Minister for City Services Chris Steel and Ms Bec Cody MLA were at Farrer today to celebrate the start of green waste collections across the remainder of Canberra.
“Today’s first Canberra-wide green bin collection coincides with a beautiful time of year to be outside in the garden and the bins will be perfect for the falling Autumn leaves,” Minister Steel said.
Minister Steel said the start of services also marked the fulfilment of a 2016 election commitment to provide green waste services to ACT residents, which has been delivered earlier than committed.
“Green waste bins save residents time and money, and reduce the number of trips to the green waste drop-off, while enabling unwanted garden organic waste to become high-quality compost products for landscaping,” Minister Steel said.
“While many households still compost, there has been strong demand for green bins, with over 61,700 Canberra households opting-in to the service so far,” Minister Steel said.
Member for Murrumbidgee, Bec Cody thanked those residents who have already registered for a green bin.
“Residents have really shown their support for the service, and as at the end of February 2019, the green bin service has collected almost 8,000 tonnes of garden waste which may have otherwise ended up in landfill,” Ms Cody said.
“Canberrans also have taken to using their green bin correctly with an extremely low contamination rate of less than 0.02%,” Ms Cody said.
From today green bin collection dates across Canberra have moved to the alternate week to the yellow recycling bin, making it easier to remember.
For example, if your normal fortnightly recycling day is Monday, then your green bin will go out on Monday the following week.
People can register for a green bin for a one-off $50 payment, or free for eligible concession card holders.
Green bins can be used for the following items:
- garden prunings
- leaves
- grass clippings
- weeds
- small branches (no longer than 45cm and a diameter of 10cm)
- flowers
