Huge response to free waste day

Hundreds of residents flocked to the Resource Recovery Centre to take advantage of Orange City Council's Free Waste Day.

Orange City Council’s Environmental Sustainability Committee chair, Cr Neil Jones said It was good to see a very positive response from the local community for the first of the Free Waste Days for the year.

"This was a day when residents could take a ute or trailer load of waste to the Resource Recovery Centre at Ophir Rd and not pay the usual charges," he said.

"One sign of the success of the day was that depending on what time residents went out to the centre on Saturday, they might have been facing a queue at the weighbridge.

"Sometimes the cars were lined up back to Ophir Road."

A total of 474 residents took advantage of the Free Waste Day on May 7, delivering a variety of waste for free.

"There are costs involved for council in processing that waste for landfill, but it was a very valuable exercise when it comes to tackling other waste problems such as the illegal dumping of waste in Kinross forest," Cr Jones said.

A usual Saturday would see about 250 cars taking household waste over the weighbridge.

Cr Jones said the Free waste Day was an opportunity to remind residents about the campaign against dumping waste in Kinross forest.

"Recycled waste is always free to take to the centre, but it looks like Saturday was also a busy day at the recycling shop," he said.

" It’s important for residents to learn about keeping different kinds of recyclable waste separate when its delivered so it can be managed better."

There is another Free Waste Day scheduled for November 5 this year, and the council will be looking closely at the success of the two events as future days are planned.