Penrith Press
Penrith Council will roll out organic waste bins for residents next year following the success of its waste treatment management program.
The council will use green rebates from the State Government's $12m fund to pay for the organic bins, which will further cut down on the amount of waste being dumped in landfills annually.
"We have been meeting our targets and will use the rebates to provide organic bins to around 52,000 households from July next year,'' said Barry Ryan, manager for waste and community protection.
The council will pick up the organic waste from residents once a week and process it in the waste treatment plant.
The rebate of $424,000 will help pay for the scheme, according to Mr Ryan.
"We will then use the resulting high quality compost for fields and park in the area.
"Penrith is ahead of most councils in waste management and now a lot of other councils are looking to follow our example,'' he said. "We think ahead of the game and plan for the future.''
The 240 litre organic bins will be distributed in urban areas but not to apartments as they have different systems, Mr Ryan said.
Penrith was one of the 51 councils which qualified for the third instalment of money from the Waste Service Improvement Performance Payments scheme.
Minister for Environment and Climate Change Carmel Tebutt said councils and local communities, "are doing their bit to fight climate change by recycling more and disposing of less rubbish.''