Townsville City Council will host a free tipping weekend from 22 to 25 October with residents able to dump domestic waste at any Council waste facilities with no charge.
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said free dumping would give residents the opportunity to clean up the house and yard ahead of the storm season.
“This free tip weekend is scheduled to start ahead of the storm season which means that it’s the perfect time to get the disaster preparation underway,” Cr Hill said.
“Following feedback from the community, we’ve also moved the event away from public holidays and kept the length at 4 days because there was concern about clashing with plans over the long weekends.
“For residents that are worried about queue times or won’t be home over that weekend, green waste and recyclables can be taken to our waste facilities for free all year round.
“We also have our kerbside collection service available for booking on the website.”
Townsville Water and Waste Committee chairperson Russ Cook said Council is exploring new options for waste management with the Queensland Government waste levy expected to impact what Council can offer to residents.
“Staff will be exploring new options for delivering waste services to residents including a Food Organics and Garden Organics trial to manage the impact of the waste levy on the community,” Cr Cook said.
“We’ll also be looking at the format of the free tipping weekends in the future, and whether it can be replaced with a more sustainable model such as a free resource recovery weekend instead.
“This will help us meet our target of zero waste to landfill by 2030 and align us with the Australian Government’s National Waste Policy and the Queensland Government’s Waste Management and Recovery Strategy.”