5 October 2005

Talk of the soaring temperatures in Ipswich has been replaced with discussions about recycling solutions, as part of a University of Queensland (UQ) community project.

UQ researchers have joined forces with Ipswich City Council to carry out a study that involves extensive consultation with local citizens in a bid to find solutions to waste management problems.

Lead researcher Dr Bernard McKenna from the UQ Business School said the community consultation process would have a positive impact on the local population.

“This is believed to be a world first study in relation to waste management solutions,” Dr McKenna said.

“This means that Ipswich is leading the world, which is a wonderful thing for citizens in the area.”

The collaborative three-year project is worth an estimated $250,000 and is to be carried out in three stages.

The first phase of the study involved the formation of a local citizen jury where ordinary members of the public listened to expert opinions on waste management and formed intelligent recommendations for improvement.

“A lot of interesting recommendations came out of the jury which negated a lot of popular assumptions,” Dr McKenna said.

“It emerged that people are prepared to pay more in taxes for services like recycling if there is a tangible benefit for the community.

“Approximately 40 per cent of the contents of household rubbish bins are made up of organic matter such as food scraps and garden clippings.

“One of the recommendations to emerge was the introduction of a third council wheelie bin for households so that organic material can be properly recycled, rather than in a backyard compost which is likely to attract vermin."

Phase two of the project will survey about 800 Ipswich residents to evaluate the recommendations that emerged from the citizen jury.

It will test those recommendations when it is distributed to Ipswich residents in both the more established areas, and in new communities such as Springfield.

“The future survey results should provide date that is nationally relevant as the population is quite diverse and includes mature and greenfield houses,” Dr McKenna said.

In phase three of the project, 800 randomly selected citizens who are willing to take part, will be involved in a six-month bin audit.

“Citizens will be divided into groups, and each group will be offered either high or low incentives for good waste management practices,” Dr McKenna said.

“Bin audits will be carried out to monitor people’s behavioural changes when encouragement and incentives are applied.”

Dr McKenna said there were two main project objectives which, if successful, could be applied to waste management practices around the country.

“The project may have some national significance because if this community consultation strategy works, there is no reason why it should not work in any other place,” he said.

“The first objective is to show that ordinary people can deal with technical knowledge, make sense of it and respond to it. That is the deliberative democracy aspect.

“The second key aim is to show that properly implemented communication processes and incentive schemes are likely to enhance the possibility of good citizen behaviour, in this case in relation to the environment.”

Dr McKenna said he approached Ipswich City Council with the idea after seeing a television news report that claimed recycling rates were declining.

“The report was critical of private citizens and that sparked the idea for the project because it seemed to me that people are generally pro-environment and pro-recycling,” he said.

“I did not, and still do not believe that people are reluctant to recycle, but are perhaps confused or receiving mixed messages about correct waste management practices."

Dr McKenna praised the Ipswich City Council and Ipswich Waste Services for their involvement.

“The council’s initial response to the project proposal, and the relationship throughout the study has been absolutely terrific, just fabulous,” he said.

For more information/media requests: Dr Bernard McKenna, UQ Business School, telephone: (07) 3381 1054 or Tiffany Lippett, Senior Communications Officer, telephone: (07) 3365 2049.