Hard Waste Service

The provision of a hard waste service has been identified as an important waste management initiative by the community.

At the 6 September 2021 Council meeting, Council Members endorsed the provision of a district wide hard waste service based on a user pays at-call model that is provided once a year to residential properties only, and to begin a procurement process to commence a service in mid-2022.

Council endorsed community consultation on the preferred hard waste service option on 6 April 2021. Consultation occurred between 19 May and 9 June 2021.

Results of the consultation are documented in the Hard Waste Survey Response Report.

We appreciate that a user pays model is not the result that many of you told us you would prefer.

During public consultation, Council received an encouraging response that supports the introduction of a new service that is equitable and has a high resource recovery.

It is these principles that guided the tough choices that Council Members had to make.

In coming to a decision on a hard waste service Council Members strongly agreed that the introduction of a service should not impede on the provision of other services and not burden all ratepayers with funding a service that, based on research and industry practice, will only be used by about 15% of residents in any one year.

Council is committed to promoting avoidance and resource recovery over disposal and encourages it’s residents to acknowledge that they have a personal responsibility, as consumers, for the environmental costs and consequences of what they purchase and use. In having a user pays charge Council seeks to influence the community to reconsider their purchasing and disposal behaviour to more sustainable options.

We strongly encourage you to read the Hard Waste Council Report - September 2021 to fully understand the basis behind Council’s decision-making on a hard waste service.