Residents of Jamboree Ward, you may now start sorting through your unwanted stuff and prepare for the return of kerbside collection. The service will resume a year earlier than originally planned and the schedule for pick-up has been confirmed.
In April 2020, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner announced that regular kerbside collection for large household disposals will be temporarily cut off until July 2022. The mayor redirected the funds for this service to support economic measures to lessen the blow of the pandemic for small businesses, community groups, sports clubs and charities.
During the announcement of the 2021-2022 Council budget, Mr Schrinner confirmed that kerbside collection will be restarted in July 2021. Brisbane homeowners from other suburbs may look up their scheduled pick-up dates on the official site.
Residents are reminded that kerbside collection guidelines remain the same. Please only include the following acceptable items below as unacceptable items will not be picked up.
bath and laundry tubs
bicycles and sporting equipment
carpet and rugs
electronic waste (e.g. televisions and computers)
furniture and white goods (e.g. fridges and stoves)
small household appliances (e.g. fans and toasters)
Salvaging and taking items you can re-use and recycle from other people’s unwanted pile is encouraged to limit landfill buildup. However, if you’re bothered about the mess some scavengers make, below are some tips to encourage them to rummage responsibly:
1. Label your items.
If you have an old but working toaster, electric fan, or any small but still useful appliances on your kerbside collection pile, tape a note on it. For example, a sign that says, “Not Worth Selling But Still Works” makes scavenging easier. Your neighbours won’t need to dig through your stuff — and then leave a mess! — if they can read the note right away.
Some scavengers break items for disposal to get the parts they want. But TV sets with broken screens, for example, won’t likely be picked up by the collectors anymore as there are shards of glass around it. To discourage scavengers from breaking your old stuff, put a sign that says, “Don’t Break For Parts, Just Take The Whole TV.”
2. Take the wires or cables out.
Scavengers like to cut the power cords off small appliances as this is apparently the fastest way to collect copper for reselling or reusing. But the wreckage they leave on your kerb can be annoying.
Whilst you can put a sign to encourage them to take the whole item, it might help to cut or take out the wires yourself to set it neatly on your kerbside pile. This way, the scavengers won’t have to destroy anything else as they can easily take what they want and leave.
Photo Credit: Brisbane City Council/Facebook
3. Put your items out hours before pick up.
Kerbside collection is at 6:00 a.m. but scavengers may already be rummaging at midnight or dawn because some folks put their items earlier. Understandably, people prepare their kerbside pile at their most convenient time, which could be days ahead of collection day.
However, this raises the chances for scavengers to make a mess on your corner. Cleaning up after their mess is a lot more inconvenient and puts you at risk for illegal dumping fines.
Given that kerbside collection happens periodically, it will take less effort to wake up before 6:00 a.m. to set your pile and wait for the collectors to pick it up. If you can watch over your items before the collection, you can actually engage the scavengers personally and tell them, in a nice way, to leave the pile neat and orderly when they are done.
Brisbane City Council’s Kerbside Collection is coming to Sherwood and its surrounding suburbs including Chelmer, Graceville, Sherwood, Corinda, and Oxley on Monday, 4 June 2018.
The Kerbside Collection may be an annual event, but it still pays to check some of the good old advice on getting ready for the collection day. You can even get the Council’s free Brisbane Bin and Recycling app to help you prepare for the event.
Scavengers are not new to Kerbside Collection since they have been “operational” for years now. As they say, one man’s trash can be another man’s treasure, so who wouldn’t want to get useful stuff for free?
Photo credit: CC-BY/sergejf/Flickr
For creative scavengers, some of the stuff that is thrown out the kerb can easily be repurposed or upcycled into something new. Like this old television that has been upcycled into a fish tank.
Photo credit: CC-BY/Marit & Toomas Hinnosaar/Flickr
Or this fridge that has been transformed into a chic dog house.
Other scavengers also scour piles on the kerbside for copper that they can get from the discarded electronics. This is where some things get really dirty.
Photo credit: CCO Public Domain / Alexas_Fotos / Pixabay
In the past, residents have been complaining about scavengers who pry their discarded electronics open in search for the money-making copper which can be sold for up to $7 per kilo. Whilst there is no problem with people trying to make money out of trash, the problems start when scavengers leave the pile of discarded metal they just opened scattered all over the place.
For scavengers who are ready to go out there for their loot, here are some friendly reminders for you before you hit the kerb.
Know when to go
Check the dates for the Kerbside Collection online so you can be updated with the collection dates for your area.
Come prepared
Take a ute or a truck so you can have room for the awesome stuff you might find.
Be considerate
Even if you’re only scavenging for copper from a pile of electronics and appliances, make sure to leave the pile as tidy as you can. There might be children running around the place and anything that’s broken can pose some serious hazard for them.
Keep other scavengers in mind
You might be inclined to only take what you need and break some stuff, but there are scavengers out there who might be able to repair those stuff and actually use them.
Scavenging can be helpful to a community since it is a great way to recycle unwanted things. Just remember to be mindful of your manners as you go about scavenging and have fun, you’ll never know what surprises could be out there.
The 29th of May marks the Kerbside Collection day for some areas over the Walter Taylor Bridge, namely: Chelmer, Graceville, Sherwood, and Oxley. With only a few days to go, you are probably starting to get ready by now. To make things easier for you, here are four tips on how to prepare for the upcoming collection.
1. Declutter your stuff, the KonMari way.
The KonMari way suggests categorising items before deciding what to get rid of. Photo Credit: Marie “Konmari” Kondo/Facebook
KonMari is a decluttering method introduced by Marie Kondo from Japan. The process basically involves gathering all the items you want to organise from all over the house then grouping these items in categories like “shoes”, “clothes”, or “books”. This process will allow you to concentrate on each category; thereby making the course of decluttering faster and easier.
Once the items are categorised, go through them and start deciding what to get rid of and what to keep. The best thing to do is to put in your mind that “everything has to go”. Then, choose only those items that “spark joy.” According to the KonMari method, “keep only those things that speak to your heart. Then take the plunge and discard all the rest.”
2. Check the BCC’s list of Acceptable and Non-acceptable items.
Mayor Tom Tate of Gold Coast assists workers collect non-acceptable kerbside “rubbish”. Photo Credit: Redland City Bulletin
Be careful when putting your unwanted items on the kerb. Due to previous Kerbside Collection incidents, the Brisbane City Council (BCC) has set standards on things that are acceptable and those that are not. To prevent any further inconveniences on both the BCC and the community, illegal dumping fines will be imposed for non-acceptable items that are not removed on the kerb within seven days of the collection period.
3. Measure your pile according to BCC’s pile limit.
BCC imposes limits on the pile size. Photo Credit: http://www.1coast.com.au/Book-a-Bulk-General-Waste-Collection
For everyone’s convenience, the BCC has also set a limit on the measure of respective piles that locals can mount up. Be sure to measure your pile. It should not exceed two cubic metres. If you have a lot of items you want to discard, organise them further upon piling on the kerb to save more space for bigger items. Note that the BCC will not collect items from piles that exceed the imposed limit.
4. Determine which stuff you can donate or recycle.
Too many unwanted items? Consider donating or recycling. Photo Credit: http://babyology.com.au/miscellaneous/charity-begins-at-home-a-guide-to-donating-baby-goods.html
If you find you have a lot of items you want to get rid of and your pile already exceeds the BCC limit, consider other options instead. There are a few other ways to efficiently discard those unwanted items. You may find that not only will you be decluttering your space, but you will also be discarding items for a good cause.
For one, the BCC has resource recovery centres (or transfer stations) you might want to check out. They are located in Chandler, Ferny Grove, Nudgee, and Willawong. These upgraded centres offer “free recycling for vehicles under 4.5 tonnes RGVM.” Help reduce the amount of waste landfill and bring your items to one of the centres. They are open seven days a week (including holidays) from 6:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Fees and charges apply or you can just use your waste vouchers instead.
Items given to the BCC centres go to the Council’s tip shops in Acacia Ridge and Geebung. Run by Endeavour Foundation, the proceeds of these shops are used to support people with disabilities. The shops are open every weekend from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Feel free to stop by.
Another way to discard items is to check which ones are still usable. As the practical adage goes, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Certainly, there are items that are still pretty much useful to others. Consider donating them. You can bring/send these items to GIVIT or NACRO.
GIVIT is a “national not-for-profit” organisation with an online service that lists items “urgently needed” by other locals. The service also “connects you to trusted charities” where you can donate useable items.
NACRO (National Association of Charitable Recycling Organisations, Inc.) is Australia’s “peak organisation” for charities and charity op shops. They accept recyclable items like “clothing, furniture, household and workplace goods.” These items will be either be given to the disadvantaged or used for funding local welfare programs.
There you go! Once you have everything sorted out, you will then be ready to put all those unneeded items at the kerb. Do it on the weekend prior to the designated collection schedule. Note that on the day of the collection, everything must already be on the kerb by 6:00 a.m.
Remember to pile the items tidily so the streets won’t look like some stray dogs have just toppled a big wheelie bin. Put smaller items in boxes and fold the clothes neatly. Big items like refrigerators, cupboards, and couches, should not block the pathway or even a miniature section of the road.
For more information about BCC’s kerbside collection, download the award-winning Brisbane Bin and Recycling app here. The app is totally free and it comes with a reminder feature, too. That way, you won’t be able to miss out on your suburb’s collection day.
