Sustainability

In 2022/2023, the City of Melton collected a total of 62,221 tonnes of kerbside waste - 35,386 tonnes of garbage and diverted 26,835 tonnes (14,115 tonnes recycling and 12,720 tonnes FOGO).

We are also home to Victoria’s largest landfill, the Melbourne Regional Landfill at Ravenhall, which takes most of Melbourne’s waste by digging and filling a hole the size of the MCG every 12 months.

Recycling Victoria has set a target of reducing waste by 80 per cent by 2030 with an interim target of 72 per cent by 2025.

We need to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and do this quickly. We need the Victorian Government to reinvest the increased landfill levy into new technologies and community education programs.

Melton City Council supports the transition to a circular economy and the aspirations of becoming a zero-waste society. Melton Recycling Facility (MRF) is a significant local asset for recycling and diverting waste from landfill. We want to establish a Circular Economy Hub at MRF to nurture new circular economy industries such as e-waste processing or repair shops. Not only can this divert landfill, but these enterprises can build local skills, encourage social connections and create new business opportunities.

We seek funding from Australian and Victorian Governments to help establish the Circular Economy Hub at MRF.

Council welcomes the proposal for a purpose-built, waste to energy facility at Laverton that is capable of processing up to 240,000 tonnes of waste every year. The facility uses gasification technology which does not burn waste, but operates at extremely high temperatures in a low air environment and converts waste into a gas.

Council sees the new Circular Economy Regulations 2023 Act passing as enabling the proposal and we seek continued support from the Victorian Government to enable the timely construction of the facility.

We are committed to our role in a whole-of-community partnership to respond to climate change. Melton City Council has adopted a net-zero emissions target by 2040 for Council operations. Actions to achieve this target are identified in Council’s Environment Plan 2017-2027.

These include:

• Improving the energy efficiency of existing Council infrastructure
• Purchasing electrical vehicles and installing fast chargers at Council facilities
• Looking at ways to expand energy recapture and to phase out gas usage from council facilities, including the Melton Waves Aquatic Centre
• Installation of rooftop solar panels on council facilities.

We recognise the health and wellbeing benefits of green open space and are committed to protecting and enhancing our beautiful natural environment. The City of Melton has the lowest tree canopy in metropolitan Melbourne at only 4.1 per cent compared with the average of 16.2 per cent. There is an urgent need to plant more trees to increase our tree canopy.

Trees serve as natural air purifiers, filtering out harmful pollutants from the air whilst releasing oxygen, creating a cleaner, fresher atmosphere.

Research has shown that neighbourhoods with good tree cover experience lower rates of respiratory issues and allergies.

Tree canopy cover has been found to have the strongest impact in reducing heat in urban areas. Reducing heat in our neighbourhoods is critical, particularly for vulnerable groups such as children, people over 65 years of age and those with pre-existing medical conditions.

In Victoria, during the heatwave of 2019 there was a five-fold increase in health-related public hospital emergency department presentations, with heat killing more Australians than any other natural disaster.

The Victorian Government has already invested in ‘Greening the West’ planting 35,000 trees locally in three phases and will plant another 11,000 trees in phase four announced in October 2023.

Our goal is to plant 100,000 trees over the next three years and increase our tree canopy cover to 30 per cent by 2050, as this is the recommended level for a healthy environment.

A good tree canopy reduces urban heat and encourages people to spend more time outdoors being active.