Consultation on Council's Draft Waste and Resource Recovery Service Policy

Agree with the general sentiment here. Our yellow top bin (recycling) is full by the end of each week but our blue top (general waste) is not. Food scraps go into the composter...Perhaps it would be better to collect the blue fortnightly and the yellow weekly. However its worth noting that if people are still putting food into the blue bin during the summer the blue may have to be done weekly to prevent smells/rats etc...Oh and pretty up the Crafers roundabouts please...;o)

Would like green bins for everyone (none at Forest Range still) plus the kitchen caddy that some people also get. Then I would be happy to move to two weekly collection of blue bin. Like that this will force people to use their waste creatively, ie worm farms etc. and would be a massive cost saving. Could spend some of those savings on prettying up places other than Stirling round-abouts!

I once lived in another suburb where the council tried to do fortnightly pick up of the 'blue' bin and it didn't work. The smell was awful and the bins were overflowing. I do agree with weekly recycling pick up. I notice that my yellow bin is often full before the end of the fortnight and that is with only 2 occupants. Side note about green waste: It would be really useful to provide a week of free greens delivery to the Waste Depot every quarter so that the residents have a chance to drop off outside of work hours and not have to line up on the road all weekend. Especially with the new burning by-laws.

There is no green bin in the scott creek area. We would like to be included, instead of having to burn it and release carbon into the atmosphere

I would like to see more information about what can be put in the recycle bin. Now I have heard that we can put lids in the bin loose and they don't have to be altogether inside a bottle container. This sort of information could be given to schools too to education the students.

I regularly run out of yellow recycling bin space and only half fill my blue waste bin. Collection of recycling weekly and blue two weekly would encourage people to recycle in order to have enough bin space for waste. In addition, in the UK, green was collected separately from food waste so you could have that collected weekly to avoid smells and infestation. Green varied according to season.

As I am not "entitled" to a green bin I have a real problem with green waste. I have not got a trailer and am not comfortable using one. Has the Council given any thought to older residents in the Adelaide Hills Council area who may not be able to use the vouchers for trailers? Crotchet 27

FYI everyone. Free kitchen caddy and a roll of green bags is available to AHC residents with a green bin. 2 free green waste vouchers per financial year if (like me) you don't have a green bin. An excellent A - Z guide on the web site as to which bin for what item. Free green waste drop off days for the next 4 months - just check the AHC web site! I'd love more recycling and less general waste collection but need to work towards bringing the majority of the populous on board first.

I completely agree with Jonathan and many others, in that people put food scraps into the blue bin to as it is removed weekly & thus less smelly. Collecting Blue & yellow fortnightly will encourage people to use the green bin properly and thus this should be collected weekly. Weekly green bin collection will also help with keeping our properties bush fire safe.

I do also agree that new products come with too much packaging, perhaps rather than increasing the yellow collections you offer a free drop off for this type of material.

Agree on the comments about the compostable bags, people cannot always get to the council office, you either need to do as Burnside or make it easier to get them (local shops).

Swapping the cycle around is a sign of the times and would leave the number of collections the same, and should also reduce the amount going to landfill. How about some recycling tips each month something as simple as just showing an item and which bin it should go in, people can relate more to this than looking at symbols.

Interesting reading. I rarely use my green bin because I live on an acre covered in Stringybarks and can't keep up with gathering the leaves or cutting the fallen branches to fit the bin - partly because I'm in my 70s now, and have a dodgy back. I depend on hiring someone once a year to gather up the debris and stack it somewhere where it is safe to burn off - now I need a permit of course. I agree we need weekly yellow bin collections as mine is usually full and I have items piling up for the next collection in a box on the back verandah.

I also don't have a trailer or a car equipped to tow one (or any experience towing a trailer), and so taking either excess recyclables or a load of green waste to the depot myself is not viable.

I would also like to see recyclables collected weekly and blue bins collected; I agree this would encourage people to recycle more.
I also believe simple, clear communication on what can and can't be recycled would help improve recycling amounts. I would definitely support easy to follow brochures and/or stickers on bins, particularly if they answer questions about those items that are frequently confusing.
In addition, it would be great to have better info about items that the council collects, and how to deposit, e.g. paint cans, batteries, light bulbs, mobile phones, electrical equipment etc. If the council does not collect these to recycle, I would be very supportive of this being set up, and believe Council should look into options with a variety of providers; eg a Planet Ark container for mobile phones at the library.

I totally agree with lsimon's suggestions. Actually I suggested to the Council a few years ago that the garbage / blue bin and yellow bin could be collected fortnightly and green waste bin collected weekly. Unfortunately my suggestion was not taken by the council.

I agree with lsimon's opinion that collecting the garbage/blue bin fortnightly would encourage people to put their green waste into the green bin and recycling waste into yellow bin. As far as I am aware, currently, many people just do not bother to sort their garbage and dispose them into appropriate bins. They just throw most of their garbage into the blue bin because it is collected weekly at the moment.

The more serious problem for collecting the green bin fortnightly is that kitchen scraps become rotten in the green bin after two weeks especially in summer. They attract insects and become very smelly. Once I even saw a large mouse in my green bin! Therefore many of my friends never throw their kitchen waste into their green bins because of the hygiene problems.

Collecting the green bin weekly and the other two bins fortnightly will not increase garbage workers' workloads significantly because they will still collect two kinds of bins each week.

As far as I know, another reason why many people do not bother to throw their kitchen waste into their green bins is that the compostable bags are much more expensive than plastic bags and they are not very easy to find. The Burnside Council gives each house one roll of compostable bags (which is enough for a year of use) for free (Maybe the cost has already been added on their council rate). Why can't our council do the same? That will encourage people to use the green bin more often too.

The collection interval for recyclables is too long so many residents are being forced to put recyclables in their general waste bin (blue lid).
Unfortunately there is an increasing amount of packaging being used by manufacturers and retailers these days and, while a consumer can opt for products with as little packaging as possible, a family living in a household will still easily fill the recyclables bin well before the two week mark.
Most decomposable material (that will end up stinking) can be placed in the green waste bin so there should be a weekly collection of both green waste and recyclables with general refuse being collected fortnightly.

Like Isimon, we take great care to reuse what we can and sort, wash and, recycle as much as possible. It is frustrating to see how mixed up other's bins can be. Recycling in the blue bin, rubbish in the yellow bin - just because it fits in and folks just want it to go away. Education is good of course, but the idea of what is recyclable is not new, people DO know the difference in many cases. A notice slapped on repeat offenders bins with suggestions of ways to reduce/recycle could help.
Confidence that the recycling is actually going to be recycled and not dumped would make people take more care. There is a great belief that it doesn't matter because none of it gets recycled anyway. The War on Waste program may not have assisted in this aspect. Information documenting what happens to OUR recycling may make people care more.
Thank you.

Weekly collection of green bins to reduce fuel loads
Weekly collection of blue bin otherwise they stink and are a hazard to health
Fortnightly collection of yellow bin is fine as they don't stink

In order to reduce the volume of waste going into land fill the garbage / blue bin should be collected fortnightly and green waste and or recycling collected weekly.

Collecting the garbage / blue bin fortnightly would force people to divert their rubbish to more appropriate waste disposal services e.g. green waste, recycling, e-waste, hard waste.

In recent years residents have been encouraged to dispose of kitchen scraps through the green organics bon. However the current collection cycle means that food can be rotting in the bin for up to two weeks or worse being diverted to the garbage / blue bin.

More education is also needed. While I go to great length to sort my waste into the appropriate bins I am often horrified by what I see spilling out of my neighbours bins when I drive down the street.

I recently moved to North East Road, Houghton. I am shocked and disappointed that we do not receive a green waste bin. We are on the outskirts of the council area and I wonder if we get forgotten, or maybe there is simply a lack of care. It is a highly populated area, in a fire danger zone. We are not in some hard to reach or hard to access location. We are on a main road! We should have regular, easy access to green waste disposal; especially in fire season when we can’t burn off. Yes, we get access to dumping on certain dates, but this is not suitable for several reasons. 1- our location to the nearest depot. It’s kilometres away, and not in any place people who live this side of the hills will regularly travel to. It’s just not convenient. 2- trees generate leaves and waste regularly and we need continual ways to remove waste safely. 3- not everyone can access a trailer or car with towing abilities to actually use the free dumping offer.