Indicator assessment
CONDITION
TREND
DATA QUALITY
There are no apparent trends indicating long-term changes in the total amount of waste generated, recovered or landfilled. The annual resource recovery rate is generally good at around 75% to 80% of the total waste generated, with recovery rates improving in recent years. Municipal solid waste accounts for the highest proportion of waste sent to landfill and its generation appears to be stable despite the annual population increase in the ACT. The lack of comprehensive and consistent waste data, and high annual variations in waste produced, makes it difficult to assess the overall status of waste in the ACT.
CONDITION
Environmental condition is healthy across the ACT, OR pressure likely to have negligible impact on environmental condition/human health.
Environmental condition is neither positive or negative and may be variable across the ACT, OR pressure likely to have limited impact on environmental condition/human health.
Environmental condition is under significant stress, OR pressure likely to have significant impact on environmental condition/ human health.
Data is insufficient to make an assessment of status and trends.
TREND
DATA QUALITY
Adequate high-quality evidence and high level of consensus.
Limited evidence or limited consensus.
Evidence and consensus too low to make an assessment.
Assessments of status, trends and data quality are not appropriate for the indicator.
Introduction
For information on this indicator see Background: Human Settlements.
Waste generated in Queanbeyan is processed at ACT recycling facilities and deposited in ACT landfills. Consequently, the waste data reported here includes both the ACT and Queanbeyan. Waste taken to landfill outside the ACT is only available from 2021–22 onwards. This means that the data reported understates the actual volume of waste sent to landfill for other years reported.
Fire at the ACT Materials Recovery Facility
The ACT Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) was one of the largest in Australia, processing up to 60,000 tonnes of recyclable materials per year. This included materials collected in the ACT from yellow household bins as well as for six NSW regional councils.
On 26 December 2022, a fire caused extensive and irreparable damage to the MRF plant. Alternative recycling arrangements, including the diversion of recyclable waste to an interstate MRF, has been required.
Whilst the alternative arrangements have been successful to ensure no service disruptions to ACT household recycling collections, the need to temporarily transport recyclable materials interstate has implications for both the financial and environmental costs of the ACT’s waste recovery program.
A new MRF will be built on the same site and will have improved technologies providing better sorting capabilities and an increased processing capacity (up to 115,000 tonnes per year) to meet recycling needs from a growing population. The new facility will also increase resource recovery, creating higher quality recycled outputs and reducing the amount of waste ending up in landfill.
Total waste
The data presented for this indicator excludes the impacts of the Mr Fluffy program on the ACT’s waste trends. Between 2015–16 to 2017–18, the ACT’s resource recovery rate was significantly impacted by the Mr Fluffy program which involves the buyback and demolition of houses containing loose fill asbestos. Whilst waste from the Mr Fluffy program has continued to be generated up to 2022–23, the impact has been low since 2018–19 with the majority of the program completed. As at March 2023, a total of 1,010 out of the 1,029 residential properties identified as affected by loose fill asbestos insulation have been demolished and remediated. It is anticipated that the Mr Fluffy program will conclude in 2024. More information on the impacts of the Mr Fluffy program on the ACT’s waste trends can be found in the 2019 ACT State of the Environment Report.
Total waste generation, waste to landfill and resources recovered are highly variable in the ACT with changes mostly occurring in response to specific activity from the construction and demolition sector, and from green waste. The annual total waste generated in the ACT between 2013–14 and 2022–23 ranged from around 844,000 tonnes to 1.21 million tonnes, with total waste levels higher from 2018–19 to 2022–23 than the previous five years (Figure 14). However, longer term data suggest no consistent trend in waste generation over time. Over the same period, waste to landfill ranged from 20% to 37% of the total waste generated and resources recovered ranged from 63% to 80%. With the exception of 2016–17 which included an increase in landfill from a leachate dam excavation at the Mugga Lane landfill, the rate of resources recovered has been between 73% and 80%. Resource recovery rates have also been higher from 2018–19 to 2022–23 than the previous five years.
Figure 14: Waste generation and management, and the percentage of resources recovered (right axis) in the ACT, 2013–14 to 2022–23.
Data sourced from: Transport Canberra and City Services
The high resource recovery rate reduces pressure on the ACT’s landfill capacity and enables the reuse of recyclable materials. However, some of the ACT’s private businesses send waste interstate to be landfilled. In 2021–22, nearly 73,800 tonnes were landfilled interstate, and 71,500 tonnes in 2022-23, around 6% to 7% of the total waste generated in each year.
Per capita waste
Waste generation and management per person is an important measure for assessing trends in waste practices and behaviours. For example, results in per capita assessments can demonstrate improvements in recycling and consumer awareness, as well as improved industry standards in packaging practices. Such changes can be masked by total waste assessments which are more closely aligned to population increases.
Results for per capita resource recovery, landfill and total waste also show the same variation in response to specific activity from the construction and demolition sector and green waste, with longer term data showing no consistent trend over time. Between 2013–14 and 2022–23, total per capita waste ranged from 1.87 tonnes per person to 2.56 tonnes per person. As for total waste generation, the per capita percentage of resources recovered ranged from 63% to 80%. Per capita resource recovery was also higher from 2018–19 to 2022–23 than for the previous five years.
Figure 15: Per capita waste generation and percentage of resources recovered (right axis) in the ACT, 2013–14 to 2022–23.
Data sourced from: Transport Canberra and City Services.
The high per capita resource recovery rate is vital for future waste management in the ACT. However, further reductions in per capita waste generation and increases in resource recovery rate will be required to offset future population growth and to limit the burden on landfill in the ACT.
Waste to landfill by sector
Municipal solid waste (including household waste) accounts for the highest proportion of the waste sent to landfill, followed by commercial and industrial waste (Figure 16). From 2017–18 to 2022–23, municipal solid waste contributed between 47% and 59% of the waste sent to landfill. The amount of municipal solid waste increased in 2020–21 and 2021–22, before falling again in 2022–23; this increase is likely because of COVID-19 restrictions and working from home arrangements. With the exception of the COVID-19 impacts on waste generation, there is no apparent trend in the generation of municipal solid waste.
Figure 16: Waste sent to landfill by sector, 2017–18 to 2022–23.
Data sourced from: Transport Canberra and City Services.
Commercial and industrial waste contributed between 36% and 47% of the total waste sent to landfill between 2017–18 to 2022–23. Construction and demolition varied widely over the same period, accounting for between just 3% to 17% of the total waste sent to landfill. This is to be expected due to the high dependence on specific activity from the construction and demolition sector.
One of the priorities for waste management is to reduce the amount of organics sent to landfill. This may require improved recycling behaviours and/or changes in the consumption of goods and services leading to a decline in household and commercial and industrial organic waste.
NEPM compliance
There are two National Environment Protection Measures (NEPM) related to waste:
- Movement of Controlled Waste between States and Territories NEPM: provides a means of tracking the movement of controlled waste between states and territories to minimise the potential for adverse impacts associated with the movement of controlled waste on human health and the environment.
- Used Packaging Materials NEPM: aims to reduce environmental degradation arising from the disposal of used packaging and to conserve virgin materials.
The ACT must report compliance with these measures to the National Environment Protection Council. Up to and including 2022–23, the ACT was found to comply with both waste NEPMs.
In September 2020, the Waste Management and Resource Recovery (Environment Protection — Used Packaging Materials) Code of Practice 2020 came into force as a code of practice established under the Waste Act to give legislative force to the National Environment Protection (Used Packaging Materials) Measure in the ACT.
The introduction of the Code of Practice meets the ACT’s obligations under the Used Packaging Materials NEPM and allows the ACT Government to regulate non-compliant brand owners. The ACT has also taken significant steps to reduce plastic waste through the Plastic Reduction Act 2021. Banned single-use plastics include drink stirrers, cutlery, straws, expanded polystyrene containers for serving food and beverages, cotton buds with plastic sticks and oxo-degradable plastics. The ACT Container Deposit Scheme supports the recovery of beverage containers in the ACT.
Data gaps
- Data is required on the level of resource recovery for each waste sector.
- Data is currently unavailable for the type of waste exported to other jurisdictions.
- The lack of comprehensive and consistent waste data makes it difficult to assess waste trends in the ACT. This has implications for the review of current policy effectiveness and the development of future policies, programs and infrastructure.
- Changes to regulatory arrangements to ensure tracking of waste through to its final destination and to implement mandatory reporting need to be developed to achieve the required quality of data.
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