Sustainability fillip

The City of Rockingham unveiled its Sustainability Snapshot Report for 2017 last Thursday at Lake Richmond, with the report highlighting the City’s progress on key environmental achievements and initiatives.

The report, which provides a snapshot from July 2015 to July 2017, breaks down efforts in six main focus areas including water, waste, energy, health and nature conservation, environmental education and engagement and climate response.

Highlights from the report include data which shows the City had reduced its scheme water use by 3.22 per cent from 2015 to 2016, as well as doubling the waste recovery rate from 23 per cent to 46 per cent in the first three months of the three-bin rollout.

Mayor Barry Sammels said the achievements the City had made so far were part of an ongoing journey.

“The City remains committed to the protection and enhancement of our environment and works in close partnership with the community to ensure it is sustainably managed for future generations to enjoy,” Cr Sammels said.

According to the report, the City has planted 100,000 native seedlings in conservation reserves over the past two years, as well as cleaning up 970 tonnes of litter through LitterBusters. The amount of energy generated from harvesting methane emissions at the Millar Road Landfill Facility is also 1.5 times the city’s total energy use.

Going forward a Sustainability Snapshot is set to be released each year outlining the City’s progress on the year prior, with a number goals ahead for 2019.

“As detailed in Section 7 of the Sustainability Snapshot Report, the City has a variety of key focus areas for the year ahead, from developing a local planning policy for urban water management to planting 3000 new street and parkland trees,” Cr Sammels said.