Keeping Bayside clean

Between April and June this year (over the peak Autumn leaf fall period), more than 506 tonnes of leaf and other waste was removed from Bayside’s footpaths, streets and gutters.

Council’s contractor Citywide cleans our urban landscapes, streets, promenades, car parks, shop fronts and pathways.

Citywide’s high-power machinery removes gravel, dirt, leaves and debris while skilled personnel hand sweep, scrape and pressure wash hard-to-access areas.

But what happens to all those leaves and rubbish?

Citywide has implemented Australia’s first street-sweeping recycling plant. At the recycling plant, materials are collected and sorted according to size and weight. An environmentally safe biodegradable chemical is used to break up heavy metals. Water used in the process is treated and recycled for use throughout other operations.

Recovered materials for re-use include washed sand, which can be used for rehabilitation or blending into compost and leaf matter for organic recycling.  

These services help to reduce our environmental impact by deferring waste from landfill, while by-products can be utilised for construction materials, diverting 60 to 90 per cent of street sweeping waste from landfill.