Page 2958 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 15 August 2018
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MS FITZHARRIS: I thank Ms Cheyne very much for the question and note her continued advocacy for green bins, particularly in the electorate of Ginninderra. I am delighted to talk about the green bin rollout to Belconnen.
As you know, this was a Labor government commitment in the 2016 election campaign. The rollout has commenced. I know that in your electorate, Madam Speaker, there are already green bins on offer, as there are in Weston Creek and Kambah. We have now extended that to Belconnen. We are continuing to deliver on our commitment, with Belconnen residents the next to receive their green bins. Registrations opened just a couple of weeks ago and households started receiving the bins just this week.
I would like to thank my colleagues Minister Berry and Minister Ramsay for delivering the very first green bin to a household in Evatt just this week. The pick-up service for those bins will start next month. The remainder of Canberra will have their bins from July next year, including suburbs in the inner north, inner south, Hall, Gungahlin and Molonglo Valley.
As of 6 August this year, 2,211 Belconnen households had already registered to receive a green bin. Spring is just around the corner, and the green bins are arriving just in time for the start of what is always the busiest gardening season. In many areas of Belconnen in my own electorate, I know people are very excited about this service. Indeed I am sure that some of those opposite might even register and get their own green bin delivered. I would encourage all Belconnen residents to take advantage of this wonderful new service.
MS CHEYNE: Minister, what waste management and other benefits does a city-wide green bins program provide?
MS FITZHARRIS: Providing green bins city wide to all Canberrans will help save residents time and money and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill or our waterways. The new bins will divert close to 5,000 tonnes of garden waste going to landfill each year. Waste collected from green bins will be processed, recycled and made available through commercial providers. Green waste is converted into clean compost and mulch products which are then sold to retail and wholesale markets. Over 3,134 tonnes of organic garden waste has been collected since the start of the green bins service.
Canberrans should be proud that to date the contamination in green bins is less than 0.01 per cent of the total green waste received by Corkhills. The most common contamination items include newspapers and magazines, plastic tags from plant nurseries, and garden clippings that have been put in a plastic bag. But this level of contamination is incredibly low and it is a real tribute to residents as well as both the NoWaste team and the contractors delivering this service.
Nevertheless, there will be an ongoing education program in place to provide information on what can and cannot be put into green bins. For everybody’s information, residents can put the following items in their green bins: garden prunings; leaves; grass clippings; weeds; small branches; and flowers.
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