City of Mount Gambier will trial a kerbside bulky waste collection over a six month period from 1 July 2020. Elected Members endorsed the ‘by-appointment’ waste option at last night’s May meeting as a further step towards supporting residents during COVID-19.
Each residential property will be eligible for one pick up of up to two cubic metres of hard/bulky waste via a ‘call and collect’ system.
Since the establishment of the ReUse Market, residents have had the option to dispose of good quality items for free at the Waste Transfer Station, however there are many residents, who for various reasons, are unable to transport these goods.- City of Mount Gambier Environmental Sustainability Officer Aaron Izzard
Conditions will apply to the service in terms of the types of waste that will be accepted with an aim to reduce waste to landfill and encourage responsible disposal of household items.
“A list of accepted and unaccepted items will be available shortly, with the overall goal being to ease the burden of cost and transport for disposing items to enable this to be carried out through the appropriate stream and hopefully reduce illegal dumping,” Mr Izzard said.
“Examples of items that could be accepted include televisions, furniture, white goods and material offcuts such as timber, iron etc, while those that would be considered unacceptable include asbestos and other hazardous waste, car batteries, shoes and clothing, gas bottles and tyres and car parts to name a few.”
The service is proposed to have cost implications of up to $200,000 over the trial period with resources allocated via the ‘Our City, Our Response’ COVID-19 strategy which will seek to employ locals who are experiencing unemployment as a result of the pandemic.
Elected Members welcomed the proposal with many expressing their excitement and support for the trial.
“Hard waste has been an issue for some time in the city with Council often receiving feedback requesting a service of this type so this presents an ideal time to test the service provision in a measured way,” Mayor Lynette Martin OAM said.
“It is hoped that the trial will test if hard waste collection will be a suitable option long term to ensure that items are separated correctly to maximise recycling and reuse, and minimise waste to landfill.”
