Education is key to addressing an increasingly urgent national waste crisis which is choking landfills and driving up costs to the public, says an expert at Southern Cross University.
The solution was not to create more landfill capacity, but to help people drastically reduce the waste leaving their properties, according to Faculty of Education Executive Dean, Professor Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles.
“The reason this crisis is spiralling out of control is simple,” she said.
“People are consuming far too much and 70% of what is going to landfill could be dealt with at home – through recycling or composting organics.”
Professor Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles leads the Sustainability, Environment and the Arts in Education (SEAE) Research Centre.
She was responding to a recent NSW Government announcement that Sydney landfill was nearing capacity, raising the prospect of reduced kerbside collection or trucking city waste to regional areas.
“This is not an issue exclusive to Sydney – the situation is not uncommon across the country,” Professor Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles said.
“It was not so long ago Coffs Harbour was transporting waste to Queensland because its tip was at capacity.
“City of Gold Coast has flagged that not only will existing landfills be at capacity in 10 years, but there are also no suitable alternate sites for landfill in the region.
“Recycling rates have stagnated over the past decade, and we have this perverse situation that environment impacts are compounding – we are burning fossil fuel to transport waste to landfill elsewhere, where it generates methane, which contributes to climate change. And at an additional financial burden to the community.”
Professor Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles said there was clear evidence of the success of school-based programs, such as Victoria’s Waste Wise Schools and WasteSorted Schools in WA.
They had been successful in embedding better sustainability practises at a community level including planning and delivering waste reduction.
“Schools are a very powerful place to support community-level change,” she said. “What we don’t have is a consistent approach for policy or programs at a State or national level.
“There are very good examples of schools creating positive change in the way staff and students embrace a culture of sustainability, but these are usually contained at a local level, in partnership with community groups or local government.”
She applauded the NSW Government’s planned response to the Sydney crisis – which includes new infrastructure and waste reduction measures – but urged greater consideration of education programs.
“Without that, you are working at the wrong end of the problem.”
“If we can encourage people to share responsibility for this issue, to consume less, sort their recycling and keep organics out of the bin, we’d have a fraction of the problem at the kerbside,” she said.
