Waste and recycling, City of Onkaparinga, 2001 – 2006

The City of Onkaparinga has implemented a range of strategies to increase recycling and reduce the amount of rubbish that goes to landfill. Recycling bins were introduced in April 2005 for bottles, cans, plastic containers, cardboard and newspapers. In the five years from 2001/2 to 2005/6, recycling has increased by 7,923 tonnes (213%). Hard waste items are sorted for recyclable scrap metals, with an increase over the five years of 363 tonnes (211%). At the same time domestic waste to landfill has decreased by 9,223 tonnes (19.4%)

Green waste
The City of Onkaparinga introduced a four weekly kerbside green waste collection service in May 2006. In 2006/07 the green waste service achieved:

• a 60% average participation rate (with monthly participation rates in 2006/07 ranging between 50% and 74%)
• a yield of 9,782 tonnes and
• a reduction in the amount disposed to landfill of 5,571 tonnes (based on a comparison with 2005/06).

Green waste yields for 2006/07 are likely to be lower than expected for a typical year due to drought and associated water restrictions, with yields estimated to be down by around 25% across metropolitan Adelaide.