Michaela Meade
Whittlesea council has adopted a rethinking waste plan, taking a “visionary” new approach to managing the municipality’s waste.
The council’s Rethinking Waste Plan 2021-2030 aims to guide the community towards lowering the amount of waste sent to landfill, and help the it transition to a circular economy.
Council’s acting infrastructure and environment director, Nick Mazzarella, said the plan will involve waste avoidance, resource recovery and environmental protection.
“Curbside recycling will have a greater focus on the separation of recyclable material to maximize resource recovery,” he said.
“This is specifically with the introduction of a separate collection for glass recycling.
“The plan will also implement education programs.
“The [plan] is also earmarked for a comprehensive midterm review in 2026, as well as an end of term review in 2030.”
Chair administrator Lydia Wilson said the plan was “exceptional”.
“It’s a visionary plan, and it’s a new approach to the way that we manage waste across the municipality,” she said.
“There’s been a lot of really amazing community consultation and engagement activities… it’s really generated some amazing ideas and feedback.”
The council will provide copies of the plan to Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio and the municipality’s local members of Parliament.
