Residents furious at Sydney’s Inner West Council’s new rules for red bins: ‘Out of touch’
Residents of a western Sydney suburb are furious at the council’s decision to collect red general waste bins fortnightly, with some households fearing it could cause a literal stink instead of a predicted sweltering summer.
The change coincides with the extension of the Inner West Council’s food recycling scheme to family homes, in which households will have to place their food waste in green food organic and garden organic (FOGO) bins, which will instead be emptied weekly.
The yellow trash bins are still collected biweekly.
However, annoyed residents say they were not given enough advance warning of the changes.
Officially, the council issued a press release on May 22, announcing that the program would begin in October; however, no date was given.
From October 8, residents of Sydney’s Inner West Council will have their red bins collected fortnightly. Photo: NCA NewsWire / Brendan Read
Balmain resident Dan Shaw said he was only informed of the new schedule after an angry post in a Facebook group sparked more than 150 comments.
‘I am annoyed by the lack of consultation and openness about the changes. While we must support the environment and reduce waste, changes must be carefully planned and implemented. The Inner West Council largely seems to just make their own decisions and ignore community feedback. Not everyone even has room for (three) waste bins in a small and overcrowded area like Balmain.
Mr Shaw said odor was also a problem. While his household was able to keep trash bins away from their home, he felt sorry for his neighbors who couldn’t.
“We don’t have any babies, so no diapers in our bins, but there are plenty of young families around and I feel sorry for them,” he said.
‘If a very hot summer is forecast, you would think winter would be a more appropriate time to try this out.’
In the same Facebook thread, residents called the decision “out of touch” with citizens.
‘My red box is full of diapers and cat litter every week. Living in the city center means our houses and blocks are small, leaving no room to store larger bins or roll out new bins. What do you propose we do?’ wrote one woman.
Another resident believed the program would fail.
‘The only place my bins fit is next to my kitchen. I eat a lot of seafood and have cat litter. My bins stink after a few days. I just can’t imagine what they would smell like after a week without collecting!!’ she wrote.
The trash cans are still collected weekly. Photo: NCA NewsWire/Brendan Read
A spokesperson for the Inner West Council said food recycling may be ‘challenging’ at first, but the environmental impact will be ‘significant’. The program is currently available to people living in apartments.
“Preventing food and yard waste from landfills is the biggest thing we can do as a community to help combat climate change,” he said.
“After the initial rollout in October, we will review the data and have the resources to make adjustments and changes as necessary.”
The spokesperson said the food recycling program was expected to save taxpayers more than $370,000 a year in landfill food.
The average household can also offset the equivalent of one month of its annual electricity emissions just by complying with the program.
He added that the council would also have a dedicated team to help residents struggling with the transition to the new scheme.
‘Based on the experience of other councils that have implemented food recycling and fortnightly red bin collections, they have found that safely wrapping nappies, incontinence pads, menstrual products, cat litter and pet waste before placing them in the red bin reduces odor and that there is no increase in odor from one week to two weeks,” he said.
‘Residents will soon also be able to book an extra red waste collection while they get used to the fortnightly collection.’