{"id":302379,"date":"2021-07-14T18:52:55","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T08:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=302379"},"modified":"2021-07-14T20:21:10","modified_gmt":"2021-07-14T10:21:10","slug":"council-ponders-recycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2021\/07\/14\/council-ponders-recycling\/","title":{"rendered":"Council Ponders Recycling"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Council’s waste collection service can provide kerbside recycling collections at an extra cost … the only question is do residents want to pay for it? (Photo: JJ’s Waste And Recycling)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 14, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

South Burnett Regional Council is revisiting the idea of introducing kerbside recycling almost eight years after tossing the concept overboard.<\/p>\n

In February 2013, former Mayor Wayne Kratzmann asked residents to give their views about Council introducing a two-bin kerbside recycling service which would collect recyclable materials and green waste.<\/p>\n

At the time, Mayor Kratzmann said he was prompted to pursue the idea because many other Councils offered similar services.<\/p>\n

In addition to being kinder to the planet, preventing recyclable materials being dumped could significantly extend the working lives of the region’s landfills.<\/p>\n

However, by December 2013 Mayor Kratzmann was forced to shelve the idea after a survey disclosed that while 31 per cent of respondents wanted such a service and were prepared to pay for it, 61 per cent did not.<\/p>\n

At Wednesday’s Community standing committee meeting, officers reported Council’s current contract with JJ’s Waste And Recycling was due for renewal within the next year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

They noted that several Councillors had asked about introducing kerbside recycling, and thought it might be time to send out another survey to test if the community’s mood had changed.<\/p>\n

However, a suggestion that a survey form be included with Council’s August rates notices provoked heated discussion.<\/p>\n

Cr Kathy Duff said she thought a survey was a good idea.<\/p>\n

Cr Duff said she thought it was very important to consult the community about all decisions that might affect them.<\/p>\n

She thought it would “be rude” to bring in a new service residents would have to pay for without consulting them beforehand.<\/p>\n

However, Cr Kirstie Schumacher said she was opposed to this and Council should introduce the service without surveying the community beforehand.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She said Councillors had been elected to take decisions that benefitted the community, and should do so.<\/p>\n

She was certain introducing kerbside recycling was something most people wanted – certainly, the majority of people in her own Division.<\/p>\n

Mayor Brett Otto said he had been initially been inclined to Cr Duff’s view but now had doubts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 2013 survey had been sent to 13,486 households and attracted 5395 responses, with 1672 in favour and 3723 opposed.<\/p>\n

It was only natural that residents opposed to paying extra for their waste collection service would be more highly motivated to respond than those in favour, Mayor Otto said.<\/p>\n

And it was hard to ignore the total number of responses – negative and positive – still only represented about one-sixth of the South Burnett’s population.<\/p>\n

Mayor Otto said he also believed attitudes towards recycling and the environment had changed significantly during the past eight years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“It’s now hard to find a Council that doesn’t have some form of kerbside recycling,” he said.<\/p>\n

“In fact, one of my election promises was to introduce kerbside recycling to the South Burnett if I was elected.”<\/p>\n

In the end, Councillors voted to lay the report on the table until the August meeting so they can assess community sentiment themselves.<\/p>\n

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