The Australian Technology Park is preparing to implement a comprehensive new waste management plan which will reduce the amount of waste going to landfill by up to 80%.

The plan is largely the work of Institute for Sustainable Futures research consultant Emma Young.

In July of last year Ms Young conducted a waste audit of the ATP. At the time, only minimal recycling was done by ATP tenants. However, the audit demonstrated that with an overhaul of waste collection, the majority of the waste which went to landfill - including paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, aluminium and compostable material - could be recycled.

Following the waste audit, Ms Young suggested a number of options which would reduce the amount of material going to landfill. The most comprehensive plan - which includes recycling of glass, plastic, aluminium cans, paper and cardboard - was adopted. As part of the plan, the ATP will also set up a worm farm for all the Park's compostable material. Ms Young said the worms can eat more than their body weight in organic waste every day. They produce a very high-grade fertiliser, which could be used either on the ATP grounds, or taken home by ATP tenants to use on their gardens.

The new plan will reduce the amount of waste going to landfill by between 67% and 84%. It will also save the ATP almost $8 000 in the first year and up to $13 680 in subsequent years.

Apart from the obvious environmental pluses of the program, the scheme means that the ATP will be complying with the NSW Government's 1995 waste minimisation legislation, which was designed to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill by 60%.

However, Ms Young said she doubted this target was reached last year. "I imagine our waste will probably (have increased) for 2000, even though the government wants to reduce it," she said. "Reducing waste is a legal requirement, but it's not enforced very well. Most people probably aren't even aware of it."

The ATP is now managed by the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority and the waste management plan may be adopted by other offices run by the Authority.

Ms Young said recycling was a low priority for most businesses because people wrongly believed it would cost them money to change. "I think it is a mindset … people think it will cost them money to change, when usually it (can) save them quite a lot of money," she said.