Strategies and Plans

Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy 2032

Council is committed to protecting and enhancing the built and natural environment for current and future generations and developed the Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy 2032 to realise this vision within the context of waste management.

Council in 2023 entered new 10 year organics, recycling and bulky waste collection contracts and Council’s landfill is due to reach capacity within the next 5 years. Council wants to provide waste services that meet the communities needs and expectations, whilst ensuring that waste services are reliable, affordable, and sustainable.

Council’s Waste Services Survey in February 2022 received more than 1,900 responses from the community highlighting that waste management is an important issue for our community. The feedback received has informed and guided the development of the Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy 2032. View survey information and results HERE.

The Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy 2032 aims to achieve:

• Higher rates of resource recovery with a focus on community waste education
• Transition to a Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) service
• Consider innovative and emerging waste technologies
• Minimise the environmental impact of waste generation in the Hawkesbury Local Government Area.

The Strategy has a 10-year timeframe and consists of three themes each of which have their own objectives and goals:

• Resource Responsible Citizens
• Generational Legacy
• Environmental Stewardship

Western Sydney Regional Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2022-2027

Hawkesbury City Council will again work with WSROC and other member councils to deliver the new Regional Waste

Strategy which has the following seven key priority areas:

• Meeting waste infrastructure needs by 2030 and beyond
• Implementing household organic waste collection services
• Building resilience to climate change impacts on waste services
• Updating waste planning controls in new building to address new policy directives
• Facilitating the transition from a linear to circular economy
• Protecting the region from waste pollution
• Exploring joint procurement of waste services and/or infrastructure.

The new Regional Waste Strategy has the following focus areas as selected by councils:

• Supporting the delivery of new Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) services in councils
• Waste avoidance and reduction initiatives
• Engagement and advocacy to improve waste infrastructure opportunities
• Investigation of joint procurement and waste service delivery efficiencies in FOGO delivery
• Domestic waste service and circular economy improvements to planning instruments
• Disaster responsiveness and emergency waste management initiatives
• Regional education efforts to further engage with hard to reach communities
• Initiatives to address litter, illegal dumping, and problem wastes including asbestos; and
• Facilitating sharing of information and resources between councils and NSW EPA.

The Regional Waste Strategy will complement Council's Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy 2032 as adopted by Council in 2022.

Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) Transition Plan

Council has set a target date of 1 July 2027 for the introduction of a Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) service in the Hawkesbury.

The NSW Government requires all councils to implement a FOGO kerbside service by 2030 in an effort to reduce the amount of waste going into landfills and reduce carbon emissions. For residents that currently have a garden organics bin, this would mean that, from 1 July 2027, all food and garden waste will be placed in the existing green lidded bins.

Collected food and garden waste would then be processed and converted into a useful, valuable and environmentally-sustainable compost product instead of rotting in landfill, taking up valuable landfill space and producing harmful emissions.

Main features of the plan include:

• Commencement date of 1 July 2027 and a comprehensive community information campaign in the lead up to that date.
• No change to the frequency or size of red bin collections.
• Increase in frequency of green bin collections to weekly.
• The supply of compostable bags and kitchen caddies to assist residents with the collection and disposal of food waste.
• For rural properties that don’t currently receive a green-lidded bin collection service, one will be provided in the lead up to the service commencement, in line with urban properties. However, some properties that are remote and rely on a central bin collection point will not receive this service.

While there is a financial cost to providing this service, particularly as the green bins will require weekly collection, Council has already taken steps with the transition process to reduce the impact on ratepayers in their waste management charge.

The introduction of the FOGO service in 2027 will allow residents to contribute to the environment by reducing their carbon emissions and supporting the creation of a useful and beneficial compost product.

The Waste Management Facility on the Driftway is pivotal to the waste management and resource recovery in the Hawkesbury. Previously planned for landfill closure in 2026. This report, a synthesis of SMEC's analyses on Planning, Collection, Resource Recovery, and Landfill Options, along with a Multi-Criteria Analysis, advises the Council on post-2026 landfill, waste management and resource recovery options for the Waste Management Facility.

The report brings together the information gathered through the analysis conducted by SMEC and presented in the

Tech Memos investigating:

• Land-Use Planning (approvals and controls),
• Garbage Collections,
• Resource Recovery; and
• Landfill Options

This information is brought together with the results of a Multi-Criteria Analysis with the results presented in a decision tree and advice given on the interactions of different decisions.

Based on the site's existing conditions and approvals in addition to the disposal options in the Greater Sydney metropolitan area, SMEC recommends expanding the landfill to the north part of Lot 192 where the existing landfill sits. This could provide between 145,000 to 700,000 m3 of additional airspace, extending the use of this site potentially for several additional years if not more than a decade.

This expansion should be partnered with the development of various resource recovery activities which are recommended in this document with varying levels of priority (Dirty MRF, Repair-Reuse shop, Scrap Metal Recovery, Micro factories, etc.).

If Hawkesbury City Council (HCC) is not able to proceed with the expansion of the landfill to the north, they should construct a transfer station for the transport of kerbside and self-haul waste to alternative waste facilities. HCC is currently partnering with Western Sydney University and Sydney Water, investigating the potential for a local FOGO processing facility at Sydney Water’s Richmond location through the Circular Economy Hub. Assuming this partnership for the processing of FOGO goes ahead, the focus for HCC should be on promoting other resource recovery activities to improve the council recovery of other waste streams that could also add value to the nearby LGAs which will encourage them to bring additional tonnages to this site and improve the financials of each resource recovery initiative eventually built.

In the longer term Council should also seek to expand the landfill west onto Lot 32.

Expanding the landfill in combination with resource recovery will provide the site with decades more life with a local centre for waste management and resource recovery centre providing benefits to the local community and economy, a local centre for disaster waste management and increase opportunities to partner with neighbouring local governments.

These options will preclude the sale of the Driftway properties under the current regulatory conditions as they will serve as a buffer between waste management activities and the local community. The potential sale of these properties was considered but was not supported due to the to the loss of amenities to the community and increased costs of transport if the site were to close and allow the sale.

Hawkesbury Landfill Management Strategy (Beyond 2026)2 without Appendix - Final Report (pdf - 1.57MB)