Most people know that sending rubbish to a landfill is not the best answer. Sure, it’s a quick and easy way to get rid of our waste problems, but It’s far from the best solution. Waste in landfills, especially green waste, can result in a domino effect on our environment.
Green waste, in particular, forms methane gas as it breaks down. Methane gas traps heat in the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. As such, it’s essential to reduce the amount of green waste in landfills more than any type of waste.
Landfill waste in Australia
Landfill waste is a problem not only here in Australia but across the globe. The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that waste in landfills has declined over 2018-2019, but it’s still considerably high, and the reduction is minimal.
Between 2016-2017, Australia sent 20.6 Mt of waste to landfills. This figure increased in 2017-2018 to 20.9 Mt and reduced to 20.5 Mt in 2018-2019. While there isn’t a great deal of change in the amount of waste going to landfills, there is a more significant change in the amount of waste being recycled, which is promising. Between 2016-2017, Australia recycled 33 Mt of waste, which increased in 2017-2018 to 37.6 Mt and further increased to 38.5 Mt in 2018-2019.
Organic Landfill waste in Australia
Notably, statistics for organic waste, meaning green waste, fruit and veggie scraps and other organic materials, have improved. The National Waste Report 2020 reports that the recycling rate for organics increased from 37% to 49% (5.15 to 6.99 Mt) from 2006-07 to 2018-19. In 2018-19 about 6.87 Mt of organics were deposited in landfills, 33.51% of the total landfill waste.
Overall recovery in 2018-19 totalled 8.58 Mt (60%), comprising about 5.60 Mt of composting or mulching, 1.42 Mt of biosolids applied to land, 0.31 Mt incorporated into fuels or processed through anaerobic digestion, and 1.28 Mt recovered through landfill gas energy generation.
How to ensure your green waste doesn’t end up in a landfill
The only way to ensure your green waste doesn’t end up in a landfill is to sort it from your general waste so a green waste treatment centre can treat it appropriately. Doing so will prevent it from being dumped in a landfill with general waste.
As mentioned above, recycled or recovered organic waste is used primarily for composting or mulching. However, it can also be applied to land as biosolids, incorporated into fuels or processed through anaerobic digestion, or recovered through landfill gas energy generation.
If you place your green waste in a council wheelie bin, it won’t get sorted and will end up in a landfill, where it will break down and produce methane gas. Likewise, if you take it to the tip yourself and discard it along with general waste. It must be separated and disposed of properly to ensure your green waste can be put to good use.
So what are your options?
There are three options to consider to ensure your green waste is properly treated.
- Your local council’s Green waste recycling service – if your local council offers a green waste recycling service, can you apply for a green waste recycling bin? The service removes green waste from your property and takes it to a green waste treatment centre, which turns it into compost and mulch.
- Take your green waste to the tip’s organic waste area – alternatively, you can load your car, trailer or ute with your green waste, take it to your local tip, and dispose of it in the specified organic waste area. It then goes to a green waste treatment centre for processing.
- Hire a garden skip bin – for large amounts of green waste, hiring one of our Garden Skip Bins is a great solution. You simply load the skip, and we do the rest for you. We take it to the closest green waste treatment centre for processing.
- Order a garden bag/garden bin collection service – for ongoing removal of medium to large amounts of green waste, our Garden Bag and Gaden Bin collection service is the best option. We collect your green waste on your specified schedule and take it to the closest green waste treatment centre for processing.
Garden Skip Bins from 4 Waste Removals
If you’re interested in hiring a garden skip bin for your green waste removal in Brisbane’s southern suburbs, Redlands/Bayside, or Logan, then our Garden Skip Bins are a perfect choice. We offer an affordable hire service that makes removing garden waste quick and easy.
What sets our Garden Skip Bins apart from other companies’ skip bins is the fact that they are designed to provide walk-in or wheel-in access. This means you can easily load all your garden waste without needing any heavy lifting. You don’t even have to carry it in yourself. You can wheel in a wheelbarrow or garden cart for effortless loading without needing additional help.
Our Garden Skip Bins are either 6m3 or 8m3 in size, and you only pay for the amount of waste you load into them. Simply hire a skip bin size you think you’ll need, and if you need a bigger skip, you don’t have to hire a second one. You can continue to load it till all your green waste is loaded. You are only charged the difference between the size you hire and the fill level/volume of green waste you loaded.
Our billing structure is designed to save you time and money on your skip bin hire.
Garden Bag / Garden Bin Collection Service from 4 Waste Removals
If you need an ongoing or reoccurring green waste removal solution in Brisbane’s southern suburbs, Redlands/Bayside, or Logan, then our Garden Bag/Gaden Bin collection service is ideal.
You’ll find no other green waste collection service to offer the flexibility and affordability of our service. You can choose between garden bags or bins, and more importantly, you can set the collection schedule to meet your requirements. We can accommodate your needs, whether monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, or one-off hire.
Our garden bags and bins can hold one cubic metre of waste, ideal for all gardens, and cost as little as $24 per bag/bin per collection. Simply load your green waste into the skip bin, and we’ll come and collect it on the scheduled collection date and take it to the closest green waste treatment centre to be recycled into mulch and compost.
Order a garden bag/garden bin collection service
Conclusion
With global warming becoming more and more real, it’s never been more critical to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. Green waste, including organic waste, is a significant contributor to greenhouse emissions, contributing to climate change. When left to break down in a landfill, green waste produces methane gas, which traps heat in the atmosphere, warming the globe.
While the latest statistics show that we are slowly reducing the total amount of waste that goes to landfills and increasing the amount of recycled organic/green waste, it’s happening at a slow rate.
If you’d like to be more proactive in reducing the amount of organic waste that ends up in landfills, it starts at home with your green waste.
You can choose between several options to ensure your green waste doesn’t end up in a landfill. Such options include utilising your local council’s Green waste recycling service, taking your green waste to the tip’s organic waste area, hiring a garden skip bin and ordering a garden bag/garden bin collection service.
If you would like to hire a garden skip bin or order a garden bag, then choose 4 Waste Removals – The region’s best green waste removal company.
To hire a garden skip bin or order your garden bag/garden bin collection service in Brisbane’s southern suburbs, Redlands/Bayside, or Logan, please pick up the phone and give us a call at 07 3343 3030. We look forward to helping you help out the planet!