Waste collection set to switch to fortnightly with organic service rollout

When asked on Friday whether the city-wide rollout would mirror an organic-waste trial underway in Canberra's north, Mr Steel said the aim of the scheme was to reduce organic waste that goes to landfill.

"That reduces the amount of waste in the garbage bin and that's why there's a fortnightly collection," he said.

"It also causes people to rethink what they're putting in their garbage bin and whether that material can, in fact, be recycled in the yellow bin as well."

Waste collection has switched from weekly to fortnightly for trial suburbs, and organic waste is collected weekly.

The change has frustrated some residents, who claim they are collecting garbage in their yards each week.

Trial participants have been offered the option of purchasing a bigger bin from the ACT government. A swap from a 140 litre bin to a 240 litre bin will cost residents $58 a year, an additional 140 litre bin can be purchased for $87 and an additional 240 litre bin can be purchased for $116.

Mr Steel said the once weekly service was a model used for other organic-waste collections throughout Australia.

"We've seen Canberra households in those four suburbs where the pilots operating adapt really well to the pilot," he said.

"There's been a lot of support for it."

Mr Steel was asked about changes to services during an announcement Hume will soon home an organic waste facility capable of turning food scraps into compost.

A site has been chosen adjacent to the existing Materials Recovery Facility at Mugga Lane, capable of processing an estimated 50,000 tonnes of organic material per year.

Waste will be processed inside a building to help control odour, with process capacity able to expand to 70,000 tonnes annually as demand increases.

City Services are yet to set a date for the citywide rollout of the service, which has been trialled in 5000 homes in four suburbs.

All participants will have the chance to share their experience of the trial through a letterbox drop and emailed survey, which City Services said will form part of planning for the rollout.

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The ACT government will release a tender for the establishment of the new facility at Hume Resource Recovery Estate later this year.

To date, organic waste from the trial has been processed at a small indoor facility at Mugga Lane.

Contractor JJ Richards will sell Canberra compost once a marketable quantity has been collected.

Mr Steel said the establishment of the organic-waste processing facility at Hume would coincide with a community release of a draft Circular Economy Strategy for the ACT.

"This will look at not only the organic waste and how we can reuse this really valuable resource as many times as possible, but also other products that we also want to see recycled," he said.

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