Councillor Andrea Metcalf will move a motion at Wednesday night’s council meeting calling on the City of Greater Bendigo to join a “combined voice” of Victorian councils to lobby governments for funding and planning for modern waste solutions.

With the Eaglehawk landfill slated for closure in 2021, Cr Metcalf said it was time for Bendigo to investigate all options for its future waste management.

Related: Where next for Bendigo’s waste?

“Within our region there aren’t any plans to build another landfill so the recovery and reuse of the materials is our highest priority. We will need a transfer station to be built here,” she said.

“Our rehabilitated landfill sites could become a home to solar farms not only generating energy but jobs too.

“There are opportunities that we haven’t thought of yet to reuse our waste rather than having it go into a hole in the ground.

“I personally don’t believe that it’s alright to truck our waste to Patho. We have to be cleverer in reducing it right here and education is the key to that.”

Cr Metcalf pointed to a number of waste recovery examples that already exist in Australia and around the world.

In Moama, Newtecpoly recycles soft plastics to build park benches, garden sleepers, wicker gardens and garbage bin covers which are then sold back to councils.

Read more: Old Heinz factory in Girgarre set for waste-to-energy plant

Social enterprises in Melbourne upcycle furniture to stop it from ending up in landfill.

Cr Metcalf, chair of the Loddon Mallee Local Government Waste Forum, said there was a need to build on the public’s appetite for “war on waste” projects.

“Imagine if we had whole streets in the City of Greater Bendigo saying we want to do a ‘war on waste’ here,” she said.

“I’m hoping the other councillors will support the motion. Waste management is a major issue that we have to address as councillors and it’s the same across all councils.”

The call for collective action stemmed from a meeting of the Victorian Waste Resource Recovery Group chairs – believed to be the first time the group has formed a collective position. The group represents 79 councils.

The motion has been taken to councils across the state at October meetings.

The motion to be debated at Wednesday’s meeting in Bendigo claims that councils face “significant challenges” in waste management, and that rate capping policies may hinder their efforts to establish waste recovery measures.