Tassie rubbish on the rise but most recycled

THE volume of rubbish generated in Tasmanian homes and businesses has significantly increased over the past decade, but most of the additional waste is recycled or composted.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s annual report contains data on waste generated by Tassie homes, businesses, industrial and building sites over the past 10 years.

The report shows in 2008/09, 475,462 tonnes of waste was generated in the state.

The volume of waste has increased steadily each year, with 771,308 tonnes generated in 2017/18.

The amount of waste sent to landfill has remained stable despite the increase, with most additional waste being recycled or composted.

There is five times more waste being recycled than there was a decade ago, while composting has tripled. Of the waste produced in 2017/18, 57 per cent went to landfill.

Just over half the waste was generated by the commercial and industrial sector, 41 per cent was municipal waste and 7 per cent was construction and demolition waste.

An EPA spokeswoman said improvements in the data accuracy and reporting of waste types over this time was likely to be behind some of the increased volumes.

“The total waste generated in Tasmania is the sum of landfilled, recycled and composted waste. While there has not been a significant increase in the amount landfilled over the last 10 years, the collection and reporting of data on the types and amounts of recycled and composted waste has improved,” the spokeswoman said.

“The number of recyclers and composters contributing data sets has expanded, and the varieties and volumes of wastes they manage has also increased, while the quality of data and accuracy of reporting by these recyclers and composters has also improved over the time frame.”

A growing number of Tasmanian councils are offering additional waste pick-up services to keep wasted under control.

Hobart City Council is adding food waste collection to its existing green waste service from this month.

Glenorchy City Council will roll out food and green waste bins in February.