A new bypass lane has opened at the Birkdale Waste Transfer Station, allowing residents carrying green waste to skip the queue at the gatehouse during weekends and peak periods.
Redland City Mayor Karen Williams, who officially opened the new infrastructure today, said the bypass lane was constructed over a four-week period as part of the two-year $7 million Birkdale Rehabilitation Project.
“Earlier this year, Council recognised the need to improve access to the Birkdale Waste Transfer Station for residents carrying green waste and built the bypass lane to reduce delays at the gatehouse during peak periods,” she said.
“With storm season upon us, today’s opening is particularly timely with many residents cleaning up their backyards over the weekends in case of strong winds and heavy rains.”
Divisional Councillor and Deputy Mayor Alan Beard said the bypass lane was expected to significantly reduce delays for all vehicles during peak periods and minimise traffic queuing onto Old Cleveland Road East, which was a win for the whole community.
“The Birkdale waste transfer station received over 178,473 residential customers in 2014-15, of which 69,492 residential customers were seeking to dispose of greenwaste only.”
Council’s waste spokesperson Cr Paul Gleeson said “Waste is an unavoidable reality of modern life, with more than 108,000 tonnes of waste managed by our city last financial year, 95 per cent of which was produced by households,” he said.
“Despite a 47 per cent resource recovery rate, higher than the average across south-east Queensland, just over half of household waste collected was landfilled and no doubt included recyclable and reusable materials and organic matter.
“We know that burying green waste in landfill is a big problem, yet its harmful effects can be easily avoided by separating lawn clippings, tree prunings and leaves from general waste and using it as a resource instead.
“In 2014-15, more than 28,000 tonnes of green waste was recovered from our network of eight waste transfer stations, composted offsite and reused in soil products and land reclamation and enhancement projects.
“Green living is a priority for Redland City Council and the more we can recycle, reuse and recover, the less waste needs to go to landfill.”
Visit the Waste and Recycling page on Council’s website to learn more about waste management in the Redlands.