A community survey will help Horsham Rural City Council find ways to improve the Better Sorted Waste kerbside collection services introduced in April.
Urban residents moved to a 4-Bin Service including separate glass, organics, recycling and landfill collections while most rural residents gained a commingled recycling service and local glass drop-off points.
Acting Chief Executive Officer Kevin O’Brien said landfill waste diversion rates had increased to 50 per cent since the new services started six months ago.
“Overall, the transition has been very successful,” he said.
“The vast majority of the community has done the right thing when it comes to sorting waste properly, and that has meant that now only half of the municipality’s kerbside waste is going to landfill.
“However, we understand that everyone has had to adapt to the new service and we are keen to find out whether there are improvements we can make,” Mr O’Brien said.
The survey is designed to allow residents to share their thoughts on potential solutions to teething issues that have been reported.
These include bins filling too quickly, odour, additional rural glass drop-off points and people’s ability to store extra bins.
Mr O’Brien said the survey would not address the frequency of kerbside collections.
“Results from a previous survey showed that the majority of residents preferred to move to fortnightly general waste collections and therefore avoid the significant cost increases associated with a weekly service.”
“We know that the cost of living is a primary concern for everyone and Council. Along with environmental benefits, avoiding major cost increases for ratepayers is one of the many advantages of the new service,” he said.
The survey is available online and paper forms are available at the Civic Centre, Kalkee Road Children’s & Community Hub, Horsham Town Hall and Horsham Library. The survey will close at 9am on Monday 23 October.
