Sydney will run out of landfill space by 2030 without urgent intervention as the NSW Labor government warns that red bins may no longer be collected because the rubbish will have nowhere to go.
Greater Sydney is on the brink of a waste crisis as recycling rates stagnate across the state. This has prompted the government to look for immediate fixes, including mandating that all homes and businesses have food and organic waste bins, better known as FOGO.
Landfill in Sydney: it’s going to be a problem.Credit: NSW government
Environment Minister Penny Sharpe will detail the dire waste future facing Sydney at the NSW Circular Economy Summit on Friday. She will warn that without critical action, residents could be forced to pay for their waste to be transported to regional areas or interstate for disposal.
Transporting waste outside Sydney or NSW would also significantly slow down the construction industry as demolition waste costs would rise, Sharpe said.
The government was urgently developing NSW’s first waste infrastructure plan, she said, to prepare the facilities NSW needed as well as find ways to reduce the waste that goes to landfill.
In 2023-24, NSW generated 22.4 million tonnes of waste, recycling 14.7 million tonnes and sending 7.7 million tonnes of potentially recoverable material to landfill.
Without a quick fix, red bins face an uncertain future.Credit: Louise Kennerley
As well as reviewing the waste levy, which is payable by landfill operators and designed to encourage recycling, the government will legislate mandates to phase in source-separated FOGO waste.
Many councils already have FOGO bins across the state, in which residents put food scraps and garden waste. Food scraps are estimated to make up about 40 per cent of the contents of most red bins, which go to landfill.
The government will also finalise its NSW Plastics Plan to take plastics out of circulation.
A major contributor to the landfill crisis is that recycling rates in NSW have stagnated at about 65 per cent since 2015-16, well short of the 80 per cent target by 2030.
Sharpe took a swipe at the former government, which she said was briefed on the looming landfill crisis but failed to act.
“Sydney is running out of landfill space and our recycling rates have stagnated. We are at a point that if we don’t take urgent action – our red bins won’t be able to be collected in a few years,” Sharpe said.
“Not all the decisions we need to make will be easy or even popular – but I’d rather make the hard decisions than have bins that can’t be collected.”
NSW Environment Protection Authority chief executive Tony Chappel said NSW was “at a critical juncture”.
“We must act now to ensure our infrastructure keeps pace with growing waste volumes, and to maximise recycling and recovery efforts. Through a mix of innovative projects, strategic investments and collaboration, we can turn this challenge into an opportunity,” Chappel said.
“By working together across government, industry and communities, we’re building a future where waste becomes a resource, not a burden.”
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