Ballarat City Council has allocated $2 million for the implementation of its green waste project.
The figure is outlined in council’s last quarterly budget ending December 31, which will be addressed in Wednesday night’s agenda.
Ballarat mayor Des Hudson said the $2 million is inclusive of the $500,000 that the City of Ballarat received from the state government in 2014 to implement the service.
Cr Hudson said about $1.5 million had been spent on 34,000 green waste bins, with the remainder put towards the actual setup of the project.
The green waste initiative has been listed as one of seven “major issues” that has impacted on the result of the budget.
The quarterly budget section of the agenda states that “(with the) introduction of the green waste service in July 2016, the setup costs will have a negative impact on council’s operations of approximately $2 million.”
“Those costs – it’s a big amount,” Cr Hudson said.
“But we’re looking to service a municipality and higher density living is what we’re targeting.”
“Once it’s in, it’s 12. And we’ve got it in-house for
Setup costs include the leasing of the collection trucks, the organisation of the pick-up routes and management of the waste.
“We need take all the green waste and manage that,” Cr Hudson said.
“Waste will go to an allocated area at the Ballarat Airport, but the aim is (for it) to be there no longer than 24 hours and then it will be sent to a composting facility.”
The system that will see single block dwellings in Ballarat and Buninyong equipped with 240 litre green bins.
Local residents will be forced to fork out for the service, with plans showing an addition of $1.15 to $1.35 per week to the waste charge, or $60 to $70 per annum.
Comparatively, Geelong residents pay a flat rate of $246,50 per-annum for their three bin service.
Bendigo’s current six-month green waste trial period is operating at no cost. Only 2800 residents are participating in the fortnightly collection.
The plan and payment costs will continue to be reviewed during and at the end of the trial period.
The green waste program is expected to help council achieve its long-term goal of diverting 65 per cent of waste material currently going to landfill into other uses such as a recycling and energy processing.
