Mayoral Column – Innovative solutions save resources

Wednesday, 4 February 2026

Penrith City Council is a proud leader in sustainability. We are continually looking for new ways to make positive changes for this City, our people and the environment.

I’m pleased to share that Council has again been recognised for one of our latest waste management initiatives at the recent Local Government NSW Environment Awards.

This recognition was for our Threads and Treads project – a forward-thinking textile and bicycle repair initiative that has diverted 9.2 tonnes of waste from landfill.

We hosted bike drop-off and recycling days, repair and tune workshops, vacation care education sessions, a clothes swap, pop-up stall and stitching workshops.

I want to give you – our community - a special shout out because the success of this project is all thanks to your enthusiastic participation.

With support from our partners, these events connect and educate our community to become more resource conscious and consider how materials can be reused, which contributes to the circular economy.

Textiles and bikes can’t be disposed of through usual kerbside bin collections, so this provides a waste management solution while teaching valuable skills. Visit penrith.city/waste to learn more.

More efficient use of resources is a priority for us. That’s why Penrith is proud to be the first council in Australia to take part in an exciting water stewardship project.

We’ve collaborated with SWAN Systems to use advanced water management software, that monitors satellite imagery and weather forecasts, to optimise our water consumption.

Through this project, we are reducing water usage at some of our irrigated local sports fields by up to 30 per cent, at no cost to Council or the community. This will help green the fields and improve open spaces for our growing City.

Initiatives like this set new benchmarks for local government. For us, they help meet Penrith’s long-term sustainability goals and support our efforts through the Green Grid Strategy, Cooling the City Strategy and Resilient Penrith Action Plan.

For more information, go to penrith.city/sustainability

Cr Todd Carney
Mayor of Penrith

Information contained within this news release was correct as at Wednesday, 4 February 2026.