Recycling events 'cost too much'

Gosford Council staff have recommended that recycling facilities not be provided at future community events, following a trial at the Woy Woy Australia Day celebrations, despite it being "reasonably successful" in promoting recycling.

A report to council found that only 101kg of recyclables was recovered for an expenditure of $8700, and of this nine kilograms was contaminated with non-recyclable matter.

"Placement of unmanaged recycling bins at smaller public events should not be considered given the contamination management issues, recycling returns and the costs for setup and servicing," the report stated.

"Having regard to the low quantity of recyclables collected at the trial event relative to the high future costs for the provision of the service, it is recommended that council not proceed with public place recycling at any future community events held by council."

The report found that the recycling trial that involved both staff time and the provision of external contractor services costing about $8700.

Only 101 kg of recyclables was recovered from the recycling bins, compared to 320 kg of waste recovered from the general waste bins, in which 61 per cent of recyclables were found.

The report stated that the cost of operating next year's Australia Day celebrations at Woy Woy, Gosford and Wagstaff as Waste Wise events would be $10,400.

"Any continuation of council sponsored best practice Waste Wise events would need to be very selective in terms of ensuring that large crowd numbers are guaranteed to ensure the opportunity of a reasonable recycling volume to justify the cost," the council report stated.

According to the report, the waste management costs for the Australia Day event which was did not support recycling would have been $574.

Gosford Council has called for the advice of the Reduce Recycle Reuse Task Group of its Environment Committee before deciding whether to provide recycling facilities at future community events.

Council agenda CIT.17, 1 Jul 2008