Green waste: Onkaparinga Council residents wanting green bins emptied fortnightly
RESIDENTS in Adelaide’s south — long frustrated their green waste gets collected just once a month — may soon get the fortnightly pick-up they’ve been calling for. Here’s why.
ONKAPARINGA Council is considering changes to it green waste service, in a move that offers frustrated residents hope of finally getting their bins emptied fortnightly.
The council’s strategic directions committee last week called for a report into potential changes to its green bin service, as part of a review into waste and recycling.
It comes after 83 per cent of the 718 residents who responded to a council survey said they were “dissatisfied” with their bins being emptied every four weeks.
A further 240 residents randomly selected to be on a panel were also either dissatisfied or neutral about their bins being collected monthly.
A council report said it would cost an extra $1 million to empty green bins fortnightly and bring Onkaparinga in line with all other metropolitan councils.
Port Noarlunga South resident Jenny Clark, who led a charge in 2012 for a fortnightly collection, was pleased the council would look at other options.
“It’s about time,” Ms Clark said.
“But is it going to be something fruitful, or not?”
The report suggested allowing residents to dispose of food waste in their green bins to attract State Government funding, offered as an incentive to reduce landfill.
It said this could reap the council $2.2 million over five years, helping offset the cost of increasing its green waste service.
Cr Jon Deakin said after the meeting the council needed to make a decision based on facts.
“At the end of the day, the garbage system needs to be simple and consistent (but) because of the cost, this council is very against introducing a fortnightly green waste service,” Cr Deakin said.
The council’s city operations director Kirk Richardson said about 62 per cent of the 74,000 households in Onkaparinga regularly put their green bin out for collection.
He said the bins were about 40 per cent full, which increased to about 70 per cent in late autumn and spring.
Cr Martin Bray said some people invested in alternative methods to dispose of their organic waste, including mulchers or compost boxes.
He said increasing rates to cover the cost of a fortnightly service would not be fair on those residents who did not want or need it.
“We’ve had a heavy (rate) rise in the past and we’ve just got to stop doing it,” Cr Bray said.
“People who don’t want a second green bin shouldn’t have to pay for the extra service. “Some people use different methods and they pay for that so they don’t really want to pay again.”
Residents struggling with the current arrangement can buy up to two more green bins for $30 each from the council, which will be emptied as part of the monthly collection.
The council also gives residents monthly passes to dispose of green waste for free at either the Lonsdale or Aldinga dumps on designated days.
A report into the potential changes will be presented to the committee at its May meeting.