Our household waste service
We’re making it easier for residents to reduce rubbish, sort waste properly and recycle more.
2019 Waste Audit Results
Blue Mountains City Council has conducted a City-wide household garbage, recycling and green waste bin audit.
Report Highlights
• The amount of garden vegetation in the garbage bin is under 2%;
• Extremely low contamination (wrong things) in the green bin continues;
• Waste diversion continues to increase, currently sitting at over 50%, that is, we recycle more than we landfill; and
• The total generation (garbage, recycling, green) per household continues to decrease;
How can we reduce waste to landfill further?
A significant reduction in waste to landfill can be achieved by reducing the amount of recyclables and food waste in our garbage bin. These materials currently account for over 50% or over 5kg per week of household garbage bin content, as seen in the chart below.
Household Garbage Bin Composition – Average household/wk. (kg)
Help us reduce waste to landfill
1. Compost your food waste at home. If you do this already maybe you could become a compost champion to help friends and neighbours get started. Visit www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/composthub for more information.
2. Find out what materials you can and can’t recycle. Unsure? Refer to our A-Z of recycling for more information www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/a-zwaste.
3. Dispose of hazardous waste correctly. Chemicals, batteries and electronics can be disposed of safely rather than in your bin. Recycle them responsibly. Visit www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/ewaste-and-chemicals for full details.
Our current waste strategy
Our Draft Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategic Plan 2017 – 2021 was on public exhibition until 22 December 2017 and has now been formally adopted. You can view this and our previous strategy in the links below.
If you would like more information on state targets for waste avoidance and resource recovery, plus the strategies outlined to reach or exceed these targets, you can find the relevant documents in the Forms and Resources section below.