Red bin collections in the trial areas resume on Monday, July 7. Photo: Lockyer Valley Regional Council
Public disregard for separating organic and general waste means the Lockyer Valley Regional Council will end its green lid collection trial next month.
The Council began the trial in 2021 when it rolled out Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) green lid bins to about 1000 homes in Laidley and Gatton.
As part of the trial, the participating homes’ general waste collection was extended from weekly to fortnightly.
Councillor Julie Reck says the decision is a response to both public feedback and their review of the service.
NEED TO KNOW
> Weekly red bin collections will restart in the Laidley and Gatton trial areas on Monday, July 7.
> Council’s waste collection contractor will empty all FOGO wheelie bins for the final time in the
Laidley trial area on Monday, July 7, and in the Gatton trial area on Monday, July 14.
> A separate contractor will begin retrieving empty FOGO bins, which may take up to three days.
> Residents are asked to leave their empty green bins on the kerb until it can be collected.
“Given the relatively high rates of contamination in FOGO bins, which increased the costs to process the organic waste into compost, and residents’ concerns with the fortnightly collection of the general waste bins, we made the decision to cease the trial and continue to investigate other options for organic waste management,” she explains.
“This process yielded valuable information. We now have a better understanding of the issues that will inform our future direction.”
Despite the decision, she says council is still keen on reducing the amount of organic waste going into landfill.
“(This includes) investigating the viability of an opt-in garden organics service,” Cr Reck says.
“Diverting green waste from landfill reduces the waste levy (that) council must pay to the (state) government and extends the life of the landfill.”
She concedes that finding a practical and cheap solution is proving more difficult than anticipated.
“While we would like to be able to say ‘yes, here it is’, that just isn’t possible right now, and we ask the community for their patience as we continue to do our due diligence,” Cr Reck says.
“We know many of our trial participants missed having their weekly general waste service so hopefully this is welcome news for them,” she said.
