THE arrival of spring next week coincides with the annual Council Clean Up, which is on from August 31 to September 4.
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Yes it’s that time of year to clean out the house, garage and yard from unwanted and broken items and place them on the nature strip out the front of your house.
The annual clean up is an event keenly anticipated by the city’s residents because it saves them a tiresome and costly trip to the tip.
It allows residents in Goulburn City and Marulan to dispose of waste that would not normally be picked up through the regular collection service. People with a Rural Waste Card also have the option of one large waste disposal each year.
Council’s Manager of Waste and Recycling Teena Riley emphasised that only appropriate items would be collected this year.
“It is a service council provides each year, but this year Council is urging residents to follow the guidelines and ensure that only appropriate items are put out to be collected,” she said.
“The guidelines are in place to protect the work health and safety of Council staff, while also ensuring hazardous items are not put into the compactor truck.
“These items will not be recycled - they will be crushed - so old televisions and computers will not be collected because they contain heavy metals and other dangerous substances when broken down.
“We have been more lenient in the past but this year if it does not fit the guidelines it will not be picked up.”
She said the following restrictions apply to what can be put out on the nature strip in front of a person’s house:
* Waste must be put in safe piles of no more than two cubic metres and stacked neatly at the kerb.
* Individual items must be small enough to be easily lifted by two people.
* Recyclable steel must be in a neat pile separate from other waste.
* Green waste must be small enough to be easily lifted by two people and neatly bundled.
* Waste should be put out the day before the normal collection day. Council will not return to pick up late items.
She said the following would NOT be collected: mattresses, fridges, computers, televisions, printers, medical waste, concrete, bricks, soil, sand, stone, car batteries, tyres, paint tins, chemicals, gas cylinders or any item considered hazardous to staff or the environment.
“As part of the bulky waste service, we are encouraging people to place any steel items or white goods in a separate pile as this will be collected by Endeavour Industries for recycling,” Ms Riley said.
Endeavour Industries will collect recyclable steel, including microwaves, dishwashers and metal bed heads.
“Please remove the seals or doors from fridges so children cannot become trapped inside them.”
On the positive side, Ms Riley said recycling was good for the environment.
“Recycling is a simple thing we can all do every day that has a significant impact on the environment. It has been estimated that recycling 1kg of steel keeps around 2kg of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere,” she said.
“In relation to your televisions and printers - a free e-waste collection is available at Goulburn Waste Management Centre where you can drop these off.”
It is also illegal to leave products containing asbestos at the kerb – this must be packaged, transported and disposed of correctly or substantial fines apply.
For further information, call the Waste Info Hotline on 4823 4417.