Our natural environment, including bushland, open spaces, the Swan Valley and the Swan River, is extremely important to us.
We are working hard to preserve our environment through seven of our services: emergency management, natural area management, park and reserve maintenance, recycling centres, sustainable environment, waste collection and robust education.
Our community is happy with our progress, with 84 per cent of surveyed residents satisfied with our management of natural reserves.
To keep us on track and accountable to our goals, we outlined our objectives in our Strategic Community Plan; and our natural environment focus areas in our Sustainable Environment Strategy.
The Natural Environment key result area (KRA) covers three main outcomes:
- Protecting our natural ecosystems
- Minimising waste to landfill
- Protecting natural resources for future generations.
Protecting our natural ecosystems
We have been working diligently through a range of initiatives to reduce our impact on the environment, and with the help of our community, we have made significant headway.
We are lowering our greenhouse gas emissions, conserving water, increasing tree canopy and protecting biodiversity.
Trees
In the past year, we have planted close to 1,800 street trees across the City.
Our Free Trees and Plants Giveaway was a hit with our community, with close to 63,000 community plant allocations.
Implementing Black Cockatoo Conservation Action Plan and the Local Biodiversity Action Plan neared adoption.
Build environmental stewardship through community programs – Tree Festival and Branching Out.
Water
The City has maintained a perfect score of 100 per cent for three years running on its SERCUL Nutrient Management Scorecard. This means we have excelled in nutrient monitoring, management and education.
We continue to prioritise foreshore rehabilitation with a view to improving water quality. We planted 1,759 seedlings at Bennett Brook and also managed water quality with feral fish removal research and planning.
Trees
| SCP Objectives N1.1 Enhance, preserve and protect local ecology and biodiversity of natural ecosystems N1.3 Protect our green environment |
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| Measure (Biodiversity retention) | Target | How we are tracking |
| Tree canopy coverage | 1% growth from baseline per annum in urban street trees planted | 1.4% increase in 2025 1.5% increase in 2024 |
| % of community satisfied with management of City of Swan nature reserves |
Maintain or increase the two-year rolling average (baseline 72%) | 75% in 2025 84% in 2024 |
Water
| SCP Objective N1.2 Preserve our waterways | ||
| Measure (Water quality) | Target | How we are tracking |
| SERCUL Nutrient Management Scorecard | Maintain an overall score of at least 80% |
100% in 2024 calendar year 100% in 2023 calendar year |
| Nutrient levels of monitored perennial water courses |
Reduce excess nutrients in Bennett Brook |
Nitrogen increased 2%, phosphorous decreased 3% in 2025 Nitrogen decreased 7%, phosphorous decreased 4%* in 2024 |
In 2026, we'll give away saplings to our urban and rural residents as part of our Free Trees and Plants Giveaway. We will also deliver a range of sustainability and environmental workshops as part of the WA Tree Festival to help educate our community on protecting our natural environment.
Minimising waste to landfill
The City aims to reduce our volume of waste through reduction, re-use and recycling waste products to ensure we provide the cleanest environment possible for our community and natural assets. We have outlined our goals in our Waste Management Plan, which lists education among staff and our community as one of the key actions.
While we already have a range of programs in place to help our community and staff divert waste from landfill, in 2025, we plan to meet our goal of 60 per cent diversion.
We have begun the three-bin kerbside collection system, including a Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) service, which will turn organic waste into compost or soil conditioner.
Our goal is 90 per cent diversion, which we can achieve once the East Rockingham Waste to Energy is completed at the end of 2025.
We also continue a range of community initiatives such as the reusable cloth nappy program and worm farm subsidy.
| SCP Objective N2.1 Minimise waste to landfill | ||
| Measure (Waste minimisation) | Target | How we are tracking |
| % recycling versus landfill waste | Achieve 60% waste diversion by 2025 | 31.19% in 2025 29.79% in 2024 |
Recycling Recovery
- 71 per cent from Recycling Centre – Bullsbrook
- 61 per cent from Recycling Centre – Malaga
- 25 per cent from pre-booked verge collections
- 28 per cent from kerbside collection.
Other landfill diversion activities
- 535kg of textiles diverted from landfill through staff clothes swaps
- 109kg of City uniforms
- 4.6 million containers through the Container Deposit Scheme.
The FOGO program now reaches 29 per cent of properties, recovering 5,230 tonnes of organic material in 2024/25 and contributing to a 17.8 per cent reduction in general waste. Community uptake has been strong, with 6,290 upsize requests across Stages 1–3. Stage 4 of the rollout will begin in April 2026, continuing efforts to further reduce waste across the City.
The construction phase of the Waste to Energy project has been completed and is commencing early phase commissioning. It is anticipated that waste will be accepted late in 2026.
Protecting natural resources for future generations
The City is one of the fastest growing local governments, with a population estimated to reach almost 300,000 by 2051. We have many actions in place now to ensure a sustainable natural environment so our future generations can thrive.
Water
The City is accredited as a Gold level Waterwise Council and all our leisure centres are Waterwise accredited. We have used 90 per cent of our allocated limit from The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation.
City carbon emissions
We are leading by example in the efficient use of energy, renewable energy and alternative modes of transport.
Our action plan aims to reduce and/or offset emissions to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
To help us achieve this, we committed to buying 100 per cent of contestable energy from renewable energy sources in 2022. We also increased the number of hybrid vehicles in our fleet and began replacing our streetlights with LEDs.
| SCP Objective N2.2 Protect our natural resources for future generations | ||
| Measure (Carbon reduction) | Target | How we are tracking |
| City Carbon Emissions | Net zero emissions by 2050 Baseline set at 19,875.6 tCO2e |
18,202 tCO2e in 2025 15,145 tCO2e in 2024 |
| SCP Objective N2.2 Protect our natural resources for future generations | ||
| Measure (Water efficiency) | Target | How we are tracking |
| City water consumption (potable) | Baseline set at 129,146 kL | 140,907 kL in 2025 137,168 kL in 2024 |
| City water consumption (non-potable) | Comply with DWER annual water licence (80% of allocation) | 73.1% allocation used in 2025 90% allocation used in 2024 |
In 2026, the City will convert 4,603 lights to energy‑efficient LED, reducing energy use and emissions across community facilities and public spaces. The City’s fleet capacity has also increased by 150 kW, with plans underway to expand renewable fleet capacity by 200 per cent, reaching 1.465 MW in 2026.
