Local government election: Labor pledges to make green bin a reality

A third, green bin is one option Port Stephens Council is considering in its new draft waste management strategy, a concept that Labor's mayoral and east ward candidate Leah Anderson said she would fight for should she be elected.

"We've been listening to the community, and it's clear that they want green bins. My team will start the process and make green bins in Port Stephens a reality," she said.

"I know how frustrating it is to mow the lawn or trim some trees and to very quickly run out of space in the red bin. This policy will make managing household waste easier."

Green bins for grass clippings, leaves and bark, landfill reduction and a better outcome from the Bedminister waste system have all been placed under the spotlight as part of the draft waste management strategy that will service Port Stephens for the next 20 years.

Port Stephens was one of the first councils to introduce and adopt the Bedminster system to compost its waste stream into a reusable product.

However, the composting process was shut down in October 2018 by the NSW EPA when it announced that "mixed waste organic material is no longer able to be used on agricultural land, and is ceasing use on forestry and mining land until further controls can be considered".

This prompted the council to conduct a review of its waste management system, which is still ongoing.

"We conducted comprehensive community consultation throughout 2020, including a phone survey, Facebook live event, face-to-face workshops and an online survey. This gave us accurate insight into exactly what our community wants from their waste service," the council's community services section manager, Tammy Gutsche, said in August.

"As well as reaching better environmental outcomes through education, avoidance, reduction and recovery, the draft strategy will also see us investigate introducing a third bin and systems for processing our waste. These actions will help council meet the targets set in the current NSW EPA 2021 to 2041 Waste and Sustainable Material Strategy."

Labor's candidates for west ward, Giacomo Arnott, and central ward, Jason Wells, also support the green bin concept.

"This is a terrific policy that I know the community has been crying out for. The community has been very vocal about their desire to have green bins, and I know the community will be pleased to know that if she becomes Mayor, Leah Anderson will get it done," Mr Arnott said.

Mr Wells added: "If council doesn't make it easy to sort and remove waste, then people will use the wrong bins and material that could be recycled won't be. Green bins will make sure that the right products get into the right bins, allowing Council to process it properly."

In addition to green bins, the Labor team has also stated that their election priorities are to improve the road network across the LGA and to increase community consultation.

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