What’s in your bin, and where does it go?

There is no AWAY.

There is no convenient place that our garbage disappears to, free from environmental consequences, once we decide we’re done with it. Australians are the second highest generators of waste in the world, producing over 40 million tonnes of garbage every year, so what we do with this stuff really matters! And if every single item that is placed in our bin ends up somewhere…where exactly does it go??

This is one weeks garbage of an average, fairly convenience dependent family of 2 adults (and a dog) which fills a 240 litre bin to 2/3 capacity. It was a little windy when I photographed this- with permission I might add!- so I left what was in plastic bags contained within them. There are a number of recyclable items visible, such as cans, glass jars, recyclable packaging and cardboard, as well as non recyclable plastics, a HEAP of plastic bags and some food (this family has chooks which reduces their food waste). Their weekly waste also includes a recycling bin 2/3 filled with garbage, which contains a number of plastic bags and unrecyclable items that have been added to the incorrect bin.

In 2006-07 each Australian produced a massive 2,100kg of waste, with the average 4 person family producing enough garbage annually to fill a three bedroom home from floor to ceiling! According to the information below from Marrickville Council 79% of this waste is recoverable, however at present the rate of diversion to recycling facilities is just over 50%, up from 36% in 2000. Over a third of the contents of a general waste bin is food, which can easily be diverted from landfill by composting the organic matter either at the source (or feeding to chooks as this family does) or through municipal digestion and composting facilities where available. There is also much to be said for the case against food waste to begin with, as this is a resource that has required large volumes of water and other resources to produce, and is best utilised when eaten!

The other 42% of recoverable bin contents includes a variety of materials which can be reused or recycled, although the technology to do so is often not feasible or available to consumers.

So where does it all go once the garbage truck comes along and takes the waste off our hands?? Well, that really depends on where you live and the waste management facilities that are available in your local area.

The owners of this garbage live in an area where general waste bins are not sorted, and all this garbage- recyclable or not- will go straight to landfill. That’s a great volume of potentially recoverable materials ending up in a hole in the ground- in 2007 21 million tonnes of waste was disposed of in Australian landfill sites. Landfills impact on air, water and soil quality, producing methane gas as organic matter decomposes, in addition to leachate, which is formed when water moves through landfill and becomes contaminated by the waste. This leachate can then contaminate surrounding waterways and soil.

There are a growing number of Alternative Waste Treatment (AWT) facilities within Australia that offer services such as advanced waste sorting, recycling and composting as alternatives to landfills. Some AWT facilities, such as the DiCOM system being built in WA are capable of sorting waste and recycling, reusing or composting the various components, returning the unusable portion to landfill. This process then produces biogas which will power the plant, and promises to divert 75% of waste from landfill. There are other facilities have failed to produce the results promised, or have become incredibly expensive to run, so this is definitely a developing industry.

While strides toward a more sustainable approach to managing our waste are being made, there is a long way to go and landfills are still heavily relied upon for dealing with our garbage. This means that as consumers and waste producers the first and most important thing we can do to to reduce the environmental impact of our waste is to reduce the waste generated in the first place! With a conscious effort to minimise purchases of packaged items, reduce reliance on convenience items and a willingness to change waste creating habits, household garbage can be dramatically reduced.

This is our family’s weekly waste, and a particularly wasteful week it was with a number of out of the ordinary purchases.

The second thing we can do to create positive change is to treat waste as a resource where possible, and make use of it through recycling or reuse rather than ending its productive life in landfill or in the environment. I have noticed that as we’ve sought to minimise waste, many items that I would once have thought of as garbage are now valued and used resources in our home (I value my beautiful recycled spice jars just as much as I do the ghee which came in them).

And finally, where waste cannot be reused or recycled, it should be disposed of in the least environmentally damaging way. This is something that we must rely upon local councils and governments to take responsibility for, but as citizens we always have the opportunity to voice our concern regarding the environmental issues surrounding waste disposal, as well as the power to support politicians and political parties that are willing to work towards positive change.

At the end of the day, we produce waste as a direct result of our lifestyle and consumer choices, and we have a responsibility to take on some sense of ownership over this garbage and what happens once it leaves our home. Perhaps if we begin to become aware of the true environmental and societal impact of our waste we may feel the urgency of this dilemma, as well as the power we have to minimise waste and improve the future environmental outlook.