Sustainability & Waste Management Plan - Perth

Aim

The purpose of the Waste Management Plan (WMP) is to provide the guidelines and framework to ensure compliance with the changing of use application for the development approval of the Akidamy School of Early Learning (School) by the City of Vincent (COV). It is to also ensure that the long term sustainability and environmental consciousness objectives of the School are consistently met. This WMP has been prepared to outline how waste is to be stored and collected from the proposed development.

Reason

“At the Akidamy School of Early Learning, we are committed to taking an active role in caring for our environment and contributing to a sustainable future.”

Method

In order to help meet the aim, a WMP will be developed and regularly monitored. The WMP will include all the actions that are required to achieve the above aim. In addition:

• Each action shall have a specific deliverable and an expected timeframe.

• Progress against each action shall be monitored regularly.

• Actions shall be updated or revised accordingly.

Location

The Akidamy has been successfully operating with 63 children since 2018 at Lot 38 (No. 105) Summers Street, Perth and is located within one of the best supported public transport locations in Western Australia; this would be similar to an Early Learning School operating in the Perth CBD. This makes its location unique as within a 300m radius of the School, it has a Department of Transport (DOT) public parking station, pedestrian and cycle paths as well as bus and train infrastructure .  This will allow the School to be a drawcard for staff and parents within the COV or people travelling within the surrounding public transport network as there are multiple options for getting to and from the School. 

The Akidamy is proposing to expand its operations from 63 to 90 children across two lots (i.e Lot 38 (No. 105) Summers Street, Perth and Lot 1 (No. 34) Cheriton Street, Perth refer to Figure 1). The Summers Street (Summers House) building will hold 60 children and will be main entrance for the School and for all deliveries. The Akidamy is seeking Development Approval for an expansion of the school to 90 children with 30 additional children being housed at the adjoining lot on Cheriton Street (Cheriton House).

The objective of this WMP is to outline the equipment and procedures that will be adopted to manage all waste at the subject site. Specifically, the plan demonstrates that the School has be designed to:

• Adequately cater for the anticipated quantities of waste and recyclables to be generated by the proposed expansion to Cheriton House;

• Provide a suitable Bin Storage Area including appropriate receptacles for the commercial development; and

• Allow for efficient servicing of receptacles by appropriate waste collection vehicles to the commercial development.

To achieve this, we have outlined our current waste management plan and forecasted requirements as part of our development application in the Table below. Based on the last 12 months records, Summers House currently has one (1) 660L bin for general waste and one (1) 660L bin for recycling based on the waste generation rates and size of the School (ie. 430sqm and 60 children). These bins are stored in a purpose-built bin store area per COV standards. The School also has a heavy focus on sustainability, and as such, reuses materials as much as possible for educational purposes and activities. The location of the bins is per Figure 1,and these bins are collected by JJ Richard and Son, a private contractor.

We also collect all food scraps from meals which are placed in a compost bin at the School. This compost is then used in our School garden.

Based on current waste generation rates, we estimate that based on the expanded building foot print of 170sqm and a licenced child capacity increase to 90 places, that we will need one (1) 240L bin for general waste and one (1) 240L bin for recycling which is shown in Figure 1). Our current food compost bin will not need to be increased as it will still have sufficient capacity.

Currently all waste the School generats is placed in these on-site bins and collected by a private contractor from our bin-storage area which is to one side of the School car park. These bins are collected during the hours of 10am to 2pm. This does not adversely impact any parking at the School as it is outside of the peak AM and PM periods when there is little demand for parking.

Waste Management Design

The bin storage area is located at the ground level of the Summers and Cheriton House buildings adjacent to the on-site parking area. The bin storage area will:

• Have an impervious floor draining to the sewer and a tap to facilitate washing of the Bins in the Bin Storage Area;

• Have doors that will be vermin proof;

• Be ventilated to a suitable standard;

• Be cleaned when required to reduce potential odours (the bins, floor and walls can all be cleaned); and

• Have a designated area inside the Bin Storage Area where the bins will be washed down.

Waste Management Activities

The School Director will be responsible for managing the waste collection at the Akidamy. The School Director will also be responsible for completing the following tasks:

• Monitoring of the bin storage area including ensuring the bins are arranged in such a way that there is always capacity for general waste and recycling in the front bins at all times;

• Wheeling the bins required to be serviced out of the bin storage area  to be serviced one at a time during collection times;

• Monitoring of waste composition to identify opportunities for source separation of recycling waste materials and waste reduction activities;

• Delegating and organising for maintenance of the bins and the bin storage area; and

• Organising for the cleaning of the bins and of the bin storage area as and when required.

Figure 1 - Site Plan

Conclusion

The expanded School will be serviced by one (1) 660L and one (1) 240L general waste bins and one (1) 660L and one 240L recycling waste bins which will be collected once a week by the private contractor.

This WMP demonstrates that the proposed development will be serviced by sufficient bin storage facilities based on the estimated waste generated by the development. This WMP will be reviewed as part of the:

• Environmental Learning Opportunities - these opportunities for children will be developed in order to teach the children an understanding and respect for the environment and reducing our carbon footprint. We are also encourage families to take public transport and walk/cycle to the School. In particular, environmental learning opportunities will be designed and introduced to the children. Our staff are actually provided with a financial incentive to use public transport/walk/bike ride to and from the School. 

• Parent/Family Involvement - Parents and families will be regularly advised of the sustainability activities that children are involved in at the School and will be asked to participate in various sustainability events and communal working sessions.

• Communicating policy to families, children and team members - Information relating to the WMP is communicated in the following ways: Newsletters, Family and Educators handbooks, team meetings, planned experiences for the children, notice boards and posters, pamphlets and information sheets in the foyer, role modelling and signs displayed around the studios and School etc.

Policy Review Statement

All policies will be reviewed annually in consultation with families, team members and management. Any changes in legislation, regulations, Quality Assurance and other standards will be considered in this review process. Any changes in policies or procedures will be communicated to families and team members verbally and in writing. Failure to abide by guidelines will result in disciplinary action.