Free kerbside collection wraps up in Ipswich
17 August 2022
After 23 weeks, almost 2,700 tonnes of waste have been removed by Ipswich City Council’s free Large Item Kerbside Collection.
Growth, Infrastructure and Waste Committee Chair Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said the popular service was very well received by the community and has now concluded.
“This year 2,699 tonnes of household waste was collected from 33,495 residents’ homes over a six-month period, as crews passed by 89,500 homes right across Ipswich,” Mayor Harding said.
“This does not include the 6,847 tonnes processed throughout the city as part of the flood recovery.
“The overall cost of the service is $1.929 million, which helps council and the community to combat illegal dumping and has assisted residents in their clean-up efforts particularly after our recent weather events.
“This service has been invaluable to assist residents who are not able to dispose of large items on their own.”
Growth, Infrastructure and Waste Deputy Chairperson Councillor Paul Tully said it was pleasing to see the community take advantage of council’s free kerbside collection.
“Overall, we were pleased residents assisted by following the guidelines only putting out items that were able to be collected with only 19 items out of the 33,495 piles collected were deemed unacceptable to collect,” Cr Tully said.
Kerbside collection was paused during March as waste trucks and crews were redirected to prioritise the collection of flood-damaged waste lining the footpaths in impacted suburbs.
The suburbs originally scheduled for March were then collected in June and July.
Mayor Harding said planning and implementing strategies for waste management and resource recovery is a priority of council as the city works towards a circular economy.
“Over the next decade we intend to include a Food Organic Garden Organics (FOGO) bin for all eligible Ipswich residents, optimise the city’s co-mingled recycling service, evaluate a flexible ‘on demand’ large item kerbside collection service where valuable resources are recovered and have fit-for-purpose waste and resource recovery infrastructure that meets the needs of a growing city,” Mayor Harding said.
Some of the more unusual items collected by crews included pianos, very old furniture, paddle boards, half a boat and a trailer.