New Organics service vital for less to landfill
24 February 2017
3 Bin System to put food waste to better use
A new bin service is coming to Tweed Shire to help the community divert more waste away from landfill.
The new 3 Bin System will incorporate a green-lid Organics bin which will accept all food and garden waste and is expected to save and reuse nearly 4000 tonnes of organic waste each year. It will replace the current Multi-Bin Service for urban residential properties from 1 July and is part of Council’s Less to Landfill campaign in 2017.
“By separating and sorting our waste correctly into the new 3 Bin System, we can significantly increase how much waste we recycle and reuse, rather than the increasingly expensive process of burying it in landfill,” Council’s Director Community and Natural Resources, Tracey Stinson, said.
The State Government has set a target for all NSW councils to save at least 70 per cent of waste from going to landfill by 2022.
“The Tweed community is currently only diverting 42 per cent with our current bin system and waste behaviours. By processing 50 per cent of the waste we currently put in our red bins and converting it into useful compost, we will get much closer to this target,” Ms Stinson said.
From 1 July, the green-lid bin will accept:
· all food scraps - fruit (including citrus), vegetables, meat, seafood, bones, dairy products, eggs, cereal, shells, pasta, coffee grinds, tea bags and takeaway scraps
· garden waste - palm fronds, lawn, clippings, garden prunings, leaves, weeds and flowers
· some paper products - tissues, food-soiled paper products such as pizza boxes, shredded newspaper and compostable products
· Council approved compostable liners
A facility will be constructed at Stotts Creek Resource Recovery Centre to process the organic waste to produce high-quality, nutrient-rich compost for use by local farmers and households.
Like the Multi-Bin Service it replaces, the 3 Bin System will include a red-lid bin for landfill waste and a yellow-lid bin for recyclables such as glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles and paper. Rural properties and multi-unit developments with more than two units will remain on the current two-bin system, except for units already receiving a green-bin service.
“With food waste now going to the Organics service, the green-lid bin will be emptied weekly, while the red and yellow-lid bins will be collected fortnightly on alternating weeks. The day of the week for collection will remain the same for each household,” Ms Stinson said.
“The 3 Bin System will bring us in line with the 28 other NSW Councils that are already providing a food and garden waste organics service, including five of the seven Northern Rivers local governments - Ballina Shire, Byron Shire, Clarence Valley, Lismore City, and Richmond.”
New green-lid bins - or new lids for households that already receive the green-bin service – will be delivered near the end of May, along with information on what can go in the green-lid bin. As part of the Organics service, Council will also supply a kitchen ‘caddy’ sealed container for initial storage of food scraps, a supply of compostable liners and educational information.
Households that already receive a green-bin service are not likely to have any increase in fees under the 3 Bin System. Urban residents that don’t currently have a green-lid bin will have a modest increase in waste costs, which are part of the annual waste management fees paid with your rates.
“However, the 3 Bin Service will bring cost benefits for the community and ratepayers because organics and recycling services are cheaper to operate than sending waste to landfill,” she said.
“Landfills are getting more and more expensive to develop and operate, and can require long-term monitoring and managing to minimise environmental impacts. So it’s more important than ever to have less going to landfill, to reduce current and ongoing costs to our community.”
This project was supported by the Environmental Trust as part of the NSW EPA’s Waste Less, Recycle More initiative, funded from the Waste Levy. For more information visit www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/BinServices