Direction 6.7 Reduce waste and improve waste management and resource recovery Waste management and resource recovery is an essential community service that protects the environment and public health and recovers valuable resources. By 2042, it is projected that waste volumes in metropolitan Melbourne will grow by 63 per cent to 16.5 million tonnes a year. Melbourne needs to reduce the amount of waste it produces by avoiding, re-using and recycling waste. Infrastructure also needs to be located to ensure waste management and recovery is timely, efficient and cost effective. The recovery of valuable resources from waste will create jobs and add value to the Victorian economy. It is estimated that recycling employs 9.2 people for every 10,000 tonnes of waste processed, compared to 2.8 people when the same amount of waste is sent to landfill. Waste and resource recovery infrastructure planning must be effectively integrated with land-use planning to provide long-term certainty and to manage potential conflicts with incompatible nearby land uses. Maintaining full operational capacity and output of waste and resource recovery facilities relies on a number of factors, such as securing and maintaining land separation distances. It is vital that facilities are sited, designed, built and operated to the highest standards so that the environment and public health benefits Victorians expect are achieved. Policy 6.7.1 Improve the economic recovery of waste and reduce reliance on landfill There are significant opportunities to grow this industry. For instance, Melbourne sends around 805,000 tonnes of food and garden waste to landfill each year. This breaks down and generates methane—a potent greenhouse gas—and causes odour issues for surrounding communities. Recovering this material could produce compost or energy. The government has set a target for Melbourne to have access to 600,000 tonnes of capacity to manage municipal, commercial and industrial food-and-garden waste by 2026. There are also opportunities to recover more e-waste, plastic, polystyrene, timber, textiles and other materials. There are also opportunities to provide integrated solutions to waste, water and energy issues such as converting waste to energy. There are already small-scale facilities in Victoria—including wastewater utilities, hospitals and agricultural-waste their own electricity, steam and heating from their waste.
Direction 6.7 Reduce waste and improve waste management and resource recovery Waste management and resource recovery is an essential community service that protects the environment and public health and recovers valuable resources. By 2042, it is projected that waste volumes in metropolitan Melbourne will grow by 63 per cent to 16.5 million tonnes a year. Melbourne needs to reduce the amount of waste it produces by avoiding, re-using and recycling waste. Infrastructure also needs to be located to ensure waste management and recovery is timely, efficient and cost effective. The recovery of valuable resources from waste will create jobs and add value to the Victorian economy. It is estimated that recycling employs 9.2 people for every 10,000 tonnes of waste processed, compared to 2.8 people when the same amount of waste is sent to landfill. Waste and resource recovery infrastructure planning must be effectively integrated with land-use planning to provide long-term certainty and to manage potential conflicts with incompatible nearby land uses. Maintaining full operational capacity and output of waste and resource recovery facilities relies on a number of factors, such as securing and maintaining land separation distances. It is vital that facilities are sited, designed, built and operated to the highest standards so that the environment and public health benefits Victorians expect are achieved. Policy 6.7.1 Improve the economic recovery of waste and reduce reliance on landfill There are significant opportunities to grow this industry. For instance, Melbourne sends around 805,000 tonnes of food and garden waste to landfill each year. This breaks down and generates methane—a potent greenhouse gas—and causes odour issues for surrounding communities. Recovering this material could produce compost or energy. The government has set a target for Melbourne to have access to 600,000 tonnes of capacity to manage municipal, commercial and industrial food-and-garden waste by 2026. There are also opportunities to recover more e-waste, plastic, polystyrene, timber, textiles and other materials. There are also opportunities to provide integrated solutions to waste, water and energy issues such as converting waste to energy. There are already small-scale facilities in Victoria—including wastewater utilities, hospitals and agricultural-waste their own electricity, steam and heating from their waste.