Logan City Council’s green waste collection service has been well received with more than 16,000 lime green lid bins distributed since the service was introduced in July last year.
The service has turned more than 5000 tonnes of green waste into compost rather than sending it to landfill. The more that can be saved from landfill now, the longer our landfill site will last.
For households that don’t have a green waste bin, 20-30% of their general waste is garden waste that ends up in landfill.
Having a green waste option for our residents was an important factor in our waste and recycling contract with Cleanaway.
Green waste bins are an easy and affordable way for residents and businesses to recycle garden waste. They are environmentally friendly as they help to keep green waste out of landfill, reducing greenhouse emissions.
We have about 127,000 rateable properties in the city, which means we still have huge opportunity to reduce the impact on our landfill.
Residents can choose to have either a 140-litre bin ($48 per year), a 240-litre bin ($53 per year) or a 360-litre bin ($78 per year). A maximum of two green waste bins per property is permitted.
The lime-top bins can be filled with garden waste such as prunings, palm fronds, weeds, leaves and grass clippings which will be recycled into compost.
At current waste volumes our Browns Plains landfill is only about 10 years away from reaching its end of life, and we need to keep finding ways to divert waste away from landfill.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – we can’t just keep digging holes and making the landfill bigger.
Once it reaches capacity our only alternative is start trucking waste out of the city, an option that is not only costly but set us back in the fight against climate change.
We all have a responsibility to reduce the amount of rubbish that gets buried in landfill and our green waste bins are helping to do that.
By preserving space in our landfill site now, we are saving ratepayers down the track.
