Bendigo’s landfill nears tipping point as council announces new site

Bendigo’s dump is set to be full by next year but there are plans for its replacement. Find out what they are.

The pressure is on for Bendigo to increase its recycling, as its major landfill nears the end of its life.

The Eaglehawk tip is expected to reach its full capacity in 2023.

Diversion programs in the region are sending everything from hair clippings to batteries and paint to specialist sites to be remade into useful products, including ocean cleaning booms.

Despite being able to divert 14,000 tonnes of green waste each year, the city will still need to find an alternative solution to dumping rubbish once its landfill is forced to close.

A six-hectare site at Huntly, owned by the City of Greater Bendigo, has been earmarked as a potential location for a new composting site.

The site, adjacent to the Bendigo Livestock Exchange, has been predicted to be able to process up to 30,000 tonnes of food and garden organics each year.

There are plans to turn the Eaglehawk landfill into a transfer station when it is full next year.

To boost the recycling push, an educational mural has been unveiled in Chancery Lane, Bendigo, to encourage multicultural communities to minimise waste.

Melbourne artist Yan Yan Candy Ng was on hand to launch the mural on Wednesday morning, along with members of Sustainability Victoria and The LOTE (languages other than English) Agency.

Ng said the colourful images helped communicate recycling messages that could otherwise get lost in translation.

Melbourne artist Yan Yan Candy Ng in front of her recycling mural in Chancery Lane, Bendigo, which was unveiled on Oct 5, 22.

“Sometimes it’s easier to understand an image,” she said.

“Small things add up over the years, I hope the mural will start conversations and inspire sustainable habits.”

The mural is based on the ‘Small Acts, Big Impact’ campaign to encourage people to adopt routines that cut down on waste.

It includes things like taking a reusable water bottle when going out and making a shopping list to avoid over purchasing on groceries.

Kwabena Ansah, head of communities at the LOTE Agency, said there was a knowledge gap that needed to be filled to help everybody reduce and recycle.

“Culturally and linguistically diverse communities have usually been an afterthought, but this time it is changing,” he said.

“The great thing is that Sustainability Victoria has thought about it (the language barrier) at the beginning of this campaign and we have done some research with them.

“It has shaped what we’re doing. And for example, we are doing things in a way that communities like to receive information. It includes putting information on council websites in language as audio options and we’ve seen that it’s been very popular and people are sharing them around the community through things like WhatsApp.”

Information about how to recycle in Bendigo can be found on the council’s website.

To locate the Bendigo salons that have signed up to collect hair clippings to clean our oceans visit the Sustainable Salons website.