If you live in the Northern Beaches region of Australia, it might surprise you to know that you might not know all there is to know about the rubbish removal system. To ensure you’re fully knowledgeable about the rules of the Council and other relevant information, we’ve written this ultimate guide just for you.
In this comprehensive article, we’ll reveal all the important information you need to know about Rubbish Removal in Northern Beaches. We’ll focus on the efforts of the Northern Beaches Council to remove rubbish in the region effectively.
Bin Guide
To get us started, it’s important to understand the bin system. Therefore, in this section, we’ll guide you on the bins used for rubbish collection and what their colours represent. Furthermore, we’ll talk about other relevant information you need to know.
Types of Bins
In Northern Beaches, all waste must be put into the appropriate bins. Bagging or bundling your waste and leaving it on the curb is not acceptable. If you do so, such waste won’t be collected.
4 coloured bins are used to collect rubbish before disposal. Each of these bins is used for a specific type of rubbish. Let’s examine them in detail…
Red Bin
This is used for any garbage that can’t be recycled, such as ceramics, polystyrene, cling wrap, plastic bags, soiled paper, and wax-coated cardboard. If you want to dispose of ash, dust, or sawdust, ensure you first seal these items in a tight-lid container or your bag and tie them up. Doing this will ensure that the lightweight waste doesn’t blow around. Do not place hazardous waste, liquids, or building materials in the red bin.
Yellow Bin
This is used to collect recyclable items such as fruit punnets, liquid board containers, Tetra Paks, meat strays (Styrofoam not accepted), jars and bottles, and all containers of cartons, metal, and plastics. You don’t have to confirm that the items bear the recycling symbols before placing them in this bin. Also, you can recycle lids, provided they are made of aluminium, steel, or plastic. Always ensure that such lids are tightly attached to the mouth of the respective container to prevent them from getting lost during recycling.
Furthermore, you can add aerosol cans to this bin since they can also be recycled. However, you need to ensure that they aren’t damaged and that they are indeed empty. You can leave the spray nozzle; you don’t have to remove it. If you can empty them, then you have to dispose of them at the Chemical Cleanout.
If you don’t have enough space in the yellow bin for all your waste. Check the liquid containers, and then remove their lids. Squeeze the lids and then place them in the bin. Doing this should create more room for other items.
You can add aluminium foil to this bin. However, you must ensure that you roll it and make it as small as a tennis ball. This is necessary to ensure the pickup crew can recover it for recycling.
Do not put the following into the yellow bin: Toys, furniture, flat glass, white glass, ceramics, polystyrene, cling wrap, and plastic bags. Soft plastics that can be crumpled, such as pasta, rice, and bread bags, should not be put into this bin. Finally, dispose of gas canisters the same way you dispose of aerosol cans.
Blue Bin
You can only use this bin for cardboard and clean paper. This includes shredded paper and glossy magazines. If you want to get rid of a cardboard or paper box, ensure you flatten it first before placing it in the bin.
For shredded paper, you need to place it in a paper bag or box. Doing this will prevent spillage. Furthermore, it will help the waste management crew recycle it effectively during the process.
Although pizza boxes are made of cardboard, you can only place them in this bin if there are pieces of food or oil on them. Therefore, you can’t put soiled paper and cardboard or wax-coated cardboard in this bin. If there are staples in the cardboard or paper, you don’t need to remove them.
Lime Green Bin
This bin is only for vegetation, such as branches, leaves, grass cuttings, and dead flowers. You cannot put any branch that is bigger than 75mm. As a result, you can dispose of trunks, logs, and tree stumps in this bin.
If you want to throw away your Christmas tree, ensure you cut it into smaller pieces. If you cannot close the lid of the bin, then it will not be accepted. Therefore, you must ensure the lid is well-covered so that it will be collected.
Collection Days
In Northern Beaches, rubbish removal services go about to collect waste on the streets every week. You can visit ridlyrubbishremoval.com.au to check out an example of the collection schedule of a rubbish removal service. For recyclable items, collection is done weekly, and sometimes it’s weekly alternated. If you want to dispose of vegetation, the collection day depends on your location.
To ensure your bins are collected, follow these guidelines:
- Put out the bins a night before the scheduled collection day
- Keep the bins on your kerb while creating a distance of about 20cm
- The opening on the lid should face the street
- The lids must be well-shut
Disposing e-Waste
E-waste refers to electronic items such as televisions, portable computers, desktops, mice, monitors, cables, keyboards, printers, drives, projectors, scanners, computer speakers, etc. The Council has placed a ban on disposing of e-waste via the Bulky Goods Collection. So, what other options do you have:
Re-home
Re-homing has to do with trying to hand it over to someone else for reuse. You can give a family member or a friend if it is still working. If it isn’t working, you can sell them as spare parts. An easy way to do this is to list the items online.
Recycle
If you cannot re-home it, then recycling is the next option. You’ll need to take it to a recycling centre close to you. Alternatively, you can contact a rubbish removal company to help you recycle it.
Hazardous Waste
Hazardous wastes are harmful to the environment. Therefore, you need to be disposed of safely. Hazardous wastes include batteries, syringes, X-rays, etc. Here’s how you can dispose of these items:
Batteries and Mobile Phones
Batteries are full of toxic materials such as lead acid, nickel metal hydride, mercury, alkalis, cadmium, and nickel. These materials can affect the environment. Therefore, they shouldn’t be placed in waste collection bins.
Instead, find the nearest recycling drop-off point and drop the battery. You can do the same for old mobile phones. However, the recycling drop-off points are different from that of batteries.
Expired or Unwanted Medicines
Expired medicines can cause waterways pollution, which can lead to poisoning. Therefore, if you have such, take them to the nearest pharmacy. They’ll be able to dispose of them properly.
Sharps
Sharps refer to items that can put wound holes in the skin. A very common example of such is a syringe. Therefore, these items should not be put in the collection bins.
To dispose of them, place them in a container that is resistant to puncture. You can use the Australian Standard sharps container. After that, take the container to an authorized NSW NSP (Needle and Syringe Program) outlet.
X-rays
If you have an X-ray you want to get rid of, you can’t just drop it in a collection bin. Instead, locate an X-ray bin in special centres near you. The X-ray will be collected from the bin and moved to Victoria where it will be recycled.
Illegal Dumping
Illegal dumping can damage the environment and endanger human and wildlife health. Therefore, such actions are not treated with levity in Northern Beaches. If you are found dumping waste illegally, you will be fined.
Illegal Dumping Fines
You can be fined an attached fee of $535 with Clean-Up/Prevention for a breach of the Council rules. Furthermore, there is a range of fines you can get on the spot. If you illegally dumped an extinguished cigarette, for instance, you might be penalized with an $80 fine.
In the same vein, an illegally dumped large pile could attract a fine of $4,000. If the breach is the fault of a corporation, they’ll have to pay double what an individual pays. So, $80 becomes $160, and $4,000 becomes $8,000.
Conclusion
If you’re new to Northern Beaches, it’s understandable that you might not be familiar with the rubbish collection system. This can get you in trouble if you end up breaching the rules, which you know nothing about. Therefore, we’ve written this article to provide you with information that you need to know about rubbish removal in Northern Beaches. Just stay tuned to Cosmojarvis to get new updates like this.
