Appendix III

WASTE STREAM ANALYSIS - THE PROLIFERATION OF PLASTIC

Until now, little information has been available which gives an accurate account of the proportion of constituents in the domestic waste stream. For whatever reason, neither the former Waste Management Authority of NSW nor its successor(s), the Waste Recycling and Processing Service (WRAPS) and Environment Protection Authority (EPA), have been willing or able to report such figures1. And establishing such information from industry production figures has proven an even more arduous task with the Bureau of Statistics, for example, withholding vital information on confidentiality grounds .

However, accompanying the recent proposal by the WMA to expand Lucas Heights tip, to allow it to receive the lions' share of Sydney's waste, was a proposal by BHP to establish a materials recovery facility (MRF) on the site to extract (primarily) steel cans from the mixed waste stream. Although the plan to extend Lucas Heights tip has now been abandoned, the waste analysis conducted by BHP [29] sheds new light on the composition of Sydney's garbage.

Domestic Waste Analysis, Lucas Heights Landfill, BHP, October 1991

% by Wt % by Vol.2
By Material:
Compostables (food, garden) 61.6 33.0
Paper (cardboard, newsprint, misc, magazines) 16.4 27.1
Plastic (film, various bottles) 8.0 26.2
Mixed (textiles, cartons, nappies, rubber, batteries, medical) 5.0 6.1
Metals (ferrous & non-ferrous) 4.0 5.2
Glass (white, brown, green) 5.0 2.4
By Product Type:
Packaging (incl. plastic film; excl. misc paper & batteries) 23.4 43.0
Packaging (further excluding cardboard boxes) 19.9 34.1
Containers (excluding cardboard boxes & batteries) 11.5 18.2
Plastic Film 4.9 15.9
Plastic Bottles 3.1 10.3
Cardboard Boxes 3.5 8.9
Newspapers 6.3 8.2
Misc Paper 4.5 7.9
Textiles (rags etc) 2.0 2.8
Steel Cans and Aerosols 2.3 2.6
Glass Bottles and Jars 5.0 2.4
Magazines 2.1 2.2
Milk/Juice Cartons 0.6 1.6
Disposable Nappies 2.0 1.5
Aluminium Cans 0.5 1.3
Other Steel 1.0 1.0
Other Non-Ferrous 0.2 0.3
Rubber 0.2 0.2
Batteries (Dry Cell) 0.1 0.0
Medical 0.1 0.0

1

  1. The previous analysis of domestic waste in Sydney was a limited survey undertaken by the WMA in 1986 which reported weight but not volume.

    2

  2. Volume figures are best described as semi-compacted ie. as delivered to the landfill site from a garbage truck compactor.


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