The decreasing landfill space, harmful environmental impacts of landfills, snowballing costs of waste disposal, and the increasing consumption of natural and non-renewable resources are all very good reasons to reduce, reuse and recycle waste.

The majority of the rubbish that ends up in the landfills is made up of organic and degradable materials that release greenhouse gases as they break down. Many of the different materials in the waste could be diverted before they reach the waste stream or have potential resource value if they could be recovered or recycled cost-effectively. It’s a good thing there are trusted rubbish removal companies in Australia which provide cost-effective waste management and recycling solutions.

With Sydney landfills and dumpsites reaching their capacity, there have been proposals on building a facility in the Hunter Valley to accommodate at least 8 million tonnes of waste from Sydney and other regions for the next 20 years.

This has been opposed by some group sectors as there’s always a big concern for public health especially with the waters being contaminated. Winemakers are also opposing as they fear that the dumping sites could wipe out the famous Hunter Valley grapevines and destroy a multimillion-dollar industry.

To help minimise waste and spread awareness, City councils are launching campaigns to save the environment. For instance, Maitland City Council has been working with other councils of the Hunter and the Central Coast Region to protect the bushland, parks and urban area centres from illegal dumping. Their campaign called “Dobbing in a Dumper” encourages residents to report any illegal dumping incidents to the council by providing information about the offender (description of person, car registration number, etc.).

There are more than 22 million people currently living in Australia and it is projected that the average Australian produces about 1 tonne of garbage per year and that is a lot of rubbish! With the country’s growing population, we cannot afford to maintain this rate of waste disposal.

Although many people are into recycling, our economy and society still waste a lot of resources that could be re-used and made into new products. The general public should have the initiative and take full responsibility of their own waste and the government must take action to work with the community to have a zero waste society. After all, when your region is as beautiful as the Hunter Valley, wouldn’t you want to preserve and keep it beautiful?