Eurobodalla Council will audit a random selection of household bins over the next eight weeks to gain an insight into what makes up Eurobodalla’s domestic waste and recycling.
Council will document the contents of 220 red, yellow and green-lidded bins over a two-week collection cycle from each town and village.
Data will be used to measure changes in waste streams and to plan for future waste minimisation strategies.
Council’s Waste Minimisation Officer Belinda Wagner said randomly-selected bins would be collected separately before the normal kerbside pick-up.
“Each bag of waste will be tagged to identify matching household samples from the red, yellow and green-lidded bins and will be taken to the waste facilities for sorting,” she said.
“From there we will physically sort, weigh and document all components that we find in each sample.”
The audit is conducted in line with guidelines from the NSW Environmental Protection Authority and Ms Wagner said Council would follow strict protocols on privacy and confidentially.
“The privacy of individual households will be safeguarded during the audit, however households who prefer to be excluded can let us know,” she said.
“We want to get a representative survey and we encourage residents to continue managing their waste as they normally do.”
Ms Wagner said the audit was last conducted in Eurobodalla in 2010.
“The 2010 audit identified that 59 per cent of red-lidded bin contents was compostable, which is one of the reasons Council introduced separate green waste bins and initiated our popular composting workshops,” Ms Wagner said.
“The previous audit also showed that 16 per cent of the contents could have been recycled and that small amounts of hazardous waste, like fluoro globes, batteries and household cleaners, were entering landfill through the domestic waste bins.
“These can be taken free of charge to the annual household chemical cleanout collection points each year.”
Residents who prefer not to participate in the audit can contact Council’s Waste Minimisation Officer Belinda Wagner on 02 4474 1029.
