By Granite Belt Sustainable Action Network
The Granite Belt Sustainable Action Network has taken the Southern Downs Regional Council Mayor Vic Pennisi to task in regards to his statements relating to the opening of Warwick’s new landfill.
The fact is the new landfill has a life of only five and half years due to the absence of any long-term strategy designed to seriously deal with the Southern Down’s waste crisis.
As the Mayor points out, waste costs ratepayers around $10M per year and the costs are only set to rise in the absence of any strategy that is designed to divert waste from landfill.
With more people moving to the region, the new landfill will be full in under five years.
For the Mayor to claim that building a new landfill is “innovative” and sustainable should be cause for concern.
The new landfill is not innovative.
It is an old practice that simply brings the Southern Downs in line with new regulations.
It is absolutely not sustainable because it is not part of any long-term plan that diverts waste away from landfill to recycling, reuse and repurposing.
The Council needs to embrace the new, 21st-century approach to waste–resource recovery.
To address our waste problem, we need to effectively make landfills redundant.
The Council needs to embrace the new 21st-century approach to Waste Management and Resource Recovery, including a commitment to the State Government target of an 80 per cent reduction in waste to landfill by 2030.
The recently endorsed Southern Downs Environment and Sustainability Strategy talks of the need to embrace resource recovery but to date, Council has given no indication it is moving beyond relying on landfill.
It’s a shame the Mayor did not take the opportunity to commit Council to a resource recovery strategy designed to minimise the resort to landfill in the Southern Downs.
In order to put downward pressure on rates, and waste charges to local businesses, the SDRC should embark on a progressive waste management programme embracing modern practices that are sustainable into the future.
