Frankston is Victoria's Sustainable City of the Year

As part of Frankston City’s Draft Waste Minimisation and Management Plan, the municipality is comparing its waste disposal statistics with the rest of Victoria — with positive results.

On average, Frankston City households produce 14% less garbage than the Victorian average, 5.5% more recycling than their counterparts around the state and 41% more green waste.

The average Frankston City household produces 22 kg of recyclables per month. Overall, the municipality recycled 8588 tonnes of paper and cardboard, 5032 tonnes of glass, 2068 tonnes of plastic, 298 tonnes of steel and 126 tonnes of aluminium in 2013–14.

According to Frankston City Mayor Cr Sandra Mayer, it is the commitment to reducing waste made by Frankston’s residents that helped lead to the city being named ‘Victoria’s Sustainable City of the Year’.

“We are seeing a tangible change in attitudes towards recycling, composting and waste reduction,” she said, with the average contamination rate in kerbside recycling bins currently 11.4% — down from 14.4% four years ago.

However, Cr Mayer acknowledged that there is “still room for improvement”, with the most common contaminants still found being plastic bags, e-waste, clothing and non-recyclable plastics.

“On average, our households produce 1057 kg of waste per year and 33% of that is food waste, which is a number we can easily bring down,” she said.

“One key is finding out how we can make that easier for residents, so I encourage anyone with an interest in the environment to go to http://frankston.vic.gov.au and fill out the Waste Minimisation and Management Plan survey.”

The Draft Waste Minimisation and Management Plan aims to act as a guide for Frankston City Council to develop its management of municipal solid waste. Some of the new initiatives in the plan include:

• improved kerbside auditing to further assist residents in reducing waste through better sorting;
• reviewing council’s Litter Strategy, to focus on litter avoidance and illegally dumped rubbish;
• investigating a permanent Household Chemical Collection disposal site at the new Frankston Regional Recycling and Recovery Centre (FRRRC).

The plan is currently open for public comment until 9 October. It can be viewed here.