Annual bulky waste collection on the scrap heap as council considers options

Dubbo Regional Council is considering removing the annual kerbside pickup in favour for a pre-booked service.

The proposition for a 12-month trial for a pre-booked bulky waste collection service will be on the agenda at the April council meeting on Wednesday night.

If the trial goes ahead, the pre-booked bulky waste collection would be available to everyone who currently has a kerbside bin collection.

There will be seven service areas and they'll each be allocated certain weeks they can book in to have the bulky waste collection. However, every household will only be able to get one bulky rubbish collection per year.

As per usual, one level box trailer load or one cubic metre of rubbish will be permitted per residence. Only two mattresses and four tyres will be allowed.

The council report on the issue says the current bulky waste collection takes between 10 to 13 weeks.

"The last three financial years has observed an average of 25 per cent eligible residence participation (between 5000 and 5300) and 1196 tonnes collected at a cost of $492,000," it states.

About 22 per cent of that waste was diverted from landfill.

However, there's a growing trend among other councils to use a pre-booked system, because it can reduce pollution while also creating greater flexibility for the public.

"The main factors contributing to this trend are to reduce the cost of the service, increase recycling and reuse capacity (increase landfill diversion), increase in service flexibility, reduce safety incidents, and reduce the risk of pollution," the report states.

A decision on the bulky waste collection will be made by the councillors on Wednesday night.