Contaminants including clothes, plastic bags and “other unsuitable materials” are causing headaches for Geelong’s green waste collection service, according to City Hall.
The “significant problem” now cost $700,000 a year for sorting out rubbish before mulching and composting the greenery for other uses, said city services acting general manager Vicki Shelton.
Residents could play a “huge part” in reducing the cost and maximising the benefits of the green waste service, Ms Shelton said.
The composted waste was spread across farms around the municipality as a “natural nutrient and biological input” for local soils, she said.
“This provides a much better environmental outcome than simply depositing garden material into landfill but the main obstacle in the process is contamination of the garden material collected at the source.
“Things such as clothing, plastic bags and other unsuitable materials have to be removed by hand from the collected green waste before it goes to the next stage of processing.
“This is a tremendous ongoing initiative, but with a little extra help from our residents it can be even better and we can get increased value for our ratepayers’ money.”
Ms Shelton said the only items suitable for green waste bins were: soil-free grass clippings and weeds; small logs and raw timber off-cuts, each no larger than 10cm by 30cm; and leaves or similar garden foliage.
