WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ACTION – SOFTWARE
Smart access makes waste personal WASTE MANAGEMENT REVIEW SPEAKS WITH BANANA SHIRE COUNCIL’S DR KEITH HALFORD AND DES MACKELLAR ABOUT THEIR PLANS TO DRIVE REGIONAL INVESTMENT THROUGH INDUSTRIAL RESOURCE RECOVERY.
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amed after a large bullock called Banana in the 19th century, Banana Shire is resource rich and steeped in agricultural and mining heritage. Situated in Central Queensland, the Shire is sparsely populated, with 15,000 people spread over a 28,550-kilometre squared landmass. Banana Shire Council maintains eight waste transfer stations and three landfills. Of the 11 sites, eight are unmanned, creating significant illegal dumping issues for council. Historically, the shire has also had limited access to recycling, which in turn has put stress on its landfill sites. Over the last year, however, council has started taking a proactive approach, with a suite of new initiatives set to transform waste management and resource recovery in the region. Developments include biosolid and green waste processing systems, and the introduction of paper and cardboard kerbside collection, which will be rolled out over the next 12 months. These initiatives have largely been spearheaded by council’s Environment and Planning Manager Dr Keith Halford and Principal Environment and Land Management Officer Des Mackellar. To support these developments, the pair have forged a collaborative partnership with waste management software
26 / WMR / November 2020
Dr Keith Halford and Des Mackellar are working with Mandalay Technologies to implement an authenticated site access service at Banana Shire’s waste facilities.
provider Mandalay Technologies, working together to implement an authenticated site access service to provide auditable, controlled entry to sites previously unattended. The service, which operates through Mandalay’s Resident Access Control program, will deliver automated and
approved entry to unmanned facilities using unique resident codes, as well as reporting tools to analyse collected data. According to Mackellar, the partnership is the result of discussions council was having around its current systems in relation to landfill sites and reporting obligations.
