7.5 Million bin collections each year

Wednesday, 11 July 2018

One of the most universal experiences that is shared across our community is the act of putting the bins out on the nature strip each week.

One of the most universal experiences that is shared across our community is the act of putting the bins out on the nature strip each week. Council delivers over 7.5 million bin collections each year, this is the most frequent interaction residents have with Council.

Penrith Council will continue its award winning waste and resource recovery service after the tender panel's recommendations were passed at Council. After an extensive tender process the new contract secures great value for residents with enhanced customer features like real-time data for collection enquiries, greater diversion of waste from landfill and stable pricing for the next 10 years.

"The criteria of the tender and new contract recommendations provide residents with the best quality service at the most affordable rate with the greatest flexibility," Penrith Mayor John Thain said.

"The new contract secures great value for residents. Our role is to provide an affordable cost recovery service with the quality inclusions we have come to expect and flexibility for individual choice. We feel the new contract delivers this and allows for even more enhancement in the coming years."

"As a service we want it to be all about choice for residents, so there are a number of options to choose from to support peoples lifestyle requirements including size, frequency and payment options for services," Cr Thain said.

New options allow for tenants to deal direct with Council to tailor their collection services to their needs while new innovative technology and service platforms within the new contract ensure customer enquiries can be dealt with by Council more quickly through the use of real time data.

"Customer service will be data driven, meaning that the contractor will use the latest technology in the trucks to provide Council with the most up to date information. This means better service and support for our residents, as this data can assist performance management for greater immediate support to residents for waste and resource recovery enquiries."

"Penrith residents already do an amazing job of diverting waste from landfill. This is an important outcome for our environment and our city now and into the future," Cr Thain said.

In the last 12 months alone, residents in the Penrith community have:

• composted 29,267 tonnes of food scraps, garden clippings and organic material
• recycled 18,331 tonnes of bottles, containers, cans, paper, cardboard, glass and cartons
• reduced the amount of waste going to landfill, which is a great outcome for the environment
• collected 97 tonnes of hazardous household waste for responsible reuse or safe disposal, and
• recycled 80 tonnes of electronic waste.

SUEZ is the successful tenderer who will collect all three bin services and will process the red bin residual wastel. Australian Native Landscapes will process the Food Organic Green Organic material from the green bins to produce a high quality compost product.

Information contained within this news release was correct as at Wednesday, 11 July 2018.