Burnside Council to introduce hard rubbish hub for unwanted goods

Before the death of hard rubbish week, it was known as the haven for a glitzy furniture freebie – now, a new hub could replace kerbside collection.

Councillor Andy Xing has brought a motion that will see a hard rubbish hub open in the blue-ribbon suburb of Burnside, allowing residents to leave their nice hard rubbish for others to collect. Picture: RoyVPhotography

An SA-first hard rubbish hub is set to tackle a ritzy council area’s kerbside gripes, allowing residents to drop their unwanted goods for others to pick up.

Under a motion carried unanimously by the Burnside Council, a new “exchange place” will be set up for locals to take their used furniture and whitegoods.

Previously, the blue-ribbon council operated on a hard rubbish calendar where residents would put their furniture on the kerb on a set week of the year — a gold mine for keen salvagers looking for a freebie, with expensive goods often left for the taking.

But in 2015, the council scrapped the scheduled service.

Currently, residents are entitled to one free hard waste collection each financial year of up to two cubic metres, the equivalent of a standard trailer load. Mattresses are included as long as they can be carried by two people.

Councillor Andy Xing said the collection hub, the first of its kind in a South Australian council, would aim to reduce the environmental impact of hard rubbish and incidences of illegal dumping.

“On the new system where you dial in (your hard rubbish collection) your neighbours or people on the street next to you probably aren’t aware of when items will be out,” Mr Xing said.

“This way, if there’s a central location, they can pick up goods that some other organisations don’t have – for example, at the Salvos or Red Cross, they don’t take white goods.

“It’s just a more open system for everyone.”

The council has commissioned a report to determine the location of the hub, with a decision expected by the end of the year.