Municipal Recycling and Recovery Data
In 2005, the Waste Management Board funded MWAC to develop a system which could provide a clearer picture about municipal recycling and resource recovery trends in Western Australia. MWAC went away and created a flexible database and a simple analysis framework to provide both the Board and member councils 6 monthly reports on a variety of aspect of their performance over time.
The Data Source
All of the data used in generating the reports is derived from the Resource Recovery Rebate Scheme (RRRS) and its predecessor, the Municipal Recycling Scheme (MRS). The data obtained through these schemes were assiduously collated and audited for the purpose of calculating recycling and recovery rebates. As a consequence, the data slightly underestimate the real recycling and recovery levels which were achieved across the state from 1998 onwards. However, given the rigor with which the data were vetted, we are confident that the data boast a high degree of integrity.
Every six months the Board and the Minister receive a comprehensive report from the RRRS setting out what has been recycled or recovered and what amount of rebate should be paid to each applicant Council. This report concerns only the immediate reporting period and is part of the system of checks to ensure that the rebates are properly managed. It does not provide a useful means of comparing and analysing municipal recycling performance and trends in Western Australia.
The State-wide Report
As part of the Data Project, MWAC developed a new State-wide Report which enables the Board and individual Councils to consider broad trends developing over the past 8 years. The structure of the report reflects the structure of the RRRS, in as much as recycling tonnages are broken down into the Kerb-side, Verge-side and Drop-Off collection methods. Meanwhile resource recovery tonnages are separately collated – because of the need to be able to separate out composted materials from those which undergo traditional recycling. The State-wide report provides slices of the data reflecting the different Council types – broadly defined as Metropolitan (ie Perth), Non-Metro Urban and Rural/Remote. The State-wide report also provides comparisons of the main three Kerb-side collection modes and their respective yields. State-wide Reports are available at the links below.
The Individual Council Reports
Individual Councils now receive a tailor-made report which relies on the same data set but provides more detailed analysis of a variety of aspects of the Council’s recycling and resource recovery operations. Once again, the report shows time series data, enabling each Council a much clearer picture of its progress since it began participating in the RRRS (or MRS). Copies of every Individual Council Report are provided to the Board each reporting period and every Council receives a copy of their own report shortly afterwards. A sample Individual Council Report is available from one of the links below.