Greener kerbside service to deliver for Wagga residents

From 2 April 2018 Wagga Wagga residents will be able to enjoy a more efficient, environmentally sustainable and cost effective kerbside waste service with Council tonight resolving to proceed with a new food organics and garden organics collection service.

Wagga Wagga City Council will enter into a minimum seven-year contract with experienced and innovative waste collection provider JJ Richards and Sons Pty Ltd, which will collect household bins.

Kurrajong Recyclers will continue to process recyclable material, and Council will continue to negotiate a competitive tender for the processing of food organics and garden organics (FOGO) material.

The new service will feature an increased fortnightly collection capacity for each home, drastically reduce the amount of food waste needlessly going to landfill by composting it instead, and increase opportunities for homes to recycle.

The new service will also see the return of an annual hard/bulky waste pick up service and expanded collection area to include Uranquinty village, Springvale (expanded), Lake Albert (expanded), Kapooka, Cartwrights Hill and a section of Brucedale.

The Mayor of the City of Wagga Wagga Greg Conkey OAM says this announcement is an important step for Wagga Wagga.

“More than half the bin weight of Wagga bins is made up of food organics, which currently goes straight to landfill when it could be composted,” he said.

“If we keep going the way we are we would have to build a new waste cell every four to five years at around $4M each.

“Many Councils in NSW have already adopted these changes so we aren’t doing this in isolation and are fortunate that we are able to learn from those around us.

“Combine this with all of the feedback we have received from the community and I believe we are implementing the very best model.”

The new service will consist of:

• Weekly food organics and garden organics bin (240L, green lid)
• Kitchen caddy and compostable liners
• Fortnightly recycling bin (240L, yellow lid) with option for a larger 360L bin
• Fortnightly general waste bin (140L, red lid)
• Annual pre-booked hard/bulky waste pick up service

The annual charge to ratepayers for the collection service will be reviewed each year in line with the Fees and Charges Policy, but Council expects there won’t be any significant changes to the 2018/19 charge outside of the incremental increase of $9-15 a year as has occurred in recent times.

This would mean that Wagga Wagga’s kerbside waste collection charge would remain amongst the cheapest (bottom 25%) in NSW.

Council has also received a $1.03M grant from the NSW Environmental Trust under its 'Waste Less, Recycle More' initiative for the introduction of a FOGO service in Wagga Wagga.

Council’s General Manager Robert Knight says residents have plenty of time to prepare for the new service.

“There are still eight months before the changes will be implemented and a dedicated team of Council staff will be very busy in the lead up making sure every household understands what they need to do and to make the transition as easy as possible,” he said.

“This extensive education campaign will include a variety of communication with residents, ads in local media, school activities, community events and even home visits.”

Information will continue to be updated on the Your Waste website as the final details of the contract are confirmed, and residents are encouraged to contact Council with any questions by calling 1300 292 442 or email waste@wagga.nsw.gov.au.

Nearly 5000 individuals provided valuable feedback about what they wanted from their waste services during a community engagement campaign in 2015. Every contribution has been collated and analysed by Council staff.