Onkaparinga Council to vote on fortnightly green bin collection after years of resident request

Onkaparinga Council will decide whether to move to a fortnightly green bin service on Tuesday night after years of residents pushing for collection every two weeks instead of four.

Jenny Clark of Port Noarlunga South with her green waste bin. Picture: Stephen Laffer

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Green bins could soon be collected fortnightly in the southern suburbs, ending years of frustration for residents forced to put up with smelly waste.

Onkaparinga Council will decide at a meeting on Tuesday night whether to move to a fortnightly green bin service.

Currently, the council is the only one in metropolitan Adelaide to empty green bins monthly — which has long been a source of frustration for many of its ratepayers who have complained about overflowing bins and their inability to recycle food scraps because of the stench of rotting food.

According to a council report, it would cost $670,000 in 2019/20 to remove green waste every two weeks. It would then drop to $570,000 each year after.

However, the cost could be as high as $1.8 million for the coming financial year if the council also chose to provide free kitchen waste bins and a year’s supply of bags for food scraps to residents.

Onkaparinga Mayor Erin Thompson. Picture: Dean Martin

Mayor Erin Thompson said increasing green waste collection was an opportunity for the council to be more environmentally responsible.

She said the council had found “new efficiencies” in its budget — to be released later this month — to cover the cost.

“We currently send 38,000 tonnes of waste to landfill each year and 36 per cent of that is food waste that could and should be reused as compost,” Ms Thompson said.

“It’s really important that we continue to look for ways to divert as much waste from landfill as possible.

“The average ongoing annual cost to residents for a more frequent organics collection is approximately $7 per household.”

Ms Thompson added that Onkaparinga ratepayers deserved the same level of service as residents living in other districts.

“A more frequent organics collection not only delivers the service levels our community expects and deserves, but it also helps us to achieve our sustainability goals and be more environmentally responsible,” she said.

“I have faith that our community and my fellow elected members will see the environmental value in making this change.”