Council Cleanup/Hardwaste Collections

[lurker172602]

My OH loves 'em.
He piles all our junk on the nature strip and then takes a somewhat unhealthy interest in people stopping and looking over what's there. I tell him, if it goes, it goes. I don't care who takes it, scavangers or council workers.

I think it's his favourite time of year LOL

[mugssy65]

In our area we have two pick ups a year our council says it's illegal for people to pick up the "rubbish" as once it's on the curb it's their property! The council has a shop at the tip where you can go purchase the "rubbish"! Nobody pays any attention to them lol

[purple_haize]

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@mugssy65 wrote:
In our area we have two pick ups a year our council says it's illegal for people to pick up the "rubbish" as once it's on the curb it's their property! The council has a shop at the tip where you can go purchase the "rubbish"! Nobody pays any attention to them lol

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Our council says the same, that once rubbish is on the nature strip, it belongs to the council, they were going to make it a by-law, but no-one takes any notice, so they didnt persue that idea.

[tall_bearded01]

Let me introduce some facts.

Some, but not all, and in fact an increasing diminishing number of councils provides their residents with a free hard rubbish collection service.

The reason why it's free is because they know that amongst the rubbish there will be items which are not rubbish.  That is, they know the value of the waste collected will be greater than the cost of the provision of the service.

Now here are the realities of life. 

Councils are there to provide a service to residents and ratepayers.  Council has to pay for someone to provide these services on its behalf, which means they have to generate income.  Therefore, every time someone removes an item from the curb they are reducing the amount of income that council has for the provision of the services it provides, which means either a reduction in the service, or the shortfall has to be optained from somewhere else (increased rates, fees and charges).

The item was not abandoned.  It was gifted to someone else.  Therefore only the person to whom it was gifted has the legal right to remove it, and if someone other than someone employed by the council removes it, that person has committed a crime (theft).  

Because so much stuff is being stolen from the curb, there is less profit generated by the activity, and in fact in some places it was starting to run at a loss.  Therefore a lot of councils have decided not to provide or no longer provide the service, and in those places, the only way a householder can now legally get rid of this rubbish is to take it a collection centre where some can be deposited for free, but most incurs a fee.  That is, that which once cost you nothing, now costs you in time and money.

Sort of puts the whole, I got $700 for an item I picked up off the curb, into a somewhat different perspective.

[i-need-a-martini]

I have no idea what it is that you are talking about because it doesn't make sense.

However in Sydney many councils, including my own, actively encourage people to 'steal' kerbside rubbish. Some councils will even ask householders to separate anything of value for easy collection by individuals such as anything metal, furniture in good condition etc. 

The reason is that councils do not profit from rate payers rubbish. They don't have time to pick out the good stuff. The contractor throws it all in a compactus indiscriminantly regardless of the value or the condition of the item. It then gets dumped and becomes landfill. A very expensive process and waste of resources.

The only reason councils gets uppity about people taking stuff from council kerbside pickups is because some people leave a mess. And if that rubbish spreads across the footpath or onto the road, then the council is laible for any accidents that might occurr. This is one of the reasons that councils have stopped this service. The other reason is plain old fashioned cost cutting.

[punch*drunk]

Same here they squish everything and send it to land fill, only a few items dont get that treatment, scrap metal for one.

If councils are hard up for a dollar they need to take a good long look at the money they waste. They sting us ridiculous amounts of money on a yearly basis for seemingly very little in return. They did buy us a weird sculpture a few months ago, personally I'd have preferred footpaths or having my road graded more than once every couple of years.

[lloydslights]

The land in which the fill/rubbish is deposited is at a premium.  

In the Hills District, 4 sites were filled within 50 years.  (The first site is now being sold as residential; the second prior to being an oval was a pony club ground; the third was a motor bike track; and the 4th the netball courts.)

Now the garbage is taken to a Centre in another Council Area.

There is a major problem worldwide with the rubbish of Mankind.  And some companies are making a lot of money from dealing with it.

DEB

[tall_bearded01]

I know you don’t understand because my post is written in anticipation that the reader has a fundamental understanding as to the laws pertaining to waste manangement.

For instance you may want read the relevant legistation before making statements such “The contractor throws it all in a compactus indiscriminantly regardless of the value or the condition of the item. It then gets dumped and becomes landfill”.

That is, does your all include things include e-waste etc, which it is illegal to consign to landfill. 

[k0llectable5]

I know this may sound ignorant but what is e-waste? Computers and stuff like that?

[tall_bearded01]

Which is the point I was making in my post.

The days of sending something directly to landfil are over.  Now everything is sent to a Reclamation Centre where it is sorted, with anything of commercial value being removed before the rest is dumped.

[tall_bearded01]

Yes.  At one point you had to take it a collection centre and pay to have it taken of your hands.  Today you can take it to a collection centre where they will take off you hands for free