People from local towns and villages are hearing about council's proposed Waste Facility Consolidation and Modernisation Project at a range of information sessions running throughout October.
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Feedback from sessions already held indicates general support for service improvements, such as the provision of an additional 1100 rural collection services and the development of three main seven-day-a-week resource recovery centres in Bermagui, Eden and at the Central Waste Facility near Bega.
"People want better services and improved access to drop off what is often thought of as waste," waste strategy co-ordinator, Joley Vidau said.
"But it's the word itself, waste, that is being discussed a lot at the information sessions we've held so far.
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"A project of this scale requires a council and community collaboration to make it work, and we're finding that people are genuinely starting to change the way they think about waste.
"Put simply, we are working hard to provide the very best infrastructure and resources to keep anything with a use or function out of landfill.
"This could be anything from the leftovers from last night's dinner that will one day maintain the health of your lawn through our FOGO service, or a tired old chair that can be carefully restored.
"To make this happen we need people to see waste as a potential commodity, leaving landfill space for materials that simply have nowhere else to go.
"Already, from attending these sessions, we are happy to see people connecting the improved services we'll provide, such as rural kerbside pickup, with the outcome of generating less waste at home.
"With such a large project, and news that some transfer stations will close under the proposed project, there are obvious questions and concerns," Ms Vidau said.
"Many of the questions we receive involve the roll out of 1100 rural collection services, either through kerbside pickup or bin banks. We can throw more light on this proposal and discuss customer benefits at the information sessions, as well as letting people know what kind of collection will service their property.
"Some of the concerns we are hearing focus on the loss of a local service as part of our site consolidation proposal which will result in some of the existing transfer sites being closed through a staged process.
"It's good to talk with people about this because the introduction of a rural collections service and seven-day-a-week access to three main sites actually results in enhanced long-term outcomes for our community.
"It's information like this, and examples of other sites working fantastically for communities, councils and the environment around Australia, that we can share at our information sessions," Ms Vidau said.
"Please register your place and come along to a session near you. It's the beginning process of council and the community collaborating to reduce our landfill use and change the way we think about waste."
Upcoming information sessions are being held at:
Cobargo School of Arts Hall
Candelo Hall
Eden Log Cabin
Bemboka Hall
Merimbula, Club Sapphire
All information sessions require pre-booking to be COVID safe.
For more information on the proposed Waste Facility and Modernisation Project, and to book a place at an information session, go to the project's Have Your Say page.
