Lake Macquarie residents have voiced concerns over the newly proposed waste collection system, believing it is counteractive to the council’s own convenience goals and sustainability agendas.
Under the proposed changes, which will be introduced in 2023, Lake Macquarie households will choose the date of their twice-yearly bulk waste collections instead of the current scheduled service per suburb.
Alternatively, residents can receive up to two vouchers a year to drop the same amount of waste at the Awaba Waste Management Facility.
Lake Macquarie City Manager Waste Services, Paul Collins, said the proposed new system meant residents could get rid of their bulk waste when convenient.
“Whether it’s home renovations, spring cleaning or moving house, there are many occasions where people would rather have bulk waste collected at a time convenient to them,” Collins said.
“Every resident gets to choose based on what best suits their needs.”
Concerns for the existing circular economy
Lake Macquarie residents weighed in on social media, with many sceptical of the proposed changes.
One resident voiced concerns about the impact on current sustainability practices amongst neighbourhoods.
“I furnished several houses with furniture from the curb-side when I was at university and still continue to repurpose items from my area as an effort to reduce landfill,” he said.
“When professional recyclers collect unwanted goods before council pick them up, community members can recycle, reuse and repurpose.
“How is it more economical for a truck to come out to each house? How is each person driving their cars out to Awaba environmental friendly?”
Collins confirmed the proposed new system would reduce overall collection costs for Lake Macquarie City, with estimates that it would save $500,000 a year over the next 10 years.
He said it would also significantly reduce the total amount of bulk waste going to landfills each year.
“This will enable us to implement bulk waste reuse and additional resource recovery initiatives,” Collins said.
From 2020 to 2021, Lake Macquarie City collected 11,222 tonnes of bulk waste that went to landfills and recycled 1450 tonnes collected.
The newly proposed service is not the first instance in the Hunter, with the City of Newcastle, Maitland City Council and Port Stephens Council having already implemented the system.
New system difficulties
Lake Macquarie resident, Stephanie Medini Canaway, said the service adjustment hadn’t seemed to be successful in other LGAs.
“I’ve seen how these changes have been made in Sydney and how difficult it has made things,” she said.
“Especially with renters having difficulty gaining permission from the property owner and contacting the council on their behalf for collection.
“Ultimately, it has left people dumping goods in front of other people’s homes and them having to call the council to report the dumping.”
Canaway said given the increased difficulty of the process, the only benefit seemed to be the reduction in people utilising the service.
“People may not bother to call for their pickups, and tip vouchers would be useless if it meant you had to hire a van to take your stuff to the tip.”
A Lake Macquarie City spokesperson defended the proposed changes.
“Currently, many households place their bulk waste out for collection two or more weeks prior to their scheduled collection,” the spokesperson said.
“This can lead to hundreds of tonnes of waste sitting in the street for weeks before it gets collected by our collection vehicles, resulting in litter and material being degraded by rain, which affects the recyclability of many items.
“With the new booked collection service, residents will be requested to place their rubbish out the day before collection – no earlier.”
A handful of Lake Macquarie residents welcomed the changes, with one social media user saying she would be “happy to see a change”.
“I live in a unit block, and a month before the pickup date, lots of stuff starts to pile up out the front and it often smells because it has been there for so long.
“Bring on the changes. It must get better.”
The Lake Macquarie City spokesperson assured the council was working to formalise material reuse opportunities and stimulate additional job opportunities in the circular economy.
They said a new proposed system would connect local charitable organisations and specialised reuse and repair businesses with residents’ reusable items.
“We are also exploring new recycling opportunities to save the remaining bulky household waste items from landfills,” the spokesperson said.
“This will be made possible by managing lower daily tonnages instead of the high volumes of material generated when entire suburbs put their material out at the same time.”
Maia O’Connor