The Local Government Association of the Northern Territory (LGANT) has backed calls for greater Federal funding and support for councils to reduce waste sent to landfill and transition to a circular economy.
LGANT President and Darwin Lord Mayor, Kon Vatskalis said Australia’s councils were calling for Federal guidance and advice on how to unlock the circular economy locally, particularly in rural, regional, and remote areas.
The Association is also backing the Australian Local Government Association’s call for $100 million per annum over four years to fund local government circular waste innovation projects.
“Recycling rates across streams such as construction and demolition waste, commercial and industrial waste and municipal solid waste are comparatively low in the Northern Territory (19%) compared to the national recycling rate (63%). There is certainly room for improvement,” said President Vatskalis.
“Transitioning to a circular economy will require significant change, particularly in rural and remote parts of the Territory. Even metropolitan areas such as Darwin face challenges due to the distance from waste processing facilities and the additional costs this imposes on providers.”
East Arnhem Regional Council President, Lapulung Dhamarrandji says his council would welcome Federal guidance, advice and funding to reduce waste sent to landfill.
“East Arnhem Regional Council encompasses 9 remote communities. Five of those are on islands which exacerbates the remoteness and challenges of waste collection.”
“In some communities we are still educating constituents to put litter in bins so sorting for recycling is a little way off. We do however run a successful Cash for Containers scheme in all communities and use a backhaul arrangement with our barge provider to get these containers to Darwin free of charge.
“Additional support and funding would help us deliver more education programs and grow partnership programs with stakeholders including schools and retail outlets such as community stores. We would also work with product stewardship schemes such as the Australian Bedding Stewardship Council to incorporate the Territory into their programs. Not only will this activity help protect the natural environment, but it will also help create local jobs,” Mr Dhamarrandji said.
