USC waste management system wins council award

The University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), which has begun rolling out a new waste management system, has won its category of the Sunshine Coast Council’s inaugural Good Recycler awards, held recently at the council’s launch of a recycle market at the Buderim Resource Recovery Centre.

USC Pro Vice-Chancellor for Corporate Services Bernard Lillis (left) receives the Good Recycler award from Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson.

USC won the Institution category of the awards for its multiple bin system across the Sippy Downs campus and the introduction of a large composting machine for organic materials. USC Pro Vice-Chancellor (Corporate Services) Bernard Lillis said the waste management system is set to reduce its waste to landfill by about 75% by the time rollout is complete in mid-2014.

The ‘recycling from the desktop’ program started recently in four of USC’s 16 buildings, including simple measures such as smaller desk bins and communal recycling stations in offices. In addition, the university has installed an on-site composting apparatus (OSCA) which can process up to a tonne of biodegradable waste each week.

USC’s OSCA (on-site composting apparatus).

Paul Camilleri, operations and project officer, said USC adopted a system used by Sunshine Coast Council, then adapted it to suit the university environment, in particular by introducing organic waste recycling to the system.

The other Good Recycler award winners were as follows:

• School: Pacific Paradise State School, for reducing weekly general waste from 28 bins per week to 12 with most of the difference going into recycling and on-site composting.
• Event: Sunshine Coast Environment Council, (SCEC) for World Environment Day, introducing volunteer Waste Warriors during the day to ensure recycling and reduction of contamination.
• Shopping Centre: Sunshine Plaza, for the introduction of significant recycling actions within the plaza. This has improved recovery of recyclable material by 75%, with up to 42% of all centre waste now recycled.
• Small business: Hardcote, for the introduction of an expanded polystyrene melting machine to reduce the weekly waste volume from 20 m³ to 100 L.