Hunter Regional Waste Strategy Group Minutes - Meeting 14 – 28 August 2015 Council

Attendees

Name Council / Organisation

Michael Neville Hunter Council’s Environment Division

Meredith Laing Hunter Council’s Environment Division

Michelle Harrower

John Wisniewski Muswellbrook Shire Council

Mark Johnson

Michael Alexander Cessnock City Council

David Simm Maitland City Council

Aaron Malloy

Stefanie King Lake Macquarie City Council

Apologies

Darren North City of Newcastle

Alice Howe Lake Macquarie City Council

Coleen Pinkerton Council

Angelika Hesse Singleton Council

Joann Polsen (leave) Muswellbrook Shire Council

Paul Minett Council

Guests

Ravi Naidu Director Global Centre for Environmental Remediation – CRC CARE Newcastle

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Action Log and follow-up from May meeting Action Who Date due Status Distribute minutes Regional Coordinator Complete Complete Conduct individual council visits to Regional Coordinator July – dates Complete review initial Data Survey analysis Regional Program TBC Manager Reconvene Data Working Group Regional Coordinator July – dates September - date TBC Regional Program TBC Manager Gaps in data to be provided prior to Relevant councils July Complete July meetings Provide update on current WLRM All Councils 8 July Complete grant status or any inaccuracies in table Update WLRM grant table and Regional Coordinator 15 July No update – table include grant projects descriptions accurate apart from CRC education funding

Councils to provide comment and All Councils 26 June No responses. Letter feedback on draft Resource submitted to EPA Recovery Asset Register (RRAR) requesting Hunter infrastructure map developed for background data. Data EPA received.

Provide council feedback to KMH Regional Coordinator 15 July N/A Environmental and EPA on the KMH process complete RRAR map as part of their consultation process

Follow up on status of proposed Regional Coordinator June Update provided EPA organics workshop

Develop a draft letter re feedback Regional Coordinator 15 July Held over pending on current status of recycled regional consultation organics market development – and SB presentation to circulate to members for comment Directors Forum

Continue to liaise with IEBSN and Regional Coordinator Ongoing Presentation at advise on opportunities for further previous WSG collaboration with councils to divert Meeting in July with C&I waste Amiterre Ag Solutions

Liaise with Councils for ‘snapshot’ Regional Coordinator Ongoing Commencing late 2015 photos and information Gap analysis of sustainable Regional Coordinator Information Received policies from procurement policies received EPA – Analysis TBC

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Item 1 – Welcome, introductions and apologies

 Apologies were received from Darren North (tCoN), Angelika Hesse (SC), Alice Howe (LMCC), Paul Minett (DSC), Coleen Pinkerton (UHSC) and Joann Polsen (MSC)

Item 2 – Presentation – Professor Ravi Naidu  Ravi delivered a comprehensive presentation on the Global Centre for Environmental and its subsidiary organisation - the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), which has recently relocated to Newcastle from Adelaide. Further information http://www.crccare.com/  Given the potential needs for environmental remediation across the region, Ravi is likely to also present at the GMAC meeting in November 2015. Actions: 1. Regional Coordinator to continue to liaise with CRC CARE and investigate opportunities for further collaboration between CRC CARE and regional councils regarding contaminated lands and associated remediation issues

Item 3 – Council Round table – Achievements 2014/15 and Key Priorities for 2015/16

 Each Council presented their main achievements for 2014/15 and the key priorities for 2015/16. City of Newcastle  Summerhill Cell 9 construction underway  Site development - WLRM funded projects underway include: transfer station expansion; major resource recovery grant; dirty MRF (100,000 tonnes); EOI for organics processing facility shortlisted and CRC planned  Council Waste Strategy underway – consultants appointed – Alicia coordinating  Restructure – several units to be put back together and located at Summerhill Lake Macquarie  Increased resource recovery to approximately 40% with introduction of organics (green- lidded) bin  1 million Kgs of e-waste collected  Commercial audit conducted – October 2014  RID Squad expanding to 6 x full members and investigating illegal dumping near the Awaba facility  Food Waste Avoidance project completed  Preparation underway for FOGO collections – use of Mesh Consulting (Melbourne)  FOGO collections planned to commence around April 2017  Draft LMCC Local Waste Strategy is currently on exhibition  Priorities include: RID Squad progress, Public Place Recycling; Draft Waste Strategy finalisation and implementation; scrap metal recycling (regional contract); Super St sales;

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community gardens and home composting; continued rollout of 360 litre (yellow-lidded) recycling bins and Awaba site - sewer and leachate controls

Singleton  New CRC opened 8 August  Successful rollout of compost and water wise gardens program  DA submitted for new education centre at waste facility – aim to be constructed by December 2015  Waste and recycling collection services expanded  Organics collection a priority

Port Stephens  Two months into new waste and recycling collection and disposal contract with Suez  New bin rollout - picked up 500 services not previously in the system – revenue up  Rollout 360 litre bins – approx. 800 ordered by households so far  Sorting bulky waste – sorted internally – use of specific truck with approximately 45% recovery levels  Finished April storm clean up – approx. cost was $4.5 m and 8,000 tonnes of material collected ($1.2 m back from EPA?)  Sita / Suez have extended the processing contract – current end date June 2019 – plan to extend for 8-10 years with new capital and prices  PSC to stay with the 2 bin system  WARR data – 58% kerbside and 62% overall  Potential future expansion of the Suez AWT site with adjacent development not approved  Public place recycling – good result at Fingal Bay with only 3% contamination o This issue prompted further discussion on public place and event recycling – potential for further work during 2015-16 – regionally consistent approach with configuration and placement etc.  PSC CRC being extended to a Resource Recovery Hub – including mattresses, tyres and extended sorting area Maitland  EIS and detailed design (GHD) for transfer station and administration centre at Mt Vincent. Final draft due September – plan to commence building in Jan 2016 and open mid-2017. Fully internally funded.  Process covers landfill and processing costs and capacity – minimising waste to landfill extracting bulk haul materials and shredding.  Current 2 year landfill capacity at the site – focus is transitioning the site from landfill to RR  DA for the CRC – early 2016  Joint tender for collection and processing of organics (with Cessnock and Singleton) was reviewed after non-complying responses and industry feedback (risk and tender structure)

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 Tender closes October  Separate tender now issued for processing alone – 14 year period, with tender for collection to come as soon as practical (2 x 7 years – 7 x organics then 7 x FOGO)  Negotiated with EPA to retain grant for purchase of organics bins Cessnock  Collaborative tender as above  Planning for landfill extension – 20 year extended capacity a staged process  Transfer facility at the front-end (SVRC) is pivotal to success  Move to a more managed facility (final drawings) o Relocation of reuse centre (process- EOI-tender-new operator) o Development of transfer facility (including CRC) with scrap metals at the front end  FOGO collections planned for year 8 of the new organics contract  HRR mattress tender has gone to Mission who plan to build a new facility by November 2016  Wise on Waste program has commenced in food businesses, and is being implemented by Council’s EHO (Abi) – 30 x businesses signed up  360 litre (yellow-lidded) recycling bins proving popular with the community – over 1000 distributed. $25 changeover fee but no extra collection cost o Last audit in 2014 showed that recyclables in the residual bin had decreased from 23% down to 17%  RID Squad has expanded to include Gosford, Singleton and Muswellbrook as full members (with a shared officer for SC and MSC). Lots of recent media for RID Squad.  Postie Bike Grand Prix event in October will be a Waste Wise Event

Muswellbrook  APC have been engaged for a landfill marketing strategy / business case development  Geotechnical work done on site  Local Waste Strategy at final draft stage – developed by HCED and Jacobs  Obtained CRC funding – in final planning phase  Aiming for better source separation on site – need more resources – focus on metals and wood waste o Interested in who other councils use e.g. Delta Electricity wood waste and what they will accept

Item 4 – Presentation on Regional Strategy Implementation Achievements

 The Regional Coordinator and Director Environment outlined the major achievements during the first 12 months of Hunter WARR Strategy implementation (2014/15)  A document summarizing these achievements was distributed

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 The presentation is attached with these minutes

Actions 1. Regional Waste Coordinator to provide a copy of the presentation

Item 5 – Strategic Planning Session - Regional Strategy Priority deliverables for 15/16 This session was delivered jointly by the Regional Waste Coordinator and Director Environment. Categories of potential deliverables for 2014/15 included: . Regional BWRF . Procurement/Joint Contracts . Staff Capacity Building . Internal Processes & Operations . Recycling / Resource Recovery . Litter . Illegal Dumping . Data & Systems Analysis . Community Education . Business Engagement . Infrastructure . Contractual opportunities

Regional BWRF projects  The table of regional projects submitted to the EPA in March was reviewed. Projects and funding had been broadly agreed to by the group at the February WSG meeting in Singleton. (Also see PPT presentation)  Attendees gave approval for these projects to proceed as planned.  Please forward any potential topics for the Regional Capacity Building Program through for consideration.  Funding is available for legal advice on collaborative contractual arrangements  NB regional education campaigns are funded through this stream, while staff are funded through the Regional Coordination Support package. Regional Procurement  The Final Draft of the Regional Scrap Metal tender will be distributed for feedback during mid September. The planned start date is 1 January 2016 (subject to possible amendment).  Letters of participation have been distributed to all councils during the week commencing 7 September.  Funds ($45,000) have been allocated through the Regional BWRF to investigate regional software possibilities for enhanced data management.

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 Other potential opportunities for collaborative procurement processes include: shared organics shredder or screening plant/costs; concrete crushing; mattress recycling (build on HRR contract) and waste and recycling audits.  Interest was shown by the group in regional contracts for the collection of problem wastes – this will be an issue once current CRC funding ends. Mobile problem waste collection opportunities should be investigated Staff Capacity Building  Please forward any potential topics or ideas for the Regional Capacity Building Program through for consideration.  This project can cover either professional forums or targeted training courses.  Landfill operator training was seen as being of good value, and/or sharing learnings of what happens behind the scenes at different council facilities. Internal processes and Operations  The promotion of good practice operational activities being undertaken in the region – see presentation for suggestions  Potential to investigate a forum to bring waste managers, asset managers, contracts managers and project managers together Recycling / Resource Recovery • Market development initiatives such as the EPA recycled organics forum (scheduled for 16 September) will be pursued • A regional disaster plan and or a more coordinated approach to allocating available resources to disaster responses and specific waste management implications should be developed. Broad range of issues including variability in facility size and acceptance of materials e.g. dead animals • Regional strategy or campaign focussed on public place recycling and waste wise event management was discussed. The potential to streamline regional processes will be investigated further • All HRR members accept standard materials in recycling • Work with Councils to promote Bin Trim to businesses e.g. Cessnock • Investigate promoting what’s unique in the . Showcase MRF, AWT and landfill capacity – opportunity for field days and potential to invite elected reps and senior management from councils • Investigate mobile EPS recycling – link to Hunter Industrial Ecology project (e.g. Hunter Pods – link to end user) – need to overcome issues of cost, power requirements and storage Litter  EPA has indicated they will soon offer funding for the development of Regional Litter Plans. These will incorporate specific campaigns and may need to start at a basic level with collation and mapping of public place infrastructure, collation of costs to councils, current management procedures and examples of successful litter programs.  There is scope to collaborate with both MidWaste and Central Coast Councils with a water / marine debris / catchment management focus – this could link coastal and marine issues with creeks, rivers and stormwater systems. Some councils already run programs with Take- 3 branding – this could mesh well with Small Acts Big Change – Take 3.

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 This also opens opportunities to engage with specific user groups who use the waterways and surrounds.  Guidelines will be distributed for discussion when they are received from EPA Illegal Dumping • Regional Coordinator to request more regular updates on RID progress • Invite RID Coordinator, Rob Robertson, to present on RID progress • Nick Jones to be invited provide tour or update on PSC illegal dumping model – could be part of regional capacity building process / forum • Any plans for a Hunter Regional ID forum (or similar) needs to consider EPA organised events such as RID Forum on South Coast in October Data & Systems Analysis  The planned process to continue refined data collection, collation and analysis activities was outlined  Individual council visits during July were agreed to have been very useful in gaining shared understandings of data management processes  14/15 s88 reports and annual WARR survey due to be collated during September  Data Working Group to be reconvened late September / Early October  Investigation of regional software to commence ASAP Community Education  Current education project schedule April 2015 to June 2016 was discussed  New TVCs on plastic recycling issues are airing on NBN this month  Juliana in close ongoing collaboration with HWEG  Latest HWEG minutes attached Business Engagement • Continue support for BinTrim grants – E.g. Cessnock / Projectivity, Wild Blue Global, Cross Connections • Love Food Hate Waste grant – Potential to expand on work done with TAFE – University of Newcastle & TAFE curriculum in relevant courses Infrastructure • Graphs of current landfill capacity and major contract timelines were discussed • The mapping provided on the NSW Infrastructure analysis – KMH was viewed again • Western has developed a regional infrastructure analysis based on background data from this study • EPA has provided Hunter region background data which would enable a similar analysis to be undertaken

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Actions 1. Regional Waste Coordinator (RWC) to access and review pre-existing documents that have been developed for consistency in PPR and public event waste management. Delineation necessary between events and permanent public place bins. Refer to EPA Waste Wise Events Guide - http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/resources/warrlocal/070056-waste-wise-events.pdf and EPA Better Practice Guide to Public Place Recycling - http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/resources/warrlocal/050156-public-place-recycle-guide.pdf) 2. RWC to collate case studies and hard data 3. RWC to disseminate Regional Litter Plan guidelines when released 4. RWC to investigate illegal dumping information sharing opportunities 5. RWC and councils to assess needs regarding regional capacity building program 6. RWC to refine annual workplan based on existing strategy priorities and feedback from this meeting 7. RWC and councils to identify good practice operational activities suitable for promotion and transferability 8. HCED staff to keep councils appraised of progress on regional organics forum 9. Councils to provide feedback on RO questions distributed by HC Director of Environment on 25 August

Item 7 – General Business  It was agreed by the group that the tour to the Coal Road Waste Facility would not be held  The date of the next WSG meeting was confirmed  Council staff agreed that aggregated regional C&I and C&D data could be released for the work being undertaken by APC for Muswellbrook Council  EPA regional organics forum proposed for Wednesday 16 September  The need for a regional plan which addresses specific waste related emergency responses and disaster relief was flagged (see also resource recovery section in minutes)  Samantha Cross (Cross Connections) has developed a soft plastics recycling program for schools – Plastic Police

Next Meeting(s):

 The next WSG meeting will be held on Friday 20 November at Summerhill Waste Management Facility, with a site tour also offered in the afternoon.  The next HWEG meeting will be held on Thursday 12 November. Venue – Hunter Councils – Bonville Ave Thornton.  The most recent HWEG minutes are attached, as per the Terms of Reference stipulation.

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