Concrete bins causing strife

IPSWICH Waste Service has been forced to leave bins uncollected in the Somerset region after residents filled the bins with concrete and dirt.

IPSWICH Waste Service (IWS) has been forced to leave bins uncollected in the Somerset region after residents filled the bins with concrete and dirt.

IWS trucks cannot collect wheelie bins heavier than 50kg despite each bin having a capacity of 240 litres.

Collectors have begun to run into trouble in the Somerset region after finding bins being used to dispose of construction material.

IWS took over waste collection in the region in January.

The Somerset Regional Council has urged residents to check their bins before collection as "(IWS) trucks have been set up to lift a maximum of 50kg and cannot pick up a bin weighing more than this".

Somerset Mayor Graeme Lehmann said bins had been used to dispose of concrete.

"People have filled them up with concrete after tearing up a driveway," he said.

"You could fill a bin to the brim with household goods and it wouldn't come close to the limit."

Cr Lehmann said he hadn't heard of overloaded bins being an issue prior to IWS taking over the waste contract.

IWS spokesman and Ipswich Cr Trevor Nardi said the hydraulic lifts on IWS trucks had a weight limit in place due to safety concerns.

"Fifty kilos is the safe lifting load," he said.

"They can lift more than that, but that's the WHS (workplace health and safety) limit."

The same bins collected in the Brisbane City Council have a limit of 70kg.

Cr Nardi said most households would struggle to create 50kg of household waste in a week.

"In the past we've had people put old engine blocks in their bins and all manner of weird and wonderful things and cover it with normal rubbish," he said.

"We have issues in mango season with people filling their bins with mangos that are impossible to lift.

"But a normal household shouldn't produce anywhere near the limit."

According to IWS the average household in Ipswich collects 18kg of waste in the regular bin a week, while bins in the Somerset collect 25kg on average.

Cr Nardi said the 7kg difference was due to Somerset residents not having a separate recycling bin.

Cr Nardi said the trucks lifts weighed the bins prior to lifting them and did not lift them if they exceeded the 50kg limit.

Originally published as Concrete bins causing strife