Surf Coast Community Column

In 2013 the Victorian Government passed legislation that updated the Environment Protection Act to change the way we treat material that we no longer use, the “waste” that households and industry put into bins and forget about. The act created new groups to manage the changes and I was nominated and accepted as a director of the Board and while some might say I talk a lot of rubbish, it’s not waste.

Waste, it means something different to every one you speak to so first a couple of definitions; Waste; use or expend carelessly, extravagantly, or to no purpose. Waste; a material, substance, or by-product eliminated or discarded as no longer useful or required after the completion of a process.

There is another definition Waste; a resource we have not found a use for, yet. The updated act aims to stop the sending to landfill, or as many would say “the tip”, anything apart from inert material, the ashes as it were, everything useful has been reclaimed.

Green material including food scraps will be composted and returned to the earth to nourish plants. Paper, cardboard, cans, bottles, hard plastics and a host of other materials will be sorted and reused.

Business will be encouraged to talk to each other as one businesses waste is another’s raw material. There are product stewardship measures coming in, where manufacturers pay a set amount toward the disposal of the items they produce. This puts a value on the item and we are already seeing businesses set up to realise this value.

As many realise we must stop thinking of things we no longer use or need as waste or rubbish to be buried in the ground but as the valuable resource it really is.

To find out more go to https://www.bswwrrg.vic.gov.au the home page of Barwon South West Waste and Resource Recovery Group our local management authority.

Warm Regards,
David Bell, Libby Coker, Rose Hodge and Margot Smith, Surf Coast Shire councillors.