Plastic waste is a major problem for the Northern Beaches & NSW is per capita the second highest producer of waste in the world.

Council has passed a Climate Emergency motion - now we need action.

Even with careful recycling, all plastic waste - even recycled plastic - ends up in landfill. Because of "Downcycling" all plastic can only be recycled a maximum 2-3 times before it becomes unusable.

So what if we can't recycle our way to Zero Waste?

While we wait for alternatives, we still need plastic - for health etc - and we will be left with huge volumes of plastic buried in the ground.

Residents of the Northern Beaches want Council to look at all options that could reduce un-recylable plastic and other waste currently buried in landfill sites.

This includes waste-to-energy technology that is non-incineration so there are no emissions - and Northern Beaches Council could lead the way on evaluating the feasibility of this new clean energy technology. 

The proposal is simply for Council to seek funding from the Commonwealth Government, so there is no cost to local rate payers - in fact it could save money!

The Northern Beaches resource recovery centre at Kimbriki currently collects about 490m3 of gas per hour, which is about 52% methane and this methane is then simply flared off. Turning large volumes of highly polluting methane into less polluting CO2 is not a strategy for reducing emissions.

The local community wants to investigate how our dangerous landfill methane and un-recyclable plastic and other waste materials could be converted into electricity as part of genuine local circular economy.

We want to see Council at least conduct a study into the potential of modular non-incineration waste-to-energy technology as a solution to the problem that we face from non-recyclable plastics and landfill methane.

We have the opportunity to reduce dangerous local emissions and to reduce rates and fees, and generate revenue for Council to support local charities, clubs and services.

Why wouldn't we at least consider the options?