Green waste limits lifted

Avid gardeners across the Moreton Bay Region will be able to dump as much green waste as they like at Council tips until the end of this financial year.

Moreton Bay regional Council yesterday voted to lift restrictions on disposing of green waste – although limits imposed in July will remain for general waste.

From July 1, residents, community groups, sporting organisations and charity organisations that take more than three tonnes of waste in a year, including green waste, - or make more than 26 visits - to a tip have had to pay for the privilege.

Councillors voted for the current cap on total waste disposals to be changed to exclude green waste, saying Council wanted to first educate residents on sustainable waste practices.

Misuse reduced

Councillor Matt Constance (Div 10) told the meeting the former rules were imposed because of a small number of people who were abusing the system and very few people had exceeded their limit in the past six months.

“We have to acknowledge there’s a problem with a small number of people misusing the service dumping an excess, trying to suggest that what they were taking as commercial (green) waste was residential waste. It was not,” he said.

Cr Constance said the change would allow Council more time to work with residents on reducing thir overall waste and consider other ways of disposing of green waste.

“I think it’s evident we were jumping the gun,” he said.

“I am pleased to see we have suspended the limit on green waste until the end of the financial year.”

Cr Brooke Savige (Div 1) told the meeting the change would benefit house-proud residents in her division who spent a lot of time maintaining their gardens and mowed their lawns frequently.

Temporary change

Mayor Peter Flannery said Council had received complaints from “a small number of residents” impacted by the cap and the change was in direct response to their feedback.

“But I want to be clear that the temporary relaxation of this rule only applies to green waste, not any other type of waste disposal.

“The limits will remain in place for all other types of waste, because as responsible citizens we all need to start thinking more sustainably about our waste.

“Council offers free waste disposal of domestic general waste, green waste, clean concrete and clean soil - the only change was to implement a total waste limit per household of either three tonnes or 26 visits to the tip each year.”

Mayor Flannery said by the start of December only 720 properties – or 0.4 percent of households - had reached the limit, with another 177 hitting the half-way mark.

New facilities coming

“We do have a waste management problem in terms of the sustainability of southeast Queensland, which is why we’re committed to building our own Food Organics and Green Organics (FOGO) Facility here in Moreton Bay.

|“Household waste generation, including kerbside wheelie bin collections, currently sits at 600kg per person per year.|

“We all need to start making little changes that will have a positive impact on the bigger picture, which is critical to our goal of ‘going green as we grow’ in the face of a booming population.”

The changes apply to eligible residents and ratepayers.

Annual limits applicable to community groups, sporting organisations and charity organisations are maintained and exceptions will continue to apply to residents without access to kerbside collection.