<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jul/04/weak-link-in-sydneys-waste-disposal-infrastructure-could-leave-city-with-piles-of-uncollected-garbage>
"Sydney is fast running out of landfill and an “emerging weak link” in the plan
for how the city manages solid waste in the future could see uncollected
garbage left piling up at hospitals and other businesses, experts warn.
Sydney has increasingly been sending its waste out of the city and its
dwindling landfill capacities have long been acknowledged by the industry and
relevant authorities. Some experts estimate Sydney will no longer be able to
bury any of its own rubbish within city limits from as early as 2028.
The New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is slightly more
optimistic, projecting that capacity at Sydney’s four remaining active landfill
sites – including at Eastern Creek and near the Lucas Heights nuclear site –
will fall short of demand from 2030.
Solid waste generated by Sydney’s more than 5 million residents and businesses
is carried by freight trains to regional landfill sites. But advocacy group and
urban thinktank the Committee for Sydney argues this is not sustainable due to
a “weak link” in the city’s infrastructure.
In its report –
No weak links: limiting the impact of infrastructure failure
on Sydney’s essential services – released on Wednesday, the committee warns
that Sydney’s strategy of sending solid waste by rail out of the city depends
on ageing tracks that have previously been shut down for multiple days in a row
due to the rail infrastructure’s vulnerability to intense rain and flooding."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
