Tamworth bulky waste collection cancelled under new seven-year contract

The quarterly, free collections have long been seen as an opportunity for one man's trash to become another's treasure as locals sift through unwanted goods kicked to the kerb.

Now, the "unsightly" piles will be a thing of the past as the council enters into a new, seven-year contract on July 1, TRC water and waste director Bruce Logan said.

"The main reasons for it is that it's very unsightly putting waste out on the street and people tend to put their waste out well before the day of its collection," he said.

"More importantly there is no recycling whatsoever in the waste collected off the street.

"All the waste collected off the street, whether it's possible to be recycled or not, is collected and landfilled."

Instead, residents will receive one waste voucher each quarter and can bring two-cubic-metres of rubbish to the tip for free.

The annual domestic waste collection charge for the red, yellow and green bins will also increase by 10 per cent in the first significant hike in a decade.

It means residents who pay $322 each year for collection will instead pay $354.

And, if the council's $15 million Organic Waste Recycling Facility goes ahead residents with a red, yellow and green bin will only have their red bin collected fortnightly.

The plan is for food waste to go into the green bin instead.

While he understands that prices need to be increased, the fees and charges are inconsistently applied, Tamworth Regional Ratepayers' Association president David McKinnon said.

"We have a growing ageing population and many of them don't have a license or even a car, so what happens to them?" he said.

"The council is a service organisation and they must realise they have to service a range of people, so a blanket refusal to pick up bulky household goods does not suit ratepayers, or the community generally."

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While the council increases its waste costs, it continues to receive $68,000 each week from Coffs Harbour City Council to use Tamworth's landfill.

Coffs Harbour City Council was banned from using its mixed waste organic output (MWOO), the organic waste separated from the red bin into the green, as a type of compost by the Environmental Protection Authority.

As of early-May it has had to fork out another $18,000 each week to send rubbish to Tamworth, bringing the total weekly bill to $68,000.

It's a significant income stream for the council and can be used to offset other charges, Mr Logan said.

"We did take that into account when we looked at increasing our charges in July," he said.

The council is still trying to negotiate a contract for its own recycling processing after businesses tendered to pick it up but didn't want to process it.

The proposed waste fees and charges are on public exhibition until May 31 and the community can comment on the TRC website.

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