Barwon SW Waste & Recycling

Barwon SW Waste & Recycling

We are always going to generate some waste. To manage waste better, we need to change the way our communities view, create and handle the waste.

While industries create much of the waste, people in the community consume it and state and federal governments set policies that determine how it is handled. Local governments roles include the collection, sorting, processing and disposal of waste, strategic planning and community education.

The growing amount of waste modern society produces is impacting the environment worldwide. When this waste is not disposed of properly, through littering or dumping, it can have a significant impact on plants, animals and the ecosystems that sustain them.

Carbon emissions related to waste also have significant environmental impacts. The methane gas generated under anaerobic condition is a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.

Increased use of plastics for single use items and packaging has significantly increased the amount of plastics in the oceans. If we continue to rely on disposable plastics, this trend will continue.

The Shellfish Reef Project at Portarlington is reusing waste scallop shells harvested from the Bass Strait that would otherwise end up at landfill, the region has made a significant contribution to reduction in waste and innovation in the management of the coastal zone.

A 130 metre long shellfish reef, made up of steel cages filled with rocks and waste scallop shells, was established in 2018 off the Ramblers Road foreshore in Portarlington, which was heavily impacted by erosion.

The reuse of waste scallop shells to construct the artificial reef has provided a cost efficient and environmentally friendly alternative engineering solution to preventing erosion.