Green report
Our green report documents our progress on meeting our environmental sustainability goals and targets.
2024/25 highlights
- Emissions from our operations have dropped 78% since 2006, our baseline year
- Electrification of Victoria Park Pool’s heating system, making it 4 times more energy efficient
- 2 key links in the bike network completed: the Glebe to Ultimo cycleway (along Mary Ann and Kelly Streets) and the Castlereagh Street cycleway in the city centre
- 2 new recycling streams introduced: blister packs for medications and unwearable clothing
- Floating island in Sydney Park wetlands introduced to restore habitat and provide a safe space for local wildlife
From emissions reports to business and strata support, trialling new construction materials, events and new planning controls, we document all our programs and progress in this green report. Download the document or read more highlights below.
Rod Kington and Jody Whiteoak with the new electric heat pumps at Victoria Park Pool.
Image: Chris Southwood, City of SydneyRenewable energy, electrification and innovation
We’re a leader in action on climate change. In 2011, we were the first council in the country to be certified as carbon neutral and since 2006 emissions from our operations have dropped 78%.
We’ve installed more than 2 megawatts of solar panels, supplying electricity directly where it’s used. And since July 2020, we’ve bought 100% renewable electricity from 2 wind farms and one solar farm in regional NSW.
In 2024, Victoria Park Pool in Camperdown, Sydney’s oldest inground swimming pool, became our first fully electric aquatic facility. We replaced the gas heating systems – for pool water and showers – with electric heat pumps. The new system is up to 4 times more efficient and keeps the pool water at a more consistent and comfortable temperature.
We continue to invest in emerging technology to support the energy transition. The Greenhouse Climate Tech Hub near Circular Quay accommodates more than 400 people dedicated to climate action. Our support includes a $31 million accommodation grant. A 10-year rental subsidy will assist emerging climate-tech businesses to grow and bring their ideas to market.
Environmentally responsible investment is important to us. In 2024/25 we invested $50 million into Westpac green term deposits, with funds allocated to emissions reduction projects. 64% of the funds were directed to low carbon buildings, 25% to renewable energy projects and 11% to low carbon transport and infrastructure projects.
Recycling hub at a library.
Image: Chris Southwood, City of SydneyWaste and materials
We focus on reducing our waste and maximising resource recovery to ensure materials aren’t used just once and discarded.
In 2024/25, 92% of the waste generated from our properties was diverted from landfill. This is a significant improvement from 2017/18 when only 37% was diverted from landfill.
After a successful trial, the uniform recycling program is now a permanent service. This year 682kg of uniforms, shoes, hard hats and safety glasses were recycled and repurposed.
Food scraps make up around one-third of the waste in red lid household rubbish bins and in landfill they emit methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases. We’re trialling the use of black solider fly larvae as a sustainable and circular solution for up to 600 tonnes of food scraps we collect from residents. Manure from the larvae is processed into natural, low impact fertiliser. The maggots themselves are processed into protein, rich in vitamins and minerals. This larvae protein can be fed to fish and poultry or even turned into pet food.
To make it easier for our communities to live sustainably, we’re adding new items in our recycling programs. This year, we started to collect unwearable textiles at our Ultimo recycling pop-up and Recycle It Saturday events. From February 2024 to June 2025 we recovered 8.2 tonnes of unwearable textiles.
We also started collecting empty blister packs, the plastic and foil sheets used to store pharmaceutical capsules and tablets. These are collected through our 20 recycling stations at community centres, doorstep recycling service, Ultimo recycling pop-up and Recycle It Saturday events. The salvaged plastic is given to a Victorian company to make decking products. The foil is sent to a NSW factory and turned into aluminium pucks used in steel-making.
New floating island added to Sydney Park wetlands to restore habitat and provide a safe space for local wildlife.
Image: Phoebe Pratt, City of SydneyGreening our city
A green city helps reduce temperatures in hot weather, brings nature back to our urban spaces and improves the health and wellbeing of our residents and visitors.
In 2024/25, we planted 847 trees in our parks and streets, as well as 79,707 new plants across our area. Since 2008/9, our parks and open spaces have increased from 188 to 218 hectares.
We strive for our city to have 40% green cover by 2050, including 27% tree canopy. The latest measurement in February 2024 showed our canopy is at 20.9%, an increase on our 2008 baseline which was 15.5%.
To restore habitat and provide a safe space for local wildlife, this year we installed a 15sqm floating island in Gilbanung, one of the constructed wetlands in Sydney Park. The floating island is made from recycled PET plastic planters with a mesh bottom. It’s planted with species we use in bush restoration. The plants provide seeds and pollen to support native invertebrates and little birds. As the plant roots grow into the water and host biofilms, they help trap and digest organic matter and nutrients. This helps maintain balance in the wetlands and reduces the chance of blooms of algae and surface weed growth due to the inflow of nutrient-loaded stormwater.
We continue to renew parks across the city to ensure they’re safe, attractive and meet the needs of our communities. In the past year we renewed 13 parks, including playgrounds, pathways, furniture and landscaping. McConville Reserve in Beaconsfield was transformed through an understory revegetation project. A First Nations business prepared a design for the reserve and 10,000 locally endemic shrub, groundcover and grass species were planted, many sourced from a First Nations nursery.
Sydney City Farm provides a place for our communities to learn about urban agriculture and sustainable food production. This year our crop diversity increased: more than 270 different types of fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers were grown. These crops are maintained by volunteers. Their efforts produced more than 753kg of fresh food for local charities, including culturally significant and interesting foods such as hops, sugar cane, babaco, plantain, taro and pandan.
Water recycling plant at Green Square.
Image: Chris Southwood, City of SydneyWater stewardship
Water is crucial to many aspects of our lives and brings huge environmental, economic and social benefits. We must properly manage this finite resource to build resilience.
We aim to keep our operational use of drinkable water below 2006 levels even as we build new facilities and infrastructure. In 2024/25 we met our target of zero increase in potable water use against the 2006 baseline, using 365 megalitres, a 13% decrease from the 2006 baseline.
Our water recycling systems in parks supplied 49 megalitres of recycled water for irrigation in 2024/25, an increase of 4% on the previous year, enough to meet 85% of irrigation demand for the parks supplied by these systems. Since 2006, we’ve increased the irrigated area in parks by more than 50% while continuing to reduce potable water use. We’re now using less water for every square metre of green space we manage.
Our roads and stormwater systems funnel water into Sydney Harbour and Alexandra Canal. This water also carries everything from the street with it, affecting water quality and aquatic habitats. Results in 2025 showed we’ve reduced gross pollutants by 21% and in 2024/25 our network of 47 gross pollutant traps prevented 215 tonnes of rubbish and sediment from entering our waterways. We’re adding more gross pollutant traps too. The latest addition is expected to prevent another 26 tonnes per year of solid waste pollution from entering Blackwattle Bay.
Green report 2024/25
Previous reports
We previously reported every 6 months. In 2021/22 we shifted to annual reports, in line with global reporting practices.
See the numbers we used to generate the graphs in the 2021/22 Green Report.
