Northern beaches council wants to spend $20m on bins that would be the same size
The Northern Beaches Council is looking to spend millions on uniform garbage containers that are the same size — but the idea has prompted some councillors to ask questions.
Manly
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ALMOST $20 million would be spent to create uniform household garbage bins across the northern beaches, leading some councillors to call for a full business case before money is spent.
But the council’s acting chief executive officer Ben Taylor said the proposal would ultimately save ratepayers money.
As part of a tender process, the council has pitched to make its bins uniform to allow one collection service for the entire peninsula.
“The cost of the bins for a household on an annual basis under the proposed replacement program is approximately four per cent of the total cost of a service each year, with the other 96 per cent being the collection, recycling and disposal of waste,” Mr Taylor said. “This project has been planned and budgeted for many years and the upfront purchase of the bins will not add any further costs to residents.”
He said the council would collect all old bins for recycling into new plastic products such as outdoor furniture, garden plant pots, fencing, landscaping products and new garbage bins.
“Any savings we are able to make under the new waste contract will allow us to invest in better waste services for our community and put downward pressure on waste charges.” Mr Taylor said.
But Liberal Cr Stuart Sprott was going to call for a business case to be put forward at last night’s meeting.
Cr Sprott, along with his fellow Liberals Pat Daley and Dave Walton, will urge councillors to call for a briefing after tenders have closed. This would include “the full financial costs, benefits and complete environmental assessment of the replacement of all bins for households”, the motion said.
It will also call for council staff to investigate other ways to reduce waste costs.
Cr Sprott said he wanted more information and fine-grain detail.
“There are too many questions to be answered before we spend $19.5m on garbage bins,” he said. “We want to know how many bins were replaced and when in Warringah, Pittwater and Manly and what that cost.
“We want to know what the cost is over the last five years of bin replacement.”
He said the council should be looking to reduce plastic, given that it has been trying to make local businesses do the same through its single- use plastic policy.
“Are the bins going to be made out of reduced plastic or is this a whole bunch of new plastic going into the environment?” Cr Sprott said. “Our first priority should be reduce, reuse then recycle.”
A resident sent a picture to the Manly Daily of their bin, replaced in March with the old Pittwater Council branding.
Now it could be replaced again. And Cr Sprott said his green bin in former Warringah Council area was replaced three years ago.
But Mr Taylor said the council’s bin stock was ageing.
“More than two thirds are over 10 years old and many more than 20 years, and replacement and repair costs are escalating exponentially,” he said.
“Over the life of the contract we will need to replace almost all of the existing bin stock. It costs less to replace the bins at the start of the new waste collection contract than to be charged a premium to replace and repair them at an increasing rate.
“Ad hoc replacement and repair drives up costs, reduces the ability to procure bins in bulk and doesn’t achieve the kind of savings council is committed to delivering.”