An Australian-first automatic waste disposal system will mean the end of bin day for residents of the country’s newest CBD.

The Sunshine Coast’s Maroochydore City Centre development will do away with wheelie bins, instead installing a 6.5km system of underground vacuum pipes.

The rubbish will fly through the pipes at up to 70km/h, and each building in the new CBD will include at least three waste inlets for organic, recyclable and general waste. Waste dropped into each inlet will be stored in a sealed compartment below ground until the vacuum pump is activated at the central waste facility, usually twice each day.

The vacuum system will then consecutively collect each type of waste, sucking the waste through a system of underground pipes to the central facility, where they will be stored in sealed compactors for collection by council’s contractor.

The system is estimated to cost $21 million, which Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson says will be recouped from CBD occupants over the life of the system.

Jamieson says while this new territory for Australia, the system has been tried and tested internationally.  

“New urban developments in Stockholm, Seoul, Barcelona, London, Singapore and Beijing have all utilised the Swedish-designed Envac waste collection system – but no Australian city has done so – until now,” he explains.

“The rubbish revolution means that city workers and residents will never have to walk past rows of wheelie bins or be woken early by noisy garbage trucks in the Maroochydore City Centre.

“Common aspects of waste collection such as odours and vermin will be avoided, and the costs of daily street cleaning will be reduced.
 
“As well as making our city heart more attractive, this technology has a track record of increasing recycling rates, so our natural environment will benefit too."
 
CEO of SunCentral Maroochydore (established by the Sunshine Coast Council in March 2015 to oversee design and delivery of the new city centre) John Knaggs says public areas would be serviced with their own waste inlets, enabling the new city streets to be effectively serviced by the new technology and avoiding overflowing bins.
 
“Automated underground waste collection is just one of the ways in which the new Maroochydore CBD will be one of the smartest cities in Australia,” Mr Knaggs said.
 
Knaggs says the greenfield site, which made it possible to install the Envac system, presents a raft of other opportunities.
 
“For instance, we are also building a high-speed fibre optic network into the city’s very foundations, which will enable us to provide ‘smart’ signage, free Wi-Fi hotspots, real-time transport information, movement sensors and smart lighting,” he explains.