Some 85 per cent of you are willing to change habits to reduce the amount of waste produced, and 90 per cent already reuse or repair some household items. This is great news.
Council now has an opportunity to help support residents, create new jobs and support innovative, sustainable businesses that invest in circular practices like reuse, repair, and recycling, driving economic growth and strengthening community bonds.
We understand that there are many challenges ahead, including making the shift from wasteful consumption, overcoming limited access to large-scale waste infrastructure, and addressing market limitations for recyclable materials, among others.
We will collaborate with other metropolitan councils and urge state and federal governments to join forces to expedite this journey.
We believe that by sharing the responsibility, empowering our community, and making it as easy as possible to change behaviour, we will succeed.
Highlights from the strategy
- Piloting hubs for local reuse, repair, and recycling
- Investigating opportunities for local business and manufacturers to share used material for reuse and recycling
- Increasing types of waste that can be recycled
- Better options for collection of ‘problem’ waste (i.e., chemicals, e-waste and textiles)
- Tackling organic waste and introducing food waste collection
- Continuing to tackle single use plastics
- New litter prevention initiatives
- Council leading better waste management in its own planning and operations.
These and other actions are detailed under five key directions in the strategy:
- Eliminating waste
- Easy to use waste service
- Tackling priority waste
- Green and clean environment
- Council leading the way