Waste Reduction and Recycling Plan

Cooroy Library April 15, 2016 10 am - 12 noon • Want to know do all new properties get a garden waste bin? Plan unclear if this means rural residential and rural properties too. Requires clarification. • A resident contended that some people only use their waste bins for green waste as well because, even though they don’t need the bin, they are paying for it so they may as well get their money’s worth • The word “serviceable” on page 19 of The Waste Plan requires clarification as to what roads are actually “serviceable” in terms of Council’s intentions to include them in any future mandatory garden waste bin collection service. • One residents says she produces zero waste and can’t understand why should be required to pay for a waste collection service let alone a new garden waste collection service • Resident said that people should be encouraged to do the right thing rather than having to pay for all the people not doing the right thing. • Resident suggests: one large recycle bin plus a half size general waste bin and a half size garden waste bin for rural areas if they have to have any extra bin. This should reduce the collection costs so that there are no rate rises. It will also encourage people to recycle more and produce less waste. Three big bins do not provide any incentive for waste reduction and in fact it did the reverse. • One Pomona resident has passing tourists use her recycling bin to dump their waste which contaminates her bin. The bin is a long way from her home when it is left out for collection. The point is that recycling bins in rural areas are being misused and if owners are supposed to be responsible for their bins and there is the potential for a compliance officer, then owner of bins in rural areas should not be held responsible for contaminated bins. It would be impossible to police regardless. • Some residents suggested that there should be exemptions for people who can prove that they do not need recycle bins or green waste bins. • A resident expressed concerns that there was no longer any Councillor that they could go to on the issue since there were no longer any divisions and there seemed to be no particular “Hinterland” Councillor that they could express their concerns to about the waste Plan. The resident also suggested that Councillors should be on hand at pop-ups and others agreed. • Several residents said that a former free voucher system for drop off at the landfill was popular and suggested it be reinstated. • Another resident expressed concerns about roads in rural areas that were not structured well enough for residents to find suitable places to leave their bins for collection. One resident had said that he had complained and Council then built a $4,500 concrete pad just for his bin which was now redundant because the road had been upgraded. • Concerns were expressed about rural roads being destroyed by waste trucks and that these were not getting fixed. • One resident said that there were only 4 properties on their road and only one person puts a recycle bin out for collection. This was highlighting her point that recycle bins were not needed or wanted by people on her rural road. • Another resident said that 20 years ago people could take recycling to the landfill station where they sorted it themselves and put it into the skips provided. She thought that was better than a mandatory recycling service. • Another resident suggested that Living Smart be brought back in and that waste was a resource not waste and she formerly objected to any proposed mandatory 3 bin service. • One resident suggested that the 3 bin service should only be mandatory for people living on Lots under a specific size. Whether rural residential size lots were to be included in the new 3 bin service was unclear on the Draft Plan and this required clarification. • Another asked what was happening to restaurant waste. There used to be worm farm in Eumundi but it was too expensive to collect from restaurants so it was stopped. He felt that new collection methods should be investigated because the quality of the compost from the worm output was fantastic and the best possible form of compost available. • Another felt that press coverage of the waste issue looked like a sales pitch and that the consultations just looked like an obligation and that the mandatory 3 bin service was going ahead anyway. Wanted public meetings with councillors. • Another said that 4 of the new Councillors said that they would not support a mandatory 3 bin service at pre-election public meetings • Another commented that if people can’t get the use of normal recycling bin right, then why would council assume that they will use the 3 bins correctly? • One resident cleans up his road and removes litter left by tourists voluntarily. He said he did not want a 3 bin service and that low income areas such as in many rural areas of the Shire are being penalised and that a $50 rate rise is a lot. • Another resident said that an education and behaviour change campaign would not work and that people had to be hit in the pockets to get them to do the right thing. • Two residents said that individual property owners should be able to apply for an exemption that could include criteria that they would have to meet in order to be granted exemption from the 3 bin service, including inspections • Several residents commented that they appreciated Council officer’s presence at the Pop-ups to answer questions face-to-face • One resident said she puts her general waste in her neighbours bin because she produces so little and only puts out her recycle bin every few months • On resident said that Council had not consulted enough and when reminded about the 6 month community jury on the waste issue he said that invitations for the Community Jury should have been sent to all Shire residents not just a random sample of 3000. Another resident said that Council could not have consulted more as all jury meetings on the waste issue were open and anyone could have attended all the meetings and had their say.

Waste bin collected fortnightly not weekly. An option for green waste bins to be collected weekly. Do a large scale hazardous waste collection twice a year possibly in partnership with a big supplier like Bunning's, rather than going out to the tip making it easy for people to drop off. Bright side should recover more things that are taken to the landfill, I have taken many products which I thought they would recycle and sell but they put them straight to landfill. It would be good to see Council working with suppliers of goods like Harvey Norman and Bunning's to recycle products that they sell, and they pay for a % of them to be recycled. Bob

I would like to see the separate collection of food scraps and composted Therese France

I would like to see food waste collected from the community and commercial sector, I thought this was a recommendation from the community jury? Its disappointing to see that this wont be happening. Sarah