Bathurst council to trial fortnightly waste collection, compostable bin liners

Some homes will receive a kitchen caddy and a roll of compostable liners to collect their green waste while other homes will have their household waste collected fortnightly instead of weekly for the duration of the trial.

The four-month trial is now under way with a number of households from Bathurst residential zones and a number of local businesses randomly selected to participate.

The Bathurst Regional Council project is supported by Local Government NSW with funding from the NSW Government.

Mayor Bobby Bourke called it an important initiative aimed at looking after the Bathurst environment for future generations by identifying the community's habits with regards to food waste.

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"The Closing The Gap On Food Waste trial will also guide Bathurst in planning its future waste services," Cr Bourke said.

Households selected to take part in the trial will see a range of changes to their waste collection, each unique to their trial area.

Cr Bourke said some areas would be provided with a caddy and a roll of compostable liners to place food items in to carry to the lime green-lidded [green waste] bin.

Other homes taking part in the trial will receive an alternate red-lidded general waste bin and/or have their bins collected fortnightly instead of weekly for the duration of the trial only.

"Feedback from the participating households will be sought throughout the trial and at its conclusion," Cr Bourke said.

Participating businesses will be provided with dedicated food waste bins for the duration of the trial alongside kitchen insert bins.

Throughout the trial the food waste will be composted at ANL at Blayney and will be sent to local farms, providing nutrient-rich material to be used in agriculture.

At the conclusion of the trial, services for the participating households will return to the standard bin collection schedule.

The aim of the trial is to identify the best ways to divert food and garden organics from landfill.

Diverting this material from landfill allows the nutrients to be converted into usable composts while reducing the amount of greenhouse gases expelled into the atmosphere, council said.

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