FAQ

Currently the responsibility for bin maintenance and repair rests with residents. Council is proposing to take on the responsibility to ensure the bins meet the Australian standards and are consistent across the local government area.

There are a number of factors influencing this proposal, largely the need the fact that Council’s current tender for waste and recycling collection services expires in June 2019 and a new tender needs to be secured. Since the previous contract has awarded there have been changes in industry standards which need to be addressed in the new tender. These include work health and safety issues i.e. the need to reduce manual collections/lifting and compliance with the NSW EPA Guidelines on standardised bins. An added benefit of the wheelie bin size/design is reduced litter from overflowing bins.

Quite possibly, because we need to cover the cost of providing the bin and the cost of processing the increased volume of material in the bin.

Yes. The standard bin for co-mingled recycling is a green body with yellow lid. Council needs to standardise recycling bins and requires residents currently using a non-standard receptacle to discontinue.

Currently, general waste from North Sydney residents red lidded bin is sent to Global Renewables in Eastern Creek, via the Suez Artarmon transfer station. Global Renewables extracts incompatible material and recyclables such as aluminum and metals and processes the remainder to produce a compost material suitable for mine rehabilitation and broad acre agricultural application. This process diverts approximately 60-65% of North Sydney’s general waste from landfill. This greatly assists Council to achieve government waste avoidance targets currently sitting at 71%, inclusive of the of the commingled recyclables collected at kerbside.

Not necessarily. The rubbish in the red bin will potentially continue to be processed in the new disposal contract. Council will continue to run education and awareness campaigns to encourage residents to reduce their household waste.

Currently Council’s waste and recycling collection contractor (URM) owns the recyclables once the contents of your yellow lidded recycling bin once collected. The commingled contents are transported for processing to the Visy plant in Smithfield, where it is sorted into the various streams, paper, plastics, steel/aluminum cans and glass and are either exported or re manufactured into reusable products.

Additionally, Council operates and is a member of the Northern Sydney Community Recycling Centre (CRC) in Artarmon. The CRC accepts certain hazardous household wastes and operates as a drive through, drop off facility. The CRC has proven to be a popular service for North Sydney residents and approximately 4 tonnes of hazardous waste is collected each weekend and more than 3 tonnes of e-waste is collected each week. This potentially toxic waste is diverted from landfill and sent for recycling and processing.