National Waste Reporting 2013
FACTSHEET – JURISDICTIONAL WASTE PROFILES
SOUTH AUSTRALIA (SA)
Policy framework
Legislation
The two key legislative instruments that govern waste management in South Australia are the
Environment Protection Act 1993 administered by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA)
and the Zero Waste SA Act 2004, administered by Zero Waste SA (ZWSA).
The EPA regulates the management of solid and liquid waste in South Australia, including the
transport, handling, storage, treatment and disposal of waste, as well as activities that produce
certain types of waste.
In 2010, the EPA introduced the Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy (EPP).
The objective of the EPP is ‘to achieve sustainable waste management by applying the waste
management hierarchy consistently with the principles of ecologically sustainable development
set out in section 10 of the Environment Protection Act 1993.
Zero Waste SA’s primary objective is to promote waste management practices that, as far as
possible, eliminate waste or its consignment to landfill, and advance the development of
resource recovery and recycling.
Zero Waste SA provides strategic policy advice, guidance and leadership to government and
stakeholders to bring about change. Zero Waste SA establishes programs and projects that
maximise waste reduction, and promote recycling and ecological sustainability.
Policies/strategies
South Australia’s Strategic Plan (SASP) is a comprehensive document outlining 100 targets
that government, community and business can work towards, across a range of priority areas,
including waste and recycling.
South Australia’s Waste Strategy is the government’s leading non-legislative policy tool for
reforming waste management. The Zero Waste SA Act requires the preparation of a waste
strategy for South Australia every five years.
South Australia’s Waste Strategy relates in particular to SASP target 67: Zero Waste – which
aims to reduce waste to landfill by 35 per cent by 2020 and reach a milestone of 25 per cent
reduction by 2014.
South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2011-2015 informs ZWSA’s annual Business Plan over the
five year term, guides state and local government activities, and those of business, industry
and the wider community.
The Strategy’s long term objectives are to
-
avoid and reduce waste and
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to maximise the useful life of materials through re-use and recycling.
The Strategy sets targets for each sector (municipal solid waste, commercial/industrial waste,
and construction and demolition waste streams) and includes long term strategic objectives
and priorities for action.
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The Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy 2010 (EPP) is a tool for South
Australian industry and government to better manage waste through its requirements for
suitable waste from metropolitan Adelaide to be subject to resource recovery processes and
prohibiting the disposal of certain waste to landfill.
Since 1 September 2012, suitable waste produced in metropolitan Adelaide is required to be
subject to resource recovery processes prior to being able to be disposed of to landfill. Certain
materials are also generally banned from disposal to landfill under the EPP.
To support the effective administration of these requirements, the EPA has developed
guidelines on approvals for resource recovery facilities, and resource recovery processing.
Waste diversion targets
South Australia has proposed a waste diversion target in the SA Strategic Plan 2011 of a
25 per cent reduction in landfill disposal from 2002–03 level by 2014. The State Waste
Strategy has been developed to achieve this and has set an additional target of a 5 per cent
reduction in waste generation per capita by 2015. To achieve these targets and improve waste
management in SA, the changes to rates of diversion from landfill set out below are proposed
in the SA Waste Strategy. Zero Waste SA produces an annual recycling activity report which
surveys recyclers and re-processors and reports on progress towards these targets.
Table 1 SA waste diversion targets
South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2011-2015 (Zero Waste SA)
Year
Metropolitan
( per cent diversion)
Non-metropolitan
Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill diversion targets
2009 (baseline)*
55
Not applicable
2012
60
Maximise diversion to the extent practically
achievable
2015
70
Maximise diversion to the extent practically
achievable
Commercial and industrial (C&I) landfill diversion targets
2009 (baseline)**
60
Not applicable
2012
65
Maximise diversion to the extent practically
achievable
2015
75
Maximise diversion to the extent practically
achievable
Construction and demolition (C&D) landfill diversion targets
2009 (baseline)***
80
Not applicable
2012
85
Maximise diversion to the extent practically
achievable
2015
90
Maximise diversion to the extent practically
achievable
Estimated from Recycling Activity Report 2008–09: assumes 30 per cent MSW disposed to landfill; also supported by ZWSA-funded kerbside audit
data of 3-bin system from 2008 and 2009 with collection frequency (all tenements) of weekly residual waste, and fortnightly co-mingled and
fortnightly green organics: these audits typically find diversion in mid-50 per cent range
** Estimated from Recycling Activity Report 2008–09: assumes 43 per cent C&I disposed to landfill
*** Estimated from Recycling Activity Report 2008–09: assumes 27 per cent C&D disposed to landfill
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Levies
Section 70 of the Environment Protection Regulations 2009 sets out the levy rates payable for
waste sent to landfill and expresses them in fee units. The value of a fee unit is adjusted
annually. In 2011-12 this amounted to $35 per tonne in the metropolitan Adelaide area and
increased to $42 per tonne in 2012-13. Solid waste sourced from areas outside the
metropolitan Adelaide area is charged at half the rate for that of metropolitan area. Table 2
sets out the fees applicable in the 2012-13 financial year.
Table 2 SA landfill levies 2012-13
Fee units
2012/13 $ per tonne
Solid Waste Metro
3.0435
$42
Solid Waste – Non-metro
1.522
$21
per kilolitre
Liquid Waste
0.65
$11.64
For local government councils located wholly outside the Adelaide metropolitan area which
produce less than 10 000 tonnes of waste per year, there is the option of reporting by a
population formula where the mass of solid waste received during each month at those depots
is determined in accordance with the following formula:
M = P x 0.4
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M is the mass of solid waste in tonnes
P is the population of the area of the council as at the
previous 30 June as given by the Australian Bureau of
Statistics.
Currently the landfill rate is under review and some proposals suggest increases to the levy
rate in line with those in other states.
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Classification trees
Figure 1 SA waste classification system
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Infrastructure
South Australia’s current landfill needs are met and there are about 30 licensed operating
landfills across the state. Five major landfills service the metropolitan Adelaide which are
situated at Inkerman, Dublin, Uleybury and McLaren Vale (2 landfills). In the non-metro areas,
there has been a consolidation of landfills with some closures of older landfills and their
conversion to transfer stations.
SITA-Resourceco operates a plant at Wingfield that extracts combustible material from
commercial waste streams and has the capability to manufacture into approximately 100 000
to 150 000 tonnes in alternative fuel to replace some natural gas at Adelaide Brighton
Cement’s plant at Birkenhead.
Table 3 Estimated numbers of licensed recyclers/waste handlers across South Australia
Transfer
Stations
Hazardous
Waste
Receivers
Plastics
E-waste
Composters
Paper /
Cardboard
Metals
C&D
133
11
7
4
33
7
20
30-40
A study by Rawtec (2009)1 found that South Australia is well positioned in respect of the
availability of current, and near-term anticipated, resource recovery infrastructure to manage
the supply of materials presenting for recycling, through to 2019-20.
The report also listed opportunities where further investment offers potential to build on the
current positioning and gave four key program areas for investment consideration:
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support to improve the efficiency of primary sorting facilities
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facilities for sorting mixed residual waste prior to despatch to landfill
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support to achieve sustainable markets
-
support to improve the quality and quantity of material presenting for beneficiation.
South Australian Recycling Industry Investment Review, Priority Investment Opportunities, Rawtec (2009)
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Waste and recycling data2
Per capita waste generation and resource recovery
In 2010-11, per capita waste generation for SA was about 2.4 tonnes (see Figure 2) which was
the fourth highest in Australia. This follows the pattern of lower waste generation in
jurisdictions that have lower per capita incomes and less urbanised populations.
Figure 2 per capita waste generation and resource recovery rate
SA had Australia’s second highest resource recovery rate at around 77 per cent, which is
17 percentage points above the national average and reflects:
-
well-developed resource recovery infrastructure, including large organics recycling
operations
-
progressive waste management policies (including broad landfill prohibitions for
unsorted waste, recovery targets and government investment in resource recovery
infrastructure and programs)
-
a moderate landfill levy.
Total waste generated
About 3.9 Mt of waste was generated in SA for 2010–11 excluding fly ash, and 4.1 Mt
including fly ash (see Figure 3). This is the fourth lowest in Australia, consistent with SA’s
ranking in relation to population and GSP.
Figure 3 SA Total waste generation by management, 2010–11
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The content for this section is taken from Waste generation and resource recovery in Australia, chapter 10.
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Waste streams (municipal solid waste(MSW), commercial and industrial (C&I) and
construction and demolition C&D)) by material type
Waste streams
Figure 4 SA Total waste generation by waste stream and management, 2010–11
-
MSW generation was around 0.79 Mt with a resource recovery rate of 61 per cent,
which is 10 percentage points above the Australian average. SA is targeting a
MSW recovery rate of 65 per cent by 2015.
-
C&I waste generation was around 1.4 Mt with a resource recovery rate of
89 per cent, which is 30 percentage points above the Australian average. SA
appears to have surpassed its C&I recovery rate target of 75 per cent by 2015.
-
C&D waste generation was around 1.7 Mt with a resource recovery rate of
75 per cent, which is 9 percentage points above the Australian average. SA is
targeting a C&D recovery rate of 90 per cent by 2015.
These data reflect the well-established recovery industry for the MSW, C&D and C&I waste
streams in SA. See the overview on national waste stream profiles for more information on the
MSW, C&I and C&D waste streams
Material categories
In SA the waste categories that make up the bulk of waste generation are masonry, organics,
metals, paper, cardboard and fly ash. The resource recovery rates for most material
categories are well above the national average. The high recovery rates for glass and plastics
are linked to the container deposit system operating in SA.
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Figure 5 SA total waste generation by material category and management, 2010–11
Trends in waste generation and management 2006–07 to 2010–11
Figure 6 shows the per capita trends in waste generation and management for the period
2006–07 to 2010–11 in SA.
Figure 6 SA trends in per capita waste generation and management, 2006–07 to 2010–11
Over the five-year period the following per capita trends are illustrated for waste in SA:
-
waste generation increased by 16 per cent
-
the resource recovery rate increased from 69 per cent to 77 per cent between
2006–07 and 2010–11
-
recycling increased by 31 per cent
-
waste tonnages used for energy recovery increased by 26 per cent, mostly due to
the commissioning of the SITA Resource Co facility
-
waste disposal decreased by 16 per cent.
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Figure 7 shows the trends in total waste generation and management for the period 2006–07
to 2010–11 in SA.
Figure 7 SA trends in total waste generation and management, 2006–07 to 2010–11
Over the five-year period the following trends are illustrated in relation to total waste tonnages:
-
waste generation increased by 20 per cent
-
recycling increased by 35 per cent
-
waste tonnages used for energy recovery increased by 30 per cent
-
disposal decreased by 13 per cent.
Sourcing of data
Information on policy frameworks and infrastructure were provided by the government department responsible for waste
management and resource recovery in their state and territory.
Unless otherwise specified, waste generation and resource recovery data for this factsheet were sourced from Blue
Environment and Randell Environmental Consulting’s Waste Generation and Resource Recovery in Australia (2013). It is
important to note that the data (from this report) will not always reconcile with publicly reported data from the states and
territories. The differences in data result from differences in scope, method of compilation, and assumptions used in Waste
generation and resource recovery in Australia. The workbooks provide transparency so that differences between the reported
data sets can be reconciled if necessary.
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Case studies
Zero Waste SA encourages practices to reduce and avoid waste and advance the
development of resource recovery and recycling in South Australia through research,
education and grants funding. Zero Waste SA’s approach has seen many achievements:
Australia’s first ban on checkout-style plastic bags; household kitchen scrap recycling; new
ventures for e-waste, composting, demolition and building material recycling; waste to energy;
recycling services to industry; the establishment of the Zero Waste SA Centre for Sustainable
Design and Behaviour, a partnership with the University of South Australia; and partnerships
with business and industry to improve sustainability and reduce operating costs.
Recycle Right a popular program
The Recycle Right householder education program
addresses long-standing issues the recycling industry has
faced with householders putting incorrect items in kerbsidecollected recycling bins. Since its development in 2009-10
the program has evolved into a recognisable and valued
educational program which uses the most up to date social
marketing techniques to engage with waste educators,
council staff and elected members and the community.
Community group tackles zero waste
Zero Waste SA’s School and Community Grants program
recognises the important role the community plays in
inspiring people of all ages to recycle and reuse. A grant
awarded to the Keith War Memorial Community Centre, in
the state’s south-east, has been used to purchase an
additional 30 recycling bins to collect beverage containers.
The community group is using South Australia’s container
deposit scheme to keep cans and bottles out of landfill while
raising thousands of dollars for the local hospital.
Infrastructure grants stimulate industry investment
Since 2005 Zero Waste SA’s Metropolitan Infrastructure
Program has awarded $4.5 million for 20 metropolitan
projects. These grants have leveraged about $10 million in
industry investment, stimulated an increase in tonnes of
material diverted from landfill, improved efficiencies and the
quality of recycled products and, in some cases, resulted in
additional employment. Under the Regional Implementation
Program, $6.4 million has been provided for more than 100
projects in regional South Australia. Most of these projects
are for upgraded and new transfer stations.
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