Kerbside Collection
Waste and recycling, from approximately 10,500 households, is collected every week in the Southern Downs region by the private contractor JJ Richards & Sons. Households have two 240 litre bins: a green lidded bin for garbage and a yellow lidded recycling bin. Two bins means that residents have plenty of room for recyclables and reduces the number of recyclable items ending up in landfill.
Garbage bins are collected weekly and recycling bins fortnightly, on the same collection day as the waste service. For details of collection days in your area, please contact the Customer Service Centre on 4661 0300 (Warwick Area) or 4681 5500 (Stanthorpe Area). Residents not receiving a kerbside collection are serviced by self-haul transfer stations throughout the region.
Kerbside Garbage Service
The kerbside recycling service was introduced in the Warwick area in 2007, and will start in the Stanthorpe area in July 2009. Recycling bins should be placed on the kerbside for fortnightly collection. The recyclable materials are taken to the JJ Richards MRF (Materials Recovery Facility) at Toowoomba where they are unloaded and sorted before being transported to re-processors and made into new products.
All garbage should be placed in the green lidded wheelie bin and the bin placed on the kerbside for collection. A garbage truck can empty around 500 bins before it needs to be emptied. Once a truck is full, garbage is taken to the Warwick and Stanthorpe landfills where material is unloaded and buried.
It is important not to overfill bins as this can create litter when the bin is emptied - please make sure the lid is closed. Trucks cannot lift overweight bins, so please do not place heavy items, such as bricks, in your wheelie bin.
Recycling on the Southern Downs
Warwick residents have recycled over 2,240 tonnes of material since the service was introduced in July 2007, effectively diverting this waste from landfill. By participating in kerbside recycling, the residents of Warwick have helped to conserve natural resources, decrease the production of greenhouse gases and save large amounts of energy and water. These figures are set to increase with the introduction of kerbside recycling to the Stanthorpe area in July 2009.
REMEMBER!
Only place the following items your yellow lidded recycling bin:
- Glass bottles and jars
- All clean paper and cardboard
- Milk and juice cartons
- Steel cans and aerosols
- Aluminium cans and aerosols
- Plastic bottles and containers
All other waste should go into the green lidded garbage bin.
How to present recycling?
When placing items into the bin, there are some simple things you can do to prepare your recyclables:
- Place items in bin loose: DO NOT BAG RECYCLING!
- Rinse and squash all plastic bottles
- Remove lids from bottles and jars
- Rinse and squash aluminium and steel cans
