Metropolitan
Adelaide’s
Kerbside Waste
Performance
Report 2021-22
Acknowledgements
The information in this report is entirely dependent on the accuracy
of the data provided by Adelaide metropolitan councils, and
the contractors collecting kerbside waste. Green Industries SA
acknowledges their assistance.
The content of this report is believed to be correct at the time of writing. While steps have been taken to ensure accuracy,
Green Industries SA cannot accept responsibility or be held liable to any person for any loss or damage arising out of, or
in connection with, the information being inaccurate, incomplete or misleading. This document’s text and images may be
reproduced in whole or part for the purpose of study or training, subject to: the inclusion of an acknowledgement of the
source; it not being used for commercial purposes or sale; and the material being accurate and not used in a misleading context.
Reproduction for purposes other than those given above requires the prior written permission of Green Industries SA.
Date: March 2023
GPO Box 1047
Adelaide SA 5001
+61 8 8204 2051
www.greenindustries.sa.gov.au
© Green Industries SA 2023
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
Executive Summary
This report presents data on kerbside waste and recycling collection services in South Australia provided
by the 19 metropolitan Adelaide councils in the 2021-22 inancial year. It analyses performance and
improvements in council waste management eficiency and sustainability over the past 18 years.
The focus is only on waste material collected at kerbside in bins provided speciically for residual waste
(landill), co-mingled recyclables and organics (green and/or food). Hard waste, street sweepings,
Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) returns and waste collected at drop-off facilities and council-operated
commercial services are excluded from the main report.
All 19 metropolitan Adelaide councils offer a three-bin service that has been gradually introduced from
about 2001, although some only provide an organics (green and/or food) bin on an opt-in basis. There
are also some differences between councils in terms of bin ownership, full versus optional adoption, and
collection frequency.
Green Industries SA is committed to working with Local Government councils to improve waste and
recycling management to achieve the targets set in the South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-25.
Reporting is based on the gross waste quantities reported in councils’ kerbside performance data and
provided without further alteration. This data therefore depicts quantities that are inclusive of contamination.
The complete data enables the examination and analysis of householder behaviours and bin usage, trends
and patterns and the relationship and dependency on geography and socioeconomic factors.
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
Performance
94
%
In 2021-22 in metropolitan Adelaide:
527,400
tonnes
of MSW was collected
from kerbside
This equates to about:
Of the total MSW collected, metropolitan Adelaide recovered:
168,900
tonnes
Weekly collection
+ +
Fortnightly collection Food waste system
of organics
102,600
tonnes
of recyclables
of households
have a 3-bin system
This represents a total recovery rate of
The recovery rate is below the South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025 (GISA 2020) household bin systems
target of 70% waste diversion by 2025, making it clear that there is still work to be done.
For the first time, nearly 80% of metropolitan Adelaide councils achieve 3-bin recovery rates greater than 50%.
The top performing councils, some achieving nearly 60% recovery rate, were those that provide:
51.5
%
418
kilograms
per person
1,019
kilograms
per serviced household
OR
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
Recommendations
The indings of this report suggest that the following changes are necessary to
improve the diversion of waste from landill:
1 See SA Better Practice Guide: Sustainable Kerbside Service, available at https://www.greenindustries.sa.gov.au/
resources/sa-better-practice-guide-sustainable-kerbside-services
1. Adopting a standardised three-bin system across
all metropolitan councils to include as a minimum
service to all households:
a. fortnightly collection of co-mingled recyclables,
b. fortnightly collection of organics, including
food waste. More recent council trial
evidence that arose during the compilation of
this report has shown that, as a best practice
kerbside service provision, weekly collection
of organics could lead to signiicantly
increased recovery rates approaching 70%
1
.
This will have an immediate impact on raising the
kerbside diversion rate. Universal rollout of area-
wide food waste diversion systems will raise
waste diversion rates and may narrow the gap
between best and least performing councils.
2. Standardised, consistent materials collected
in kerbside bin-based services across all
metropolitan councils
The state-wide Which Bin campaign launched in
May 2019 has aided the consistency of education
and awareness efforts as it has a standard list of
materials that can be placed in the recycling and
organics bins.
This will reduce confusion for residents about
which bin to use, reduce contamination of the
recyclables stream and organics stream and divert
more food waste from the residual stream.
Inconsistent messaging where advice and
language could vary from council to council
was leading to confusion on the easiest way
to comply with proper recycling practice.
Simplifying and standardising messaging is
essential to improve awareness and knowledge
to entrench the culture of waste minimisation.
Normalising the behaviour of recycling and
improving the awareness takes time and requires
constant reinforcement of the key messages.
Costs on communication and education are also
reduced in the longer term by providing the same
message in the same format and the same brand
to all households across all councils.
3. Standardisation of bin infrastructure to comply
with AS 4123.7
The standard promotes the adoption of common
colour coding of waste, recycling and organics
kerbside bin collection services across Australia
and is intended to support correct recycling
‘automatic’ and ‘unthinking’ behavior.
South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025
recognises the importance to set up consistent
systems and technology for MSW and one of
the priority actions identiied is to ensure that
kerbside bins are compliant with the relevant
Australian standard on mobile waste containers.
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
Contents
Executive Summary...............................................................................................................03
Performance.............................................................................................................................04
Recommendations....................................................................................................................05
Introduction .................................................................................................................. 08
1.1 Purpose ..........................................................................................................................08
1.2 Background.....................................................................................................................08
1.3 Context ..........................................................................................................................09
Findings ......................................................................................................................... 10
2.1 Metropolitan Kerbside Waste and Recycling Services ...........................................................10
2.2 Metropolitan Adelaide Kerbside Quantities...........................................................................11
2.3 Metropolitan Adelaide Recovery Rate Performance...............................................................14
2.4 Bin Presentation and Effective Recovery Rate Performance......................................................16
2.5 Long Term Trends...............................................................................................................17
Factors Affecting Recovery Rates......................................................................................... 18
3.1 Food Waste Collection Systems..........................................................................................18
3.2 Garden vegetation............................................................................................................18
3.3 Recyclables .....................................................................................................................21
3.4 Economic and demographic...............................................................................................21
Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 22
Appendix 1 .........................................................................................................................23
A1.1 Methodology..................................................................................................................23
A1.2 Greenness Index..............................................................................................................24
Glossary ............................................................................................................................. 25
References .........................................................................................................................26
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
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TABLES
Table 1. Grants provided to councils through GISA ................................................................................................... 09
Table 2. Some kerbside bin colours as recommended in AS 4123.7 ................................................................................ 10
Table 3. Recovery Rates Achieved by each Metropolitan Adelaide Council, 2021-22. ...................................................... 15
Table 4. Total Rainfall (mm) Recorded at Kent Town/West Terrace for Financial Years (periods ending June 30) ........................ 18
FIGURES
Figure 1. Summary of Adelaide Metropolitan kerbside bins performance ...................................................................... 11
Figure 2. Metropolitan Adelaide Monthly three-bin Kerbside Quantities, 2021-22 .......................................................... 12
Figure 3. Metropolitan Adelaide Average three-bin Recovery Rate by Month, 2021-22 ................................................... 12
Figure 4. Three-bin and Recyclables Recovery Rates by Metropolitan Adelaide Sub-regions, 2021-22 ............................. 13
Figure 5. Metropolitan Adelaide Kerbside Three-bin Recovery Rates, 2021-22 ............................................................... 14
Figure 6. Comparing presentation and effective recovery rates at kerbside. ................................................................. 16
Figure 7. Comparison of three-bin recovery rates for Metro Adelaide from 2010-11 to 2021-22. ..........................................17
Figure 8. Trends of kerbside waste tonnages by bin for Metro Adelaide from 2003-04 to 2021-22. ................................... 19
Figure 9. Organics recovery rate against the greenness index for each Metropolitan council (except Adelaide Hills). ..... 20
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
Introduction
1.1 Purpose
Information on waste streams is needed to help monitor progress towards the municipal waste targets set
in South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-25 (GISA 2020) and to inform decision making, particularly in relation
to programs and incentives to improve recycling rates and to target areas most in need.
This report presents data on kerbside waste and recycling collection services provided by the 19
Adelaide metropolitan councils in the 2021-22 inancial year and analyses performance and improvements in
waste disposal eficiency and sustainability. It also reports on trends over an 18-year period.
The focus is only on waste collected at kerbside in bins provided speciically for residual waste (landill),
co-mingled recyclables and green and/or food organics. Hard waste, street sweepings, Container Deposit
Scheme (CDS) returns and waste collected at drop-off facilities and council-operated commercial services
are excluded.
As such, the recovery rate stated in this report differs from that cited in the South Australia’s Circular Economy
Resource Recovery Report 2021-22 (CERRR), which includes these other components of the total Municipal
Solid Waste (MSW).
It also should be noted that MSW is only one of the three sectors that contribute to SA’s total waste, with
each having its own recycling rate. In 2021-22, 81.9% of all waste was diverted from landill for recycling and
other purposes (Blue Environment 2023).
Residential residual waste accounts for 44% of the total solid waste that goes to landill. The remainder is
commercial and industrial waste (18%) and construction and demolition waste (39%).
1.2 Background
The environmental beneits of a three-bin waste collection system are well established and the 19
metropolitan Adelaide councils have offered this service for a number of years. Differences do exist
between councils even where the same number of bins are provided, due to different collection
frequency and service provision for green and food organics, use of kitchen caddies, and area wide
rollout versus opt-in.
Most councils provide a 140L bin for residual waste and 240L bins for comingled recyclables and organics
respectively. In 2021-22, all metropolitan Adelaide councils collected residual waste bins weekly and
recyclables fortnightly, but organics collections varied: all were fortnightly, but some were still opt-in or
required to be purchased by residents.
1
09
Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
The average diversion rate at kerbside by householders from the three-bin system across the 19
metropolitan councils was 51.5% in 2021-22. The effective diversion rate, allowing for misplaced material
in the organics and recyclables bins, was 47.5%. The top performing councils – some achieving nearly
60% – were those that provide a weekly residual waste collection, fortnightly recyclables collection and
fortnightly organics collection including food waste.
Councils often contract collection services to external contractors, many of which are private companies.
The contractors collect the residual bins which are transported to landill transfer stations, mixed-recycling
bins which are taken to Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) for sorting and processing and green organics
bins to composting facilities. The quantities are weighed at weighbridges at each location and individual
councils are charged a service fee.
1.3 Context
Since 2005 Green Industries SA has funded metropolitan and regional councils to implement improved
kerbside collection systems for residents. In particular, there has been an increased emphasis on diversion
from landill using better performing kerbside systems.
By 30 June 2022, $37.3 million had been provided to 67 councils and 12 of their subsidiaries through a
range of GISA grants programs such as: Circular Economy Market Development; E-Waste Collections and
Incentives; Illegal Dumping Prevention; Kerbside Performance Incentives; the Kerbside Performance Plus
(Food Organics) Incentives which focuses on food diversion from residual to organics bins; Kerbside
Recycling Campaign; Plastic Bags Reduction; Recycle Right Household Education; Regional Transport
Subsidies Program; Regional Infrastructure/Implementation; Business Sustainability Program and Reuse; and
Recycling/Metropolitan Infrastructure (Table 1).
Table 1. Grants provided to councils through GISA
Number of councils Funding amount ($ millions)
Adelaide Metropolitan 19 26.1
South Australia 67 37.3
All 19 metropolitan Adelaide councils provide their kerbside waste data directly to GISA for the purpose of
this report.
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
Findings
2.1 Metropolitan Kerbside Waste
and Recycling Services
In 2021-22, all 19 metropolitan Adelaide councils offered access to the three-bin system (up from 15 in 2003-04).
Playford, Salisbury and Gawler collectively have reached 77% of their households and Adelaide Hills Council
covered about two-thirds of households (mostly in townships) for organics service.
It is estimated that about 94% of metropolitan households now have three bins in use, a igure which has
risen as Northern sub-region councils have committed to achieving a full three-bin rollout.
All metropolitan Adelaide councils in 2021-22 offered a weekly residual service, fortnightly recyclable
collections and fortnightly organics collections.
All used yellow lids for recycling bins and most used green (lime or dark green) for organics bins, but only
12 councils (covering 63% of households) used red lids for residual waste, as set out in Australian standard AS 4123.7
(see Table 2). The other seven use blue lids which, according to the standard, are for cardboard and paper only.
Using AS 4123.7 has been found to reduce waste sent to landill, increase recycling and support consistent
education campaigns to reduce resident confusion about how to correctly use kerbside bins collection
services (MWRRG 2017).
Table 2. Some kerbside bin colours as recommended
in AS 4123.7
Type of materials Body Lid
Garbage/General waste Dark Green or Black Red
Green Waste/Organics Dark Green or Black Lime Green
Recyclables Dark Green or Black Yellow
Paper/cardboard Dark Green or Black Blue
2
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
2.2 Metropolitan Adelaide Kerbside Quantities
In 2021-22 in the metropolitan area, 527,400 tonnes of materials were presented at kerbside (a 1.0% increase
over 2020-21), 51.5% of which was recovered as recyclables or organics (Figure 1). This was driven by a 4.2%
increase in organics due to improvements in organics collections by some councils and a slight increase
in annual rainfall giving rise to more organic waste collected. The issue of incorrectly presented material is
discussed in section 2.4.
Approximately 418 kg of kerbside waste was collected per person, or 1,019 kg per household serviced.
Figure 1. Summary of Adelaide Metropolitan
kerbside bins performance
2021-22 quantity
(tonne) and change
since 2020-21
Per capita
(kg/pp/yr)
Per household
(kg/hh/yr)
Total
Materials
527,400
418
1,019
1%
Recovery
Rate
51.5%
0.9%
Residual
255,900
203
495
0.6%
Recyclables
102,600
81
198
0.2%
Organics
168,900
134
326
4.2%
Expected seasonal luctuations can be seen in the monthly collection trends (Figure 2). Rainfall was slightly
higher in 2021-22 over 2020-21 (see rainfall igures in Table 4). Therefore three bin recovery rates increased
compared to the previous years as a result of this rainfall and further rollouts of a fortnightly organics bin
service which were deployed to segregate and collect these organics.
Fluctuations in the three-bin recovery rate over 2021-22 are shown in Figure 3. The spike in March is the
combined effect of a drop in the presentation of residual waste and an increase in organics presented.
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
Figure 2. Metropolitan Adelaide Monthly three-bin
Kerbside Quantities, 2021-22
25
20
15
10
5
0
Sep 2021 Nov 2021 Jan 2022 Mar 2022 May 2022 Jul 2022
‘000 tonnes
Recyclables Organics Residual
Figure 3. Metropolitan Adelaide Average three-bin
Recovery Rate by Month, 2021-22
55%
52%
50%
48%
45%
Sep 2021 Nov 2021 Jan 2022 Mar 2022 May 2022 Jul 2022
0 5 10 20 km
N
3-bin and recyclables recovery rates by council sub-regions
3-Bin coverage
91% 54.1 31.8
54.6
32.5
77% 47.1 26.1
45.7
25.8
100% 53.4 28.6
52.0
28.2
100% 52.0 29.1
51.3
28 .5
3-Bin Recyclables
3-Bin
Recyclables
2021-22
2020-21
Central Eastern
Northern
Southern
Western
TEA TREE GULLY
HOLDFAST BAY
ADELAIDE HILLS
Full roll-out of food waste system
UNLEY
BURNSIDE
WALKERVILLE
ADELAIDE
PROSPECT
NPSP
GAWLER
CAMPBELLTOWN
SALISBURY
PLAYFORD
MITCHAM
MARION
ONKAPARINGA
PORT ADELAIDE ENFIELD
CHARLES STURT
WEST TORRENS
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
Figure 4. Three-bin and
Recyclables Recovery Rates
by Metropolitan Adelaide
Sub-regions, 2021-22
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
2.3 Metropolitan Adelaide
Recovery Rate Performance
Table 3 shows the three different recovery rates for each of the 19 metropolitan councils with the previous
year’s igures as a contrast. A description of the organics and food waste diversion service they offer
residents is also provided. The councils are ranked from highest performer to lowest by the 3-bin recovery
rates, but colour coding also provides relative ranking for their recyclables and organics recovery rates.
This shows some of the compounding issues that make up the 3-bin recovery rates. For example, the lowest
ranked council does not have as much residential garden area and cannot collect organics quantities at
levels equivalent to other councils. However, their recyclables recovery rate is close to the Metropolitan
Adelaide median value. This is further investigated in Figure 9.
For the irst time, nearly 80% of these councils have three-bin recovery rates greater than 50%. The best
performing councils have full organics bin coverage, supplemented with a food caddy and are located
in an area with a high greenness index. Additionally, trials have shown that weekly organics collection has
raised the 3-bin recovery rates.
Figure 5 provides the 3-bin recovery rates from the 19 Metropolitan Adelaide councils over a number of
years. Although expressed as a 3-bin rate, in a decreasing number of councils householders may have had a
two-bin only at kerbside as some systems were opt-in.
Figure 5. Metropolitan Adelaide Kerbside
Three-bin Recovery Rates, 2021-22
Recovery Rate (%)
2021-22
2020-21
2019-20
2018-19
2002-03
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
Table 3. Recovery Rates Achieved by each
Metropolitan Adelaide Council, 2021-22.
2021-22 2020-21
Sub-Regions Change* 3-bin RR Rec. RR Org. RR 3-bin RR Rec. RR Org. RR
Greenness
index
Food Waste System
Central Eastern
59.9 35.5 48.5 58.4 35.2 46.3 0.171 Area-wide
Central Eastern
58.7 34.7 47.2 60.1 35.8 48.8 0.200 Area-wide
Southern
58.3 32.5 47.8 57.1 32.3 46.0 0.230 Opt-in
Central Eastern
57.7 33.5 46.3 59.1 35.4 47.3 0.176 Opt-in
Western
57.0 33.9 44.8 55.9 34.3 42.7 0.141 Area-wide
Southern
55.0 29.7 44.5 52.1 28.4 40.9 0.163 Area-wide
Central Eastern
54.9 30.0 44.1 53.9 29.4 42.9 0.152 Area-wide
Central Eastern
54.4 32.6 41.5 53.9 32.8 40.6 0.146 Area-wide
Western
53.1 29.5 41.7 51.7 28.5 40.2 0.138 Opt-in
Western
52.3 28.3 41.2 50.4 26.7 39.5 0.148 Opt-in
Central Eastern
52.3 31.7 38.7 53.0 33.1 38.8 N/A Opt-in
Northern
52.1 29.0 40.4 51.3 28.8 39.4 0.173 Opt-in
Central Eastern
52.0 28.7 40.5 53.6 29.5 42.4 0.149 Area-wide
Southern
50.8 26.7 40.1 50.0 26.7 38.8 0.178 Opt-in
Northern
50.2 27.6 38.4 45.3 24.9 33.2 0.162 Opt-in
Western
49.3 2 7.7 37.0 50.0 2 7.7 38.1 0.136 Area-wide
Northern
47.8 25.1 36.8 45.4 24.2 33.8 0.147 Opt-in
Northern
39.8 24.4 25.3 39.9 25.4 24.5 0.143 Opt-in
Central Eastern
36.0 27.5 15.5 37.9 29.7 15.8 0.111 Opt-in
* Change of the 3-bin rate over the previous year. Larger arrows indicate changes greater than 1%.
In 2021-22, 12 out of the 19 councils managed to increase their 3-bin recovery rates.
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
2.4 Bin Presentation and Effective
Recovery Rate Performance
Not all the material presented at kerbside was placed in the correct bin by householders. Sometimes
this material is incorrectly perceived as “contamination” but it represents a lost opportunity. In addition
to lowering the effective recovery rate, incorrectly placed material interferes with sorting at materials
recovery facilities (MRFs) and commercial composting facilities. Apart from wasting resources that may
otherwise be recycled, this also devalues its worth in potential markets. The analysis of the contents of
the bins was detailed in Appendix 1 of South Australia’s Kerbside Waste Performance Report 2018-19 [GISA
2021]. The 2018-19 kerbside report identiied that 2% of material in the organics bin on average cannot
be recovered. Similarly, the recyclables bin on average has about 17% non-recyclable material. Industry
consultations have conirmed that these igures are consistent with their indings and that “contamination”
of recycling bins, and to a lesser extent organics bins, continues to be an issue. An effective Metropolitan
Adelaide diversion rate can be calculated and is presented in Figure 6 below.
Figure 6. Comparing presentation and effective
recovery rates at kerbside.
Total
Materials
Recovery
Rate
Presented
(tonne)
(tonne)
527,000 51.5%
Eective
527,000 47.5%
Residual
256,000
277,000
Recyclables
103,000
89,300
Organics
169,000
165,000
Several kerbside waste audits were undertaken by both metropolitan and regional councils in recent
years to determine the behaviour of residents in using the waste bins. The audits of metropolitan Adelaide
kerbside bins have shown that the residual bin can contain from 35-60% organics (much of which is food
organics), as well as around 12-14% recyclables. These materials should have been placed in the organics
and recyclables bins respectively. Signiicant improvements in the recovery rate would be achieved
if food waste was placed in the green organics bin. This shows that just considering food organics,
conservatively, at least 100,000 tonnes of food material is available to be diverted from residual bins
presented at metropolitan Adelaide kerbside.
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
2.5 Long Term Trends
The long-term recovery trends by bin type for metropolitan Adelaide is represented graphically in Figure 7.
The three-bin recovery rate has improved 0.9% over the previous year for the metropolitan Adelaide area
compared with 2.5% improvement against 2010-11 performance. Fluctuations in metropolitan Adelaide’s rate
tend to be due largely to weather factors and garden organics produced but improvements in garden and
food organics collection systems are increasing recovery rates.
Figure 7. Comparison of three-bin recovery rates
for Metro Adelaide from 2010-11 to 2021-22
60
40
20
2011
2013
2015
2017
2019
2021
Recovery Rate (%)
3
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
Factors Affecting
Recovery Rates
3.1 Food Waste Collection Systems
Table 3 indicates where food caddy systems have been deployed and how effective these have been
for the metropolitan Adelaide area. Currently most of these councils offer free caddies, although in some
councils, this is on an opt-in basis rather than council-wide roll-out. For some councils, the availability of
food caddy systems on their websites could be more prominent to make it easier for residents, but food
caddies may have been promoted in other ways.
A full council-wide rollout of food waste diversion systems and increased frequency of collection, including
to multi-unit dwellings, across Adelaide will lift the recovery rate signiicantly. Councils with opt-in organics
collections should complete the organics bins rollout to all households before more food caddies are
deployed. These councils will continue to achieve low recovery rates at kerbside until they do so.
3.2 Garden vegetation
High levels of garden organics tend to boost overall recovery rates (Table 3). Councils with opt-in organics
services tend to have lower three-bin recovery rates. Some drier council areas also have alternative recovery
options such as resident drop-off facilities, which would not be relected in three-bin recovery igures.
Adelaide’s rainfall was higher in 2021-22 relative to previous years (Table 4), contributing to a 4.2% increase
in organics collected compared with 2020-21.
Table 4. Total Rainfall (mm) Recorded at Kent Town/ West
Terrace for Financial Years (periods ending June 30)
Year 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Rainfall (mm) 413 647 377 523 716 487 456 451* 425 446
*From 2019-20 rainfall measurements were made at West Terrace as the Bureau of Meteorology had closed Kent Town station.
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
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Figure 8 shows annual rainfall and total of each of bins collected at kerbside for the years 2003-04 to 2021-22.
Volumes of organics collected drop in dry years, although this is offset by watering of gardens and rainfall
patterns across the year.
Figure 8. Trends of kerbside waste tonnages by bin
for Metro Adelaide from 2003-04 to 2021-22
‘000 (tonnes)
Year
Rainfall (mm)
300
250
200
150
100
1000
800
600
400
200
2005 2010
2015 2020
Residual Recyclables Organics Rainfall
The organics recovery rate was plotted against the greenness index for each metropolitan Adelaide
council (except Adelaide Hills) (Figure 9) to illustrate that the recovery rate is linked to levels of organic
waste presented at kerbside, i.e., councils who can produce more green waste have more waste to
recycle and could achieve better recovery rates. Conversely, councils with a residential area served by
higher numbers of multi-unit dwellings and very little garden area per dwelling will score lower on a
greenness index and are likely to score lower for recovery rates.
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
Highlighted in (Figure 9) are those councils who have a full food waste system deployed to their residents.
Most of these councils scored above the trend line regardless of their greenness index which conirms that
food waste diversion systems when rolled out across whole council areas do increase the recovery rate of
waste at kerbside.
Food waste diversion systems when rolled out across whole council areas do increase the recovery rate of
waste at kerbside.
Figure 9. Organics recovery rate against the
greenness index for each Metropolitan council
(except Adelaide Hills)
Predicted increase in organics
recovery due to increase in
available green waste
Central Eastern
50
40
30
20
0.150.10 0.20 0.25
Full Food Waste System Roll Out Greenness Index
Greenness Index
Central Eastern
Western
Southern
Western
Central Eastern
Western
Western
Central Eastern
Northern
Central Eastern
Northern
Central Eastern
Central Eastern
Southern
Organics Recovery Rate (%)
Northern
Northern
Southern
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
3.3 Recyclables
In recent years, there has been a trend to reduce the weight of glass and steel packaging or to replace these
materials with lighter plastics, and consumers are reading more information digitally which results in fewer
physical copies of newspapers and magazines. Newspaper sales fell 44% between 2005 and mid 2018 (see
Wikipedia (2019)).
This has led to a decrease in the volume and, in particular, the weight of material being recycled – though this
may be offset to some extend in the future by increased amounts of cardboard as the trend towards online
shopping increases, in particular during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Waste avoidance can lead to less waste produced which may lower the recovery rates if this results in less
recyclables presented at kerbside. To offset this drop, less material must be presented in residual bins and
changes to householder behaviour such as food waste diversion are essential.
3.4 Economic and demographic
Economic and demographic factors inluence the amount of kerbside waste and recovery rates. Residual
waste per person has remained steady in recent years, but total kerbside waste has increased with
population increases. With more waste generated there is the possibility of more recyclables generated.
More organics can be produced from gardens being watered in dry years. All these individual factors
create a situation where the recovery rate for these residents can go up, but ironically they may be
generating more waste overall.
Each council has a mix of residents – from young families to older couples – which affects the proile of
waste presented. ABS analysis from the 2016 census shows that some councils have slowing population
growth (e.g. Prospect), while others are attracting young families and have increasing populations (e.g.
Onkaparinga and Marion). Each situation presents its own demographic and infrastructure challenges.
High-rise developments affect bin system rollouts, and as there are no gardens per household, three-bin
recovery rates decrease in areas with large numbers of these developments (e.g. central Adelaide). The
recovery rate is related to household income, and councils with higher household incomes have tended to
adopt a full three-bin system with food caddy to all households.
There are also many other factors that underlie this situation – such as awareness programs and education
levels of households.
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Conclusions
This report examines the effectiveness of the kerbside bin systems in metropolitan Adelaide using the
recovery rate as an indicator. The most effective system in use during 2021-22, achieving up to 60% recovery
rates, was the three-bin system with weekly residual collection, fortnightly recyclables and organics
collection, which was supplemented with a kitchen caddy to further divert food waste.
All metropolitan Adelaide councils have a three-bin system but some are opt-in only for the organics service.
The generation of kerbside waste materials by households remained relatively stable over the study
period. Improved recycling services have increased the amount of resources recovered and reduced the
amount of material being disposed to landill.
The recovery rate is an indicator of recycling performance. Both three-bin and recyclables recovery rates
have been discussed and the latter attempts to show waste diversion without seasonal effects. Various
factors inluence the recovery rate at a local level or regional level:
•
Weather – rain tends to increase organics
weight and inlates recovery rates
•
Packaging – may reduce the recycling rate
in the longer term as heavier material such as
glass and steel cans are light-weighted or
replaced by lighter plastics, or with materials
not recyclable at kerbside
•
Less newsprint is being presented at kerbside
•
Geography – density of housing and natural
rainfall affects opportunities for vegetation
growth
•
The use of opt-in system for organics
collections in some councils has led to
performances where recovery rates are seven
to 10 percentage points lower than those with
full organics bin roll out, but the increasing
number of households take-up is enabling
these councils to close the gap.
•
Education programs, in addition to state-wide
communications campaigns will assist councils
to raise recovery rates through consistency of
message across the state.
•
Deploying a uniform three-bin system with food
caddies will lead to greater recovery rates.
More frequent organics collection will lift the
recovery rates even further.
•
Economic and social attributes, such as
household income and spending, inluence
the recovery rate. Additionally, the residual
waste per person should also be viewed
when considering long term trends. The
data used for this report, and some obtained
from other sources, show that there are still
potential opportunities for greater diversion of
recyclable material from the residual bins.
•
Uniformity in the waste management message
to residents across the whole SA community
reduces confusion and increases good waste
management practices and recovery rates.
4
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
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Appendix 1
A1.1 Methodology
This report collates waste and recycling data from GISA and Adelaide Metropolitan councils.
Metropolitan Adelaide councils provide GISA with a monthly breakdown, in tonnes, of residual waste, co-
mingled recyclables and organics collected at kerbside. As the waste material streams are weighed on
weighbridges, the accuracy of metropolitan Adelaide data is relatively high.
All waste and recycling quantities in this report have been rounded to improve readability and relect accuracy.
GISA has grouped councils by geographic location and other existing associations into regions taking into
consideration household numbers. It should be noted that co-operative arrangements between councils
in relation to waste management may exist outside the council groupings used in this report.
The three-bin recovery rate is deined as the percentage of waste that is recovered for recycling from the
total kerbside waste. It can be expressed as:
3−Bin Recovery Rate =
organics + recyclables
x 100%
organics + recyclables + residual
The organics recovery rate is deined as the percentage of total waste from the residual and organics bin
that is recovered for recycling using the organics kerbside waste. It can be expressed as:
Organics Recovery Rate =
organics
x 100%
organics + residual
Similarly, the recyclables recovery rate is used as a way to examine trends in the recovery rate without the
effects of variations in annual rainfall. It is expressed as:
Recyclables Recovery Rate =
recyclables
x 100%
recyclables + residual
Demographic data (population and household igures) is based on igures from the Australian Bureau of
Statistics (ABS) and is based largely on the census result of 2021. ‘Occupied dwellings’ is used for serviced-
households igures from ABS 2021 Census data.
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
A1.2 Greenness Index
Different councils have varying geographical areas, rainfall and home garden areas per household. To help
in assessing the effect of relative “greenness” of a council on the rate of recovery due to green waste,
a greenness index was calculated for each metropolitan Adelaide council. Spatial analysis applied to
imagery of the metropolitan Adelaide area produced Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
values ranging from +1.0 to -1.0. Higher NDVI values indicate healthier, or greener, vegetation. Only 18 of the
19 metropolitan Adelaide councils are covered as the aerial survey did not include Adelaide Hills Council.
The survey was carried out in late September 2018 by Aerometrex for the Department for Environment
and Water who authorised its use by GISA. The timing of the aerial capture of the imagery is appropriate
for the purpose since local conditions ensure that vegetation is at its greenest and it is expected that this
accurately relects the difference between greener and drier areas.
To ensure a focus on residential waste presented at kerbside, only residential areas were selected from
the land use dataset (Department for Infrastructure and Transport, 2019). This ensures results only include
green waste arising from residential land and exclude parks, street trees, and other vegetation on publicly
owned property.
The zonal statistics tool was used to calculate an average greenness value of all the residential properties
within a council boundary for each local government area.
Note that deriving a future set of average greenness index values will depend on local conditions at that
time, such as immediate past rainfall and the season. Consequently, any such calculations are expected to
vary from those generated in this initial work.
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
Glossary
Commercial and Industrial waste (C&I) Comprises solid waste generated by the business sector as
well as solid waste created by state and federal government
entities, schools, and tertiary institutions.
Construction and Demolition waste (C&D)
Includes waste from residential, civil and commercial
construction and demolition activities, such as ill material
(e.g. soil), asphalt, bricks and timber. C&D waste excludes
construction waste from owner/ occupier renovations, which is
included in the municipal waste stream.
Container Deposit Scheme (CDS)
A refundable charge imposed on a range of recyclable beverage
containers. The deposit is included in the retail price and refunded
when the container is returned to a collection point.
East Waste
East Waste Management Authority is a regional subsidiary of
local councils formed under the Local Government Act 1999
to provide effective waste collection services for its member
councils: Adelaide Hill Council, City of Burnside, Campbelltown
City Council, City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters, City of
Mitcham, City of Prospect, City of Unley, and Town of Walkerville.
Food caddy
A kitchen benchtop food container for the collection of household
food waste, to be placed in the organic waste bin. It also accepts
AS 4736 / AS 5810 barrier bags and ibre-based materials.
FOGO
Food Organics Green Organics, a common name used for the
green organics bin
Food Organics
Organic waste derived from food preparation and/or surplus
food. It includes compostable items such as paper straws and
contaminated pizza boxes.
Garden organics
Organics derived from garden sources e.g. grass clippings, tree
prunings.
Hard waste
Large materials that are not suitable for collection in the kerbside
three-bin system. Common items include furniture, appliances
and mattresses.
Kerbside collection
Collection of household waste, recyclable materials (separated
or co-mingled), and organic waste that are left at the kerbside for
collection by local council collection service.
Municipal solid waste
Solid waste generated from domestic (household) premises
and council activities such as street sweeping, litter and street
tree lopping. May also includes waste dropped off at recycling
centres, transfer stations and construction waste from owner/
occupier renovations
NAWMA
Northern Adelaide Waste Management Association is a regional
subsidiary of local councils formed under the Local Government Act
1999 to provide waste management and resource recovery services
for the City of Salisbury, City of Playford and Town of Gawler. Its clients
also include businesses, industry and regional councils.
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Metropolitan Adelaide’s Kerbside
Waste Performance Report 2021-22
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2022, 2021 Census QuickStats Dwelling Count, https://abs.gov.au/census/ind-
census-data/quickstats/2021/AUS
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2022, https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/regional-population-age-and-sex/latest-release.
APC Environmental Management 2012, Optimum Compaction Rate for Kerbside Recyclables, https://www.
greenindustries.sa.gov.au/resources/optimum-compaction-rate-for-kerbside-recyclables-(2012).
Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) 2019, Land Use Generalised data, https://data.sa.gov.au/data/
dataset/land-use-generalised.
GISA (Green Industries SA) 2020, South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-25, https://www.greenindustries.sa.gov.
au/resources/sa-waste-strategy-2020-2025.
Green Industries SA (GISA) 2022, Monthly MSW Quantities (tonnes) 2021-22, internal data.
Green Industries SA (GISA) 2022, Regional Transport Subsidies Program, internal data.
Green Industries SA (GISA) 2022, Grants Provided to Councils and Their Subsidiaries, internal data.
Green Industries SA (GISA) 2023, SA Better Practice Guide: Sustainable Kerbside Service, https://www.
greenindustries.sa.gov.au/resources/sa-better-practice-guide-sustainable-kerbside-services
Northern Adelaide Waste Management Authority (NAWMA) 2022, NAWMA Annual Report 2021-22, https://
www.nawma.sa.gov.au/about-nawma/corporate-documents.
Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group (MWRRG) 2017, Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery
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SA Environment Protection Authority (SA EPA) 2002, Consultancy Report: Survey and Audit of Kerbside Waste and
Recycling Practices, internal report.
SA Environment Protection Authority (SA EPA) 2021, CDS Discussion Paper, https://www.epa.sa.gov.au/
iles/15078_cds_discussion_paper_sep2021.pdf.
SA Environment Protection Authority (SA EPA) 2009, Environment Protection Regulations 2009, clause 75, https://
www.legislation.sa.gov.au/lz?path=%2FC%2FR%2FEnvironment%20Protection%20Regulations%202009.
Wikipedia 2019, List of newspapers in Australian by circulation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_
newspapers_in_Australia_by_circulation.
