Bulky waste collections are on their way for Redland City following a decision at this week’s Redland City Council general meeting.
Redland City Mayor Karen Williams said the decision to call for expressions of interest from social enterprises to conduct bulky waste collections on Council’s behalf responded to community desire for the service.
“Residents have told us that a collection for large items such as unwanted white goods and furniture is key on the ‘wish list’ for local waste services,” she said.
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“This decision brings this a step closer, with expressions of interest now to be sought for a social enterprise provider to run this on Council’s behalf, creating a new economic opportunity for them.
“We will also call for interest in establishing a Redlands Community Recycling Workshop where the bulky items from collections can be taken and repaired, reused or recycled instead of heading to landfill.
“Beyond the obvious advantages of this initiative for residents it also has enormous potential to be a great community project, with the workshop to be run by a social enterprise, giving disadvantaged members of our community the opportunity to learn new skills.”
Cr Williams said the initiative also provided environmental benefits for the city in reducing waste to landfill.
“Our aim is to make it as easy as possible for people to do the right thing,” she said.
“The removal of gate fees for domestic users at our waste transfer stations aimed to encourage proper disposal of waste and this is another step in reducing the quantity of material heading to landfill.”
Redland City Council’s waste spokesperson Cr Paul Gleeson said the intent was to create an ‘on-demand’ service, rather than a set date for bulk waste collections.
“Having the whole city put their items out on the kerbside once a year would be a huge and expensive logistical task and the suggested system is an innovative way around this,” he said.
“The idea is that the service will give Redlands residents an opportunity to request the collection of a quantity of bulky items each financial year.
“It will be a win-win for the community, with the provision of a new collection service also benefitting a local social enterprise.
“We hope to call for expressions of interest in early 2016 and formalise the tender by mid-2016.
“A provisional budget of $250,000 has been allocated for the first collections to take place in the 2016-17 financial year.”
