Superfy provides a data-driven solution helping the City of Bunbury achieve their waste reduction targets and reduce operational costs
City of Bunbury’s waste management plan
Bunbury is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, approximately 175 kilometres south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state’s third most populous city after Perth and Mandurah, with a population of approximately 75,000.
Reducing waste and preserving their environment is one of the City of Bunbury’s major priorities. The City is aligned with the State’s Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery (WARR) Strategy 2030, a long-term plan for continuous improvement of waste management and is benchmarked against best practice. The strategy includes targets for waste avoidance, resource recovery and environmental protection, as well as the diversion of waste disposed to landfill.
A leader in the WAR on waste
The city’s main objective is to be recognised as a leader in the WARR on waste; to become a sustainable, low-waste, circular economy in which human health and the environment are protected from the impacts of waste.
Reducing waste and preserving their environment is one of the City of Bunbury’s major priorities.
A smart solar compacting solution
Working closely with Superfy, the City of Bunbury deployed 22 smart bins across Koombana Bay Foreshore, Jetty Baths and Sykes Foreshore Playground. These smart bins compact the waste at regular intervals and as a result they hold more than 5 times the amount of waste of an ordinary 120 L waste bin. In addition, the smart bins use sensors inside to monitor fill levels and when ready for collection, they send a notification to the waste management company.
“We anticipate the contamination rates will only improve over the next year as there is a growing trend towards use of compostable packaging, plates, cups and utensils.”
Joanne Walker
Waste Education Project Officer for the City of Albury
A 6 X reduction in collections
By deploying these smart bins across the city, collections were dramatically reduced, resulting in lower operational costs and a reduction in the environmental impact. According to Joanne Walker, the Waste Education Project Officer for the City “Using Superfy’s Smart Waste and Recycling System, we have been able to reduce our collections from 24 times per month to just 4 collections per month.”
In addition, the improved branding supported by Superfy for the FOGO (Food Organic and Garden Organics) bins resulted in a 50% reduction in contamination rates. Food, soiled paper and cardboard are being re-directed away from the recycle bins, with napkins, paper bags, paper plates, and pizza boxes now going into FOGO bins.
Commenting on the improvement and positive trend towards a more sustainable environment, Joanne said ‘We anticipate the contamination rates will only improve over the next year as there is a growing trend towards use of compostable packaging, plates, cups and utensils by regional service providers, who are moving away from single use plastics as they become banned under the State’s Plan for Plastics’
Bunbury was the first Local Government in Western Australia to introduce the three-bin FOGO system and has shown consistently high performance thereafter.
The improved branding supported by Superfy for the FOGO (Food Organic and Garden Organics) bins resulted in a 50% reduction in contamination rates.
