Petition see's Shire of Dardanup offer additional options for three-bin system

Rolled out on October 4, the three-bin system provided residents with a 140-litre general waste bin, a 240-litre recycling bin and a 240-litre organics bin.

However the "one-size-fits-all" approach prompted disgruntled residents within the shire to sign a petition requesting the 140-litre general waste bin be changed to a 240-litre bin.

The shire also received 78 separate enquiries from residents.

The change came about as the general consensus was that the 140-litre general waste bin, emptied fortnightly, did not adequately cater for household waste.

West Dardanup resident Simon Bushell said he began the petition requesting a bigger general waste bin size, just one week after the new system was rolled out.

He said within three hours, the petition had over 100 signatures.

"I was seeing the 140-litre bin not working for a lot of residents so I thought something had to be done," Mr Bushell said.

"My wife Ally and I moved here from Bunbury two years ago, which already has the three-bin system but you can choose which bins work for you.

"We have a six-month-old son who is in nappies, with another baby due in March. We also have a horse agistment, so someone rents our paddock to keep their horse on it. That's a lot of waste."

Mr Bushell said after receiving the new bin system, he submitted forms to the council to receive a bigger bin, but found he did not meet the shire's requirements.

"You had to be a household of six or more or have some sort of medical reason as to why you were producing additional waste.

"In the other section, I put a big spiel about what we do out here with the horse agistment as well as our family needs, but it was rejected.

"We use our FOGO bin correctly but the general waste just isn't enough, we can't use cloth nappies because we only have bore or precious rain water."

Mr Bushell said he understood that the way going forward was to reduce general waste, which included emptying the bin fortnightly rather than weekly.

But he believed that residents should be given a choice of what size bin they had in order to allow each household to be catered for correctly.

"Dardanup has all different types of properties within it. There are residential areas in Eaton and Millbridge, then more semi-rural properties such as ours.

"Some residents are saying they've now been forced to use the FOGO bin incorrectly because the general waste bin just isn't big enough."

Shire of Dardanup president Mick Bennett said the council's primary objective for introducing an organics bin was to change the way community members managed their rubbish at home and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

He confirmed the shire had received requests for more waste capacity from residents who did not qualify for the free upgrade in bin size.

"Council has accepted this feedback and understand that a one size approach to waste might not fit all.

"However we needed to show leadership on the issue of waste management and strongly encourage our community to make necessary changes for a more sustainable future."

From November 15, residents within the Shire of Dardanup will be able to buy an additional, 240-litre general waste bin to accompany their existing 140-litre bin.

A report will also be prepared by shire staff set to go to council in February, outlining the feasibility of enabling residents to swap their 140-litre general waste bin to FOGO, and their 240-litre FOGO bin to general waste, as what was requested in the petition.