Greater Sydney Waste Leadership Forum

The EPA and councils in Greater Sydney have a shared responsibility for delivery and support of waste management and resource recovery for the communities of Greater Sydney.

To enable a partnership approach, the Greater Sydney Waste Leadership Forum was established in December 2023.

The NSW Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041 is a whole of Government strategy that outlines the actions that will be taken to move towards a circular economy in NSW and meet recovery and waste minimisation targets.

Local councils have waste strategies that outline the priority actions and strategic waste management initiatives for their local government areas. This Forum seeks to establish a collaborative partnership to co-design, develop, support, advise and share plans and knowledge to achieve these actions and targets.

Membership of the Forum includes the: 

  • Northern Sydney Region of Councils
  • Southern Sydney Region of Councils
  • Western Sydney Region of Councils
  • The Parks Councils
  • Resilient Sydney and the
  • NSW Environment Protection Authority

The Leadership Forum will:  

  • identify and drive delivery of priority waste and resource recovery related projects
  • identify and seek to resolve barriers to progress
  • support ongoing partnership activities within the region
  • facilitate the sharing of information, evidence and data to contribute towards the delivery and achievement of agreed priorities

The Leadership Forum will meet at least four times a year.

Meetings

The Greater Sydney Waste Leadership Forum (the Forum) met on Thursday 13 June, consisting of the CEOs of Resilient Sydney, Regional Organisations of Councils in Sydney and the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) CEO and senior executives.

The Forum recognised the uniqueness and strength of the cross government collaboration and that it has established a value creating dynamic across Greater Sydney.

The draft waste action plan was presented and discussed with the Forum committing to develop a plan that spans the next two year cycle of the Greater Sydney Waste and Resource Recovery Memorandum of Understanding. Once finalised, the plan will set out key tasks and responsibilities that the Forum will focus its efforts on.

To better understand opportunities and policy levers, governance maps and funding pathways were considered alongside the draft plan. The plan is currently with all members for feedback and will require further development before a final plan is agreed upon.

Progress towards sharing research and best practice resources through an online library was also presented to the Forum as a key deliverable. A library on the Local Government NSW website that currently hosts waste and the circular economy-oriented case studies and resources will be expanded and curated to include additional research. The Forum agreed it is important to keep the content current and ensure industry, councils and policymakers are aware of the library and use it to support evidence based decision making.

The Forum will meet again in September.

The Greater Sydney Waste Leadership Forum (the Forum) met on Thursday 9 May, consisting of the CEOs of Resilient Sydney, Regional Organisations of Councils in Sydney and the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) CEO and senior executives.

The Forum agreed principles that provide a baseline to identify priority issues, including improving governance, a transition to zero waste, infrastructure and planning, as well as accurate data collection and sharing. These priorities will inform the workplan for the Forum as it progresses.

The EPA provided the Forum with an update on recent work modelling the future infrastructure capacity and demand in the residual waste and Food Organics/Garden Organics sectors. The analysis was well received with all members acknowledging the future challenges Greater Sydney faces in meeting capacity requirements.

The Forum will meet again in June to develop a draft workplan that the group can endorse and implement together.

The Greater Sydney Waste Leadership Forum (the Forum) met on Tuesday 9 April, consisting of the CEOs of Resilient Sydney, Regional Organisations of Councils in Sydney and the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) CEO and senior executives. 

The Forum agreed that effective collaboration between state and local government is essential to meet shared infrastructure, recycling and circular economy aspirations. 

Discussion focused on mutual objectives, governance, data, the review of the waste levy, and detailed work currently underway to support successful organics collection, processing and beneficial reuse. The recent challenges of contaminated mulch were also discussed with shared learnings to inform circular economy policy, risk management and community education.

The Forum agreed that work underway across Greater Sydney needs to better connected and the Forum presents an ideal opportunity to identify the key waste issues that need to be addressed across local and state government.  

The Forum will be meeting again in May to identify and agree on the key issues and how they can be collectively progressed, using the resources available to the Greater Sydney Councils and the EPA. 

Page last updated