NSW Local Government Waste Data Survey Data Quality Statement

NSW Local Government Waste Data Survey (the Survey)

(Previously the Local Government Waste and Resource Recovery Survey)

Questions in the Survey relate to the characteristics and provision of domestic, public and street waste and recycling services in NSW local government areas. In addition, there are specific questions relating to natural disaster resilience and the impact of declared natural disaster waste.

The Survey is primarily intended to collect information on waste generated from municipal sources. It is not intended to include waste generated from commercial and industrial or construction and demolition streams, however in limited cases, council responses may include nominal amounts from other streams where it was unable to be reported separately.

The information collected is used by the waste and recycling industry, all levels of government and the NSW EPA.

The data covers the following geographic areas:

• State (NSW)
• Local Government Area (LGA)
• Solid waste levy area
• Regional organisations of councils / council joint organisations

The NSW EPA and NSW Government are committed to producing data that is accurate, complete and useful. Notwithstanding its commitment to data quality, NSW Government gives no warranty as to the fitness of this data for a particular purpose. While every effort is made to ensure data quality, the data is provided as is. The burden for fitness of the data relies completely with the user. NSW Government shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data.

The data contained is historic data as reported by councils and may differ from other EPA published numbers.

Note the total figures may not represent the sum of the component numbers due to rounding.

When comparing the figures for local government areas (LGAs), it is important to consider regional variations in consumption patterns, available services, data availability and difference in the interpretation of survey questions.

The NSW EPA is unable to check or validate every input and it is assumed that council inputs are accurate. Where council data was not available, data may be substituted from the previous year.

Historical data has been substituted for the following years and councils:

• 2022–23: Brewarrina and Kiama
• 2023–24: Brewarrina and Burwood

Not all survey questions are mandatory and a council may not have provided a response or provided a partial response. In this case no response has been registered as ‘not applicable’ or 0. Therefore data points and totals are calculated based on participating council responses for each question.

1. Estimated Resident Population (ERP)
   Regional population, 2023–24 financial year | Australian Bureau of Statistics
2. Exchange for Change Local Government Area network reports
   EFC - Exchange for Change
3. Waste levy areas
   Waste levy areas and levy rates

While the NSW EPA makes historical data available, any comparisons over time should be made with caution. In line with the current period, figures from previous years should also be treated as estimates and users of the data should take steps to validate as necessary for their purpose.

Consideration should be given to council amalgamations/de-amalgamations.

The Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Amendment (Waste Facility Contributions) Regulation 2024 removed the Kyogle local government area from the Regional Levy Area (RLA) from 1 March 2024 to 1 July 2027. For 2023–24, Kyogle is considered RLA and will be considered non levy area for future surveys until 1 July 2027 in line with the Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Regulation 2014.

The former solid waste levied areas, the Extended Regional Area (ERA) and Sydney Metropolitan Area (SMA) are now collectively known as the Metropolitan Levy Area (MLA) as set out in the NSW Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Regulation 2014.

Overview of changes from 2023–24 onwards:

The NSW EPA no longer collects discrete data on tonnes of kerbside garbage/red bin waste being sent to and processed at alternative waste treatment (AWT) facilities.

Mixed Waste Organic Outputs (MWOO) from AWT facilities are no longer included in recycling calculations.

This reporting change was necessary to reflect the latest information on the suitability of MWOO for productive use, which has been under review by the NSW EPA for several years.

For the 2023–24 period, additional information was included to account for MWOO used for sulfidic tailings dam rehabilitation and other material extracted as part of the AWT process and sent for recycling.

From 2024–25, all MWOO will be considered disposed of in landfill. Other recovery from residual waste processed at AWT facilities, e.g. the extracted metals, will be included upon council request where data is available.

This is not a change to, or measure of, the efficiency of AWT facilities and is a correction to reporting based on the primary end use of the material.

Key issues:

There is a perception that the MWOO from AWT facilities is recovered. This material is primarily disposed of in landfill or used as cover on landfill and therefore not considered by the NSW EPA to have been recovered. This is because the material is not going to productive use.

This change will continue in future years and aligns with the Australian standard for waste and resource recovery data and reporting.

Impact:

Recycling rates may decrease in the immediate term for a small number of councils due to this correction. This also means that recycling rates for 2023–24 may not be directly comparable to previous years as, up to and including 2022–23, all MWOO was included in recycling calculations.

The impact is minimal for most councils as recycled material predominantly comes from other kerbside bins, drop off and clean up services as well as material attributed to the NSW Container Deposit Scheme.

The continued rollout of organics services and diversion of organic material from garbage bins to organics bins is expected to increase recycling rates over time.

For 2023–24, 13 councils indicated recycling or diversion from AWT facilities. This was down from 18 in 2022–23 and this number will continue to decrease with the continued rollout of kerbside organics services.

The use of MWOO for rehabilitation and other AWT outputs:

In response to council feedback on AWT outputs, the NSW EPA requested additional data from impacted councils on:

1. MWOO diverted from landfill for sulfidic tailings dam rehabilitation.

Note: this excludes MWOO disposed of in or used as cover for landfill.

2. Other extracted material sent for recycling, such as metals.

A small amount of recycling and diversion from landfill occurred and this material was included in the recycling calculations for 2023–24 to support councils through the reporting changes. 

Combined, the material represented 1.4% of all material recycled or diverted from landfill, refer to Appendix 1 for more information. This drops to below 0.1% excluding diversion for sulfidic tailings dam rehabilitation which will be the case following the end of the applicable trial.

Mass change at AWT Facilities:

The AWT process results in mass loss of waste due to moisture reduction. This is not directly attributed to recycling however does have the benefit of reducing the mass (tonnes) of MWOO landfilled.

The NSW EPA has received information from councils and AWT facilities indicating the amount of moisture reduction which occurs in the AWT process in Appendix 2.

Container deposit scheme figures in this report are derived from data provided by the scheme network operator for each LGA and type of material, using a conversion factor for the number of containers per tonne. The method used to convert the number of containers redeemed is updated every six months. For the current method or that used in 2022–23 refer to EFC - Exchange for Change.

The NSW EPA’s reported figure for the container deposit scheme includes containers collected from the Return and Earn network of reverse vending machines, reverse vending centres, automated depots, over the counter sites and donation stations. 

This reporting method differs from the Return and Earn Annual Report, where the total tonnage for Return and Earn includes both container deposit scheme network volumes and eligible containers processed by materials recovery facilities on behalf of Return and Earn.

Data quality issues were identified with the way Domestic waste and bulky waste pickup material was being captured and processed.

Up to 2022–23 councils entered the total tonnes of material collected (high response rate) then disaggregated by material type. The response rate dropped significantly when requested to disaggregate by material type.

In many cases it was not possible to disaggregate and there were significant examples where no disaggregation was provided or disaggregated figures did not match the total amount of material. This means that some councils had a total but no disaggregation or the disaggregation/total were likely incorrect. This presented problems when the data was mapped back to organics and meant that not all councils had the same data points.

The revised survey design only requests total tonnes and fate i.e. recycled or disposed. This is then aggregated under Total Council Tonnes Domestic Waste collected and recycled or disposed. This change was made to increase data quality, remove disparate data points and capture the true fate of the material for each council.

The Survey uses a best available approach to data collection reflecting the large number of councils with varied waste management arrangements. This promotes equality across councils with different operating environments. Mass change cannot be equitably factored in across the state.

Specific interventions are not made for moisture loss or gain, noting the high variability in weight and local environmental factors across the state.

Additional complexities include:

• High variability in weight of organic material
• Varying local environmental factors
• Limitations of council information systems and resources
• Scenarios where organic waste is sent to multiple facilities or processed at a mixed use site

The recycling rates provided within the dataset are estimates calculated by the NSW EPA based on data provided by councils. The rates are provided for use as/if required however are not binding. Councils may wish to use an alternative method.

These rates are not reflective of commercial and industrial or construction and demolition activity in a local government area. The rates are not directly comparable to other rates including NSW waste and recycling performance data or national waste reporting as the data sources differ.

There may be nominal tonnes of waste recovered from the kerbside garbage (red) bin and public place garbage bins. These values are considered immaterial to overall recycling at both an individual council and NSW level and examples of this are included in Appendix 1. The majority of material ends up in landfill.

Tonnes collected from the kerbside garbage (red) bin and public place garbage bins are assumed to be disposed of in landfill. There is minimal to no recycling from this source. Recycled material predominantly comes from other kerbside bins, drop off and clean up services as well as material attributed to the NSW Container Deposit Scheme.

The 2023–24 Survey included a question on tonnes recovered from public place garbage bins however a low response rate and data quality issues prevented it from being used.

1. The Local Government Waste and Resource Recovery Survey (LG WaRR Survey) will now be known as the Local Government Waste Data Survey (LG WDS). This is to reduce confusion and differentiate it from the NSW Waste and Resource Reporting Portal (WARRP).
2. The Survey has been moved to a new platform with improvements to question layout, input fields and response options.
3. Existing questions have been refined to clarify the scope, simplify the wording and reduce duplication. The scope is now primarily municipal or domestic waste.
4. Redundant questions have been removed where the data was not being published.
5. New questions have been added for Declared Natural Disaster Waste and Natural Disaster Resilience to formalise data collection and build an evidence base to inform future programs or responses.

1. The previous collection, preparation and publication of local government waste data required significant resourcing by both councils and the EPA.
2. The updated LG WDS aims to make data collection simpler for councils completing it and reduce the processing time between the Survey and publication of results.
3. The EPA has made improvements as we heard from councils that the scope and questions needed to be clearer and less repetitive, and that the layout was complex and difficult to complete.

1. The EPA will continue to collect domestic waste data on properties, waste charges and costs, kerbside collection services, waste services and contracts and other council waste collection services.
2. Councils and operators that report in the WARRP are still required to do so.