Looking after our environment.
Josh Russell is an environmental engineer who has worked at Council for twelve years as Waste Management Officer after previous experience dealing with contaminated land.
A few figures: 500,000 bins are collected in the Shire each year, and 40,000 customers visit the Resource Recovery Centres each year.
Under the Local Government Act, Council has an obligation to 'Maintain a clean municipality'. Under the Health Act, they must 'prevent disease'. There are also responsibilities under the Environment Protection Act, and Circular Economy Act.
Murrindindi is one of a handful of Local Governments which still run their own landfill and resource recovery centres - most are contracted out to private operators.
Waste Management is a separate business unit within Council, which has its own income stream and manages its own expenses. They are responsible for the landfill, resource recovery centres and kerbside collections and waste education of ratepayers.
Planning is well underway for a major project - the development of a new landfill cell in Alexandra which will cost $3 to 5,000,000. The service receives 12,000 tons of waste per year and 15 vehicle movements per day.
The cell must be constructed to a high standard to manage leachate, odour etc.
Local management of waste is the only viable option.
Some larger suburban councils divert potential landfill to incinerators which are used to generate electricity. Four plants have been approved in Victoria.
Leachate collected from our local landfill is transported to Melbourne for disposal.
When the landfill is capped, it may be possible to catch and use the gas which is emitted.
Budget for new cell: $3.4 million for the base, $800,000 in the next year, $6.5 million to cap existing cells, which must be maintained for a further thirty years.With an income of $2 million per year, this should be affordable. Once the project commences, site tours will be offered.
The closed landfills at Kinglake, Eildon, Yea and the former Alexandra site all needed to be rehabilitated. Eildon had priority, due to its riskier location, and materials involved.
$25,000 of metal was mined and recycled.
Resource Recovery Centres: Alexandra is the busiest, followed by Kinglake.
Some materials are problematic such as concrete, timber and polystyrene, mattresses and tyres - e-waste is free to drop off and should NOT be placed in general waste bin.
The cost to council for recycling has increased from $50 to $100 per skip collected. $600,000 in landfill levy fees was collected last year and are expected to increase by 30% in the next financial year.
The steel pile and Scrap Shack are very popular with customers and divert materials from landfill.
Josh Russell is an environmental engineer who has worked at Council for twelve years as Waste Management Officer after previous experience dealing with contaminated land.
A few figures: 500,000 bins are collected in the Shire each year, and 40,000 customers visit the Resource Recovery Centres each year.
Under the Local Government Act, Council has an obligation to 'Maintain a clean municipality'. Under the Health Act, they must 'prevent disease'. There are also responsibilities under the Environment Protection Act, and Circular Economy Act.
Murrindindi is one of a handful of Local Governments which still run their own landfill and resource recovery centres - most are contracted out to private operators.
Waste Management is a separate business unit within Council, which has its own income stream and manages its own expenses. They are responsible for the landfill, resource recovery centres and kerbside collections and waste education of ratepayers.
Planning is well underway for a major project - the development of a new landfill cell in Alexandra which will cost $3 to 5,000,000. The service receives 12,000 tons of waste per year and 15 vehicle movements per day.
The cell must be constructed to a high standard to manage leachate, odour etc.
Local management of waste is the only viable option.
Some larger suburban councils divert potential landfill to incinerators which are used to generate electricity. Four plants have been approved in Victoria.
Leachate collected from our local landfill is transported to Melbourne for disposal.
When the landfill is capped, it may be possible to catch and use the gas which is emitted.
Budget for new cell: $3.4 million for the base, $800,000 in the next year, $6.5 million to cap existing cells, which must be maintained for a further thirty years.With an income of $2 million per year, this should be affordable. Once the project commences, site tours will be offered.
The closed landfills at Kinglake, Eildon, Yea and the former Alexandra site all needed to be rehabilitated. Eildon had priority, due to its riskier location, and materials involved.
$25,000 of metal was mined and recycled.
Resource Recovery Centres: Alexandra is the busiest, followed by Kinglake.
Some materials are problematic such as concrete, timber and polystyrene, mattresses and tyres - e-waste is free to drop off and should NOT be placed in general waste bin.
The cost to council for recycling has increased from $50 to $100 per skip collected. $600,000 in landfill levy fees was collected last year and are expected to increase by 30% in the next financial year.
The steel pile and Scrap Shack are very popular with customers and divert materials from landfill.
