Towards zero waste

Waverley Council provides both residential and commercial waste services, across rubbish (landfill), recycling and garden waste. A trial of organic waste collection is forthcoming.

Providing waste services is the biggest financial expense of all the functions or activities Council facilitates, costing ratepayers over $22m in the year 2022/23 alone (Financial Statements, page 16).

In 2022/23, over 23,000 tonnes of waste was collected by Council. Given Waverley is a local government area of only 71,000 people, this equates to over 300kg of waste for every person. Only 45.43% of the waste in 2022/23 was recovered through recycling or other means, with Council’s Environment Action Plan setting a target of 80% recovery from all waste streams by 2030 based on 2017/18 levels.

Residential waste financial year 2022/23

Waste Stream Tonnes collectedRecovered/RecycledLandfilled
Kerbside garbage 13,600 1,812 11,788
Kerbside recycling 4,996 4,465 531
Kerbside organics 2,413 2,413 -
Clean up collections – garbage 2,198 1,902 296
Clean up collections – recycling 99 99 0
Drop off stations N/A 168.18 N/A

Combined Council and resident action is critical to reduce waste. Explore how to contribute below.