Final Cell Opens at Davis Road Waste Facility

The Shire of Augusta Margaret River has started operating the final landfill cell at the Davis Road Waste Management Facility.

After prolonging the life of the existing landfill cell, thanks to residents’ support of the three-bin system, the newest and final cell is expected to service residents waste needs until at least 2025. The exact timeframe will depend on the volume and type of waste received, population factors and other influences.

In late February, the Shire was granted final approval from the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation to start operating the final landfill cell. The new lined cell is situated to the south of the existing landfill cells, which approached the end of their available capacity earlier this year.  

A 2018 feasibility study into waste avoidance and resource recovery identified the need to better manage the Shire’s waste by introducing a three-bin system to improve landfill diversion rates.

Director Sustainable Development and Infrastructure Nick Logan said the Shire of Augusta Margaret River has seen a steady improvement as a result of the introduction of the three-bin system in July 2019 and other resource recovery initiatives.

“Since the introduction of the three-bin residential kerbside collection system, the amount of waste sent to landfill has reduced dramatically,” he said. “In 2018/19 up to 78 per cent of the Shire’s kerbside waste was sent to landfill. With the introduction of the three-bin system, this number reduced significantly to 41 per cent in 2019/20.”

“While this is a great result, it’s important not to get complacent as we’ve now seen first-hand that individual efforts to reduce waste make a huge difference,” he said.

While waste collected from the kerbside bins with the red lid will now go into the final cell at the Davis Road Waste Facility, waste from other kerbside bins travels further afield.

Recycling from the yellow lid bin is sent to Picton and then on to Perth where it is sorted at a Materials Recovery Facility into individual material types. Once processed, recyclable items are baled and sold to domestic and international markets.

Waste collected in the FOGO bin with the lime green lid is transported to Bunbury Harvey Regional Council’s Banksia Road Organics Processing Facility. Here it is turned into organically certified compost.

In the coming years, the Davis Road site will be rehabilitated and developed into a waste transfer facility with a further focus on improving landfill diversion rates and resource recovery options.

In the meantime, residents are encouraged to continue to think of landfill as a last resort for waste - and to reduce, reuse and recycle wherever possible.

To find out more about waste and resource recovery in the Shire of Augusta Margaret River please visit www.amrshire.wa.gov.au and follow The Best We’ve Ever Bin on Facebook for tips and tricks on reducing household waste.

The Shire’s three-bin FOGO system is supported by a State Government grant under the Better Bins Plus: Go FOGO program.

Ends

Image: The first truck disposes waste material into the newest and final cell at the Davis Road Waste Management Facility. High resolution image available here.