ANDREW Barr says a re-elected ACT Labor government will ensure every Canberra household that wants a green bin will get one in the next term of government.

“Our Better Suburbs Plan includes a pledge that our garden waste bin scheme will be quickly rolled out to the rest of Canberra after the pilot program in Weston Creek and Kambah early next year,” Andrew said.

“Under Labor’s plan 80 per cent of Canberra will be able to access a green bin within a little over two years of the scheme starting.

“Labor will also introduce a suburb-by-suburb bulky waste pick up service for every home in Canberra so people can easily dispose of large, unwanted household items such as fridges or couches. Charity organisation Givit will also be funded to match real and urgent requests for donated goods with people who have things to give away.

“These new initiatives will save families time and money. They will be important new services for ratepayers and will help to divert some of the waste that is currently going to landfill each year or simply being dumped.

“ACT Labor today announced the roll-out plan for the green bins scheme for all Canberra regions, to give households certainty:

• April 2017: Weston Creek and Kambah
• Mid-2017: Tuggeranong
• Mid-2018: Belconnen
• Mid-2019: Inner North, Inner South and Woden
• Mid- 2020: Gungahlin and Hall

“Households will be able to opt-in to the service for a one-off deposit of $50, with bins collected every fortnight. Pensioners and concession card holders will receive their bin without providing a deposit.

“Some households and apartment residents won’t want another bin – so the program will operate on an opt-in basis.”

[Photo by Awaya Legends, attribution licence]