Tags:
WRC
,
green
,
waste
,
recycling
,
collection
WHAT to do with garden waste? Balaklava residents Liz Wilds (left) and Lila Cross question council policy.
By Karen Petney
So what should you do with your green waste? Wakefield Regional Council’s new waste and recycling collection will start next week and as residents get their head around the new service, questions are being asked about the collection of green waste.
The Plains Producer has been contacted by a number of residents concerned they can no longer use the weekly rubbish collection to dispose of their green waste.
Some are surprised to learn council’s stand on green waste has not changed with the introduction of the new system.
Wakefield Regional Council’s infrastructure services manager, Dave Hassett, says council prefers residents to utilise the transfer stations or to make other arrangements to dispose of, or compost household green waste as they have in the past.
“Green waste in landfill does create issues with space and there are also environmental and decomposition issues,” he said. Green waste at the transfer stations is processed into chippings and used at Everard Landfill Depot to revegetate over the utilised land fill cells. Landfill operations at Everard will be reviewed during the year to meet with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) guidelines being introduced in July 2010.
Mr Hassett said before Council considered a green waste collection, it needed to see how the community settled on the new two bin recycling system.
“Council is not closed to the idea of introducing a green waste collection, however the introduction of a third bin (green waste) would mean an increase in pick up and processing costs and hence an increase in the annual service charge,” he said.
Mr Hassett is encouraging residents to wait until the new recycling collection has been operating for a few months to then contact council to register interest in a green waste collection so it can investigate the demand from across the about 2300 weekly service collections currently picked up.
In the meantime, residents should consider other uses for green waste, such as composting for garden mulch, or organise a green waste transfer station run with friends.
Council cannot easily police what is placed into the new red lid bin (waste only) However some residents are claiming the new red lid bin may be the only alternative until a three bin system is considered by council.
