July 1, 2020 - Waste calendars to keep residents on track for bin day

Cassowary Coast Regional Council is rolling out waste calendars to help keep residents on track for bin day. 

The 2020/2021 financial year calendars were printed locally, on 100 percent recycled paper and include a colour coded week to week collection guide and tips on recycling, composting and dealing with waste. 

Councillor Jeff Baines who leads the portfolio for Governance, Environment and Finance said the success of our waste disposal system depends on all of us to correctly separate various waste types.

‘The current system of wet and dry waste separation is to reduce both the financial and environmental cost related to waste management,’ he said. 

‘State laws limit the disposal of wet waste in the Cassowary Coast,’ 

‘Dry waste can be disposed of locally at landfills but our wet waste is transported to landfill facilities outside the region,

‘The less wet waste we produce, the less we pay in transport and disposal costs.’ said Councillor Baines.

The Cassowary Coast has a two wheelie bin system for kerbside garbage collection - the red or blue-lidded bin is for "wet waste" and the green-lidded bin is for "dry waste".  

The wet waste bin is collected every week and the dry waste bin is collected every second week.  

Councillor Baines said the rubbish trucks have a split-bodied compartment allowing the driver to use a lever in the cab to send the wet waste to one compartment and the dry waste to another compartment.

‘In addition to separating wet and dry waste, composting is one small way we can help reduce the amount of waste going to landfill,’ he said.

About half of all household waste is organic matter which can be recycled through composting. This includes everything from food scraps to newspaper, shredded cardboard and lawn clippings.’ 

Council offers twenty dollars cashback, when you purchase a composting bin or worm farm and provide proof of purchase to enquiries@cassowarycoast.qld.gov.au.

2020/2021 waste calendars will be available from all Waste Transfer Stations, Council Customer Service Centres, Libraries, Visitor Information Centres and Real Estate Agencies from 2 July 2020. 

If you are not sure which day to put your bins out, please contact Council on 1300 763 903 or head to www.cassowarycoast.qld.gov.au/domestic-garbage-services for more information.

Examples of wet waste:

• Food scraps
• Aerosol cans
• Unrinsed steel cans
• Dirty plastic bags
• Unrinsed food and drink containers
• Disposable nappies (napkins, tissues, cotton wool, etc.)
• Other wet waste materials (putrescibles)
• Small quantities of garden waste (please try composting instead)

Examples of dry waste:

• Clean plastic bags, cans, bottles, jars, food and drink containers
• Paper and cardboard
• Plastic
• Wood and cork
• Glass (all types)
• Small metal items
• Fabric (clothing, shoes etc)
• Clean packaging materia