Blue Mountains News

These services include a booked chipping service option in August, adding a facility drop-off option into the booked waste service, extended weekday hours at the Katoomba waste facility, and weekly green bin collection in September.

Blue Mountains Mayor, Councillor Mark Greenhill expressed his support and excitement for the new services.

“It was great to see the community responding so positively to Council’s recent trials of new waste services, with many residents taking up the new services and providing great feedback,” Mayor Greenhill said.

“Streamlining our waste services is a major priority for Council. We want to provide the best value for money, and increase flexibility and convenience for residents, while also supporting locals to prepare early for the bushfire season.

“These new services achieve these, while also moving us closer to our environmental goals, and aligning with our Towards Zero Waste Strategy and the Weed Management Strategic Plan.”

All the additional services willstart from 1 July 2023, and include:

• New options in the booked waste service – residents can now choose for their booked waste service to be either a kerbside pick-up, kerbside chipping, or facility drop-off. Residents can still access to two free booked waste services per year and can choose whichever of these services suits them best. Advantages of the facility drop-off option include:
  • a reduction in waiting times for booked kerbside services.
  • a greater variety of items accepted at the facility than at the kerbside.
  • greater flexibility for residents who can deliver to the facility at a time that suits them, with as little as 24 hours' notice.
  • better management of traffic flow during emergency management.
  • reduced queues at the facilities due to staggered arrival times.
• Kerbside chipping in August – kerbside chipping bookings will be available in August of each year, to support residents with bushfire season preparations. Bookings will open in June and close late July.
• Extra weekly green bin collections in September– two extra green bin collections will happen during September up until 2025 for all residents, to support residents with bushfire season preparations.
• Extension of opening hours at Katoomba Resource Recovery and Waste Management Facility (KRRWMF)– from 3 July 2023, the KRRWMF will be open from 8am – 4pm on weekdays. Saturday hours remain the same.
• Optional fortnightly red bin collection – residents will be able to apply to have their red garbage bin collected fortnightly. The purpose of this service is to reduce waste going to landfill and cater to those households who are producing less waste, and eligibility criteria will apply. The application form will be made available in mid-June.

The costs of the new services will be funded via the Waste Management Facility and Domestic Waste Management budgets, built into the 2023/24 operational budget.

Read more about all Council waste services.