Glass returned to recycling bins in Ipswich after being sent to landfill for three years

After a three year ban Ipswich residents will once again be able to recycle glass in their yellow-lidded bins.

Ipswich residents can now dispose of glass in their recycling bins after it was sent straight to landfill for three years.

It comes as Mayor Teresa Harding warned an extra $80 to $90 could be added to rates bills next year due to the state government’s waste levy rebate payments ending.

A key component of the council’s new 10-year Ipswich Resource Recovery Strategy was allowing glass to be put back in yellow-tip bins after it was banned in 2018.

The council will ramp up a promotional campaign as part of efforts to meet bold targets.

The council adopted a new 10-year waste plan in June.

Ipswich generated 107,700 tonnes of rubbish during the 2019-20 financial year, with just under a quarter of that able to be recycled.

By 2031, the amount of waste thrown out by residents a year in the fastest-growing city in Queensland is expected to be more than 175,000 tonnes.

The city’s new strategy has set goals to reduce its generation of household waste by 25 per cent, divert waste from landfill by a total of 95 per cent and increase recycling of local waste by 70 per cent – all by 2050.

Over the past five years there has been a decrease in the overall resource recovery rate in the city from 32 per cent in 2015-16 to 23 per cent in 2019-20.

In 2018, the council banned glass being disposed in yellow-tip bins to reduce high contamination rates of paper and cardboard to meet the requirements of a recycling contract.

A recent survey conducted by the council found 90 per cent of respondents wanted to see it returned.

Glass collection points in Brassall, Churchill, Riverview and Rosewood in place over the past three years will remain.

Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said residents wanted glass returned to yellow-tip bins.

The more than 300 tonnes of glass collected at these facilities only accounted for about nine per cent of all glass collected by the city since 2018.

Cr Harding said the glass, which was being sent to landfill, will now go to the council’s recycling contractors in Brisbane to be used to make new glass bottles and jars and sand substitutes in roads and drainage.

“We found (contamination is) not really an issue,” she said.

“Our Resource Recovery Strategy clearly outlined a lot of figures to show that wasn’t an issue for us.

“As far as I know it’s been going to landfill.”

The city’s main tip in Riverview is more than 30-years-old and had about 170,000 visitors last year, up from 142,000 in 2018.

It is “experiencing significant capacity constraints” according to council officers as it has not had a capacity upgrade since it was built.

The Rosewood tip is more than 25-years old.

The council intends to build a brand new recycling and refuse centre by 2025.

The State Government’s waste levy, introduced in 2019, is $85 per tonne for general household waste but offset by a rebate paid by the government to the council to protect ratepayers.

Ipswich generated 107,700 tonnes of rubbish during the 2019-20 financial year.

Cr Harding said the rebate payments to the council were set to end next year and this cost would be passed on to ratepayers.

“We do receive 42 per cent of the waste that’s collected in Queensland,” she said.

“We’re working really hard to be smart and take advantage of the economic opportunities that provides while still maintaining the liveability for people.

“I think (the waste levy ending) is really disappointing for the people of Ipswich.

“It will mean an extra $80 to $90 added to their rates bill. When it was introduced the state government did say that no households would be impacted by this.

“We’ll be continuing, as well as the other councils in Queensland, to lobby the State Government to extend that.

“It’s unfair that the residents of Ipswich … are forced to pay this.”

Read more stories by Lachlan McIvor here.

Originally published as Glass returned to recycling bins in Ipswich after being sent to landfill for three years