Managing waste and recycling into the future is a challenging task. In mid-2018, the following Councils recognised this and established an alliance. Their goal was to request expressions of interest for future waste disposal and resource recovery services.
- Logan City Council
- Ipswich City Council
- Redland City Council
- Lockyer Valley Regional Council
- Somerset Regional Council.
The alliance represents about a fifth of the waste market in south east Queensland (SEQ).
Following consideration of potential solutions submitted, Logan City Council, Ipswich City Council and Redland City Council remain involved in the joint investigation of establishing a new Materials Recovery Facility to receive, sort and process the contents of the yellow lid recycling bins.
Somerset Regional Council and Lockyer Valley Regional Council have used the process to investigate the individual solutions to recycling.
Benefits of the alliance
The Sub Regional Waste Alliance allows each Council to:
- build on the existing success of being longstanding waste and recycling service providers in the community
- benefit from regional collaboration, including better response to:
- developments in Queensland’s new Waste Strategy
- associated regulatory frameworks
- local industry developments
- plan for significant population growth expected across the sub-region
- understand community sentiment and engagement across the waste and recycling industry
- show community leadership and stewardship
- identify opportunities for new infrastructure, aligning these across all levels of government, waste and recycling policy
- create new jobs and develop the broader economy within the sub-region
- strengthen partnerships with others to build a solid business case. Incentives for resource recovery projects might include:
- landfill levy
- associated federal and state grants programs.
