Published on Wednesday, 29 March 2023 at 9:23:26 AM

UPDATED 4/4/2023

In response to feedback received, the Shire is planning on making some changes to the Commercial fees that were due to commence on the 1^st April 2023. Until the details of the changes are decided it was considered prudent to revoke the fees rather than just change the commencement date.

At this stage there has been no further Council decision regarding the fees however the intent is to workshop the issue with Council and present a report to the April ordinary meeting for formal resolution.

At the March 2023 ordinary meeting, Council resolved to adopt specific fees for commercial waste. These fees will come into effect from the 1^st of April 2023. The new commercial waste fees for the Bridgetown Waste Facility have been introduced to:

1. Improve diversion rates of material from landfill.

Reducing the amount of material ending up in landfill is required to help maximize the operational life of the facility and work towards 2030 national waste recovery targets.

2. Extend the lifespan of the current landfill site.

With increasing regulation and compliance requirements surrounding new landfill approvals, it is imperative to appropriately manage the existing facility to maximize its operational life to continue providing a cost-effective service to local residents for domestic waste.

3. Improve site cost recovery.

Waste services provided by the Shire are provided on cost recovery principles and fees are determined on this basis. This avoids undue cost burden to rate payers.

There has been no change to any fees for the general public and the existing fee of $42/m³ has been retained but now only applies to non-commercial bulk waste. The new fees are as follows and are only applicable to waste presented to the site by a commercial business.

• Sorted General Commercial (incl. C&D) waste: $63.00 / m³ (12 tokens)

Sorted general waste is waste not containing any materials that would be accepted at the facility for recycling or repurposing (i.e. sorted waste has had all material that could be diverted from landfill removed. See list below).

• Unsorted General Commercial (incl. C&D) waste: $126.00 / m³ (24 tokens)

Unsorted general waste is the most typical currently received and contains general waste mixed with significant amounts of material that can be diverted from landfill (See list below).

Materials that Bridgetown Waste Facility currently diverts from landfill include:

• Household recyclables (bottles, cans, etc)
• Green waste
• Scrap metal
• Construction and demolition wastes (such as rubble)
• Clean fill
• Cardboard
• Electronic waste (e-waste)
• White goods
• Mattresses
• Tyres
• Containers of oil
• Batteries – vehicle and household
• Fluorescent light globes

Shire staff investigate new recycling streams on an ongoing basis so this list may be expanded from time to time as new options become available.

FAQ

What does the change mean for a typical skip bin?

Previously a 5 m³ skip bin would have been charged a $210 total disposal fee regardless of the materials contained in the skip bin. The new fee for unsorted commercial waste (waste mixed with divertible material) is $630. While this is a significant increase, the intention of the higher fee is to encourage new practices at the source. The charge for sorted commercial waste (divertible material removed prior to disposal to landfill) would be $315. The divertible material removed may be accepted free of charge (depending on the type) which further reduces the overall disposal cost. Consider the following possible scenarios:

Scenario a)    5 m³ of waste consisting of 20% scrap metal, 20% rubble, 10% cardboard, and 50% general waste.

If this material is presented mixed and unsorted and all goes to landfill, a $630 charge would be incurred. If scrap metal, rubble, and cardboard are first placed (at no charge) in the appropriate disposal locations at the waste site this would reduce the amount of waste in the bin to 2.5 m3, attracting a fee of just $157.50.

Scenario b) 5 m³ of waste consisting of 80% green waste and 20% general waste.

If this material is presented mixed, then the entire load must go to landfill for a $630 charge. There is no charge for uncontaminated green waste so if that is appropriately presented then 80% of the waste is free. That leaves just 1 m3 of sorted waste for landfill attracting a fee of just $63.

Why doesn’t the Shire sort the waste onsite before it goes to landfill?

Unfortunately, this is a very labor intensive and expensive process and the cost of undertaking this would need to be passed on to the public. Realistically it is not practical to sort the waste once it is presented mixed so the best approach is for this to occur at the source.

With the higher fees, won’t the Shire have extra funds to sort the waste?

The new fee structure is intended to reduce waste going to landfill so ideally the volumes attracting the full charge will not be large. Ultimately minimal increase in revenue is expected.

I am a ratepayer using a commercial company to take a bulk load of household waste to the tip for me. What are my options?

Talk to your current supplier, or alternate suppliers servicing the district, about possible options for separating waste streams. If you have been issued a tip pass, then this can be used as a payment method for any site disposal fee. It would be worthwhile discussing potential options for use of this pass with your supplier.

Why have the new fees been introduced so quickly?

This year it became apparent that the current landfill cell was filling far more quickly than forecast. Figures showed that this was due to an increase in commercial waste at the site with such waste accounting for 40% of landfill. Given the lengthy timeframe and overall uncertainty surrounding approval of new landfill cells, it was determined there was an unacceptable risk the current cell could be filled before a new cell was available. For this reason, it was decided that immediate action needed to be taken.

How do the new fees compare to other South West facilities?

Fee structures vary between facilities with some not having specific fees for commercial waste. Such facilities account for the low end of the below ranges:

Sorted Commercial waste                           $40/m³ to $90/m³

Unsorted Commercial waste                       $40/m³ to $150/m³

Previously, the Shires fee of $42/m³ applied to all waste, placing our charge right at the lower end of the range. This fee has been retained but now only applies to non-commercial bulk waste. The new fees for commercial waste better reflect the actual cost and are comparable with other facilities.

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