FAQ

From 5 March 2018, Council will provide households that pay a Domestic Waste Occupied Land Charge with two options for disposing their bulky waste items:

1. request two (2) free self-haul vouchers in a 12 month period from March each year to take your items to the Englands Road Waste Management Facility, Coffs Harbour, and/or
2. use the dial-up user-pays booking system to organise a paid collection from your premises

The fee for a dial-up user-pays collection is $46 and payment will be made direct to Coffs Coast Waste Services who will advise you of your collection date.

Council has introduced changes to the household bulky goods collection service to address the growing amount of customer complaints with the current service, to increase the amenity of the area and to increase the regional resource recovery and diversion from landfill rates.

Issues with the current service include:

• the current bulky goods collection system is one of top three sources of complaint from the community
• Coffs Coast Region is a leader in diversion in waste from landfill in NSW, recovering and recycling 88% of what is placed into the three bin system, while the current recovery from bulky goods is minimal
• As approximately only 45% of the population use the current service, the remainder of the community subsidise this service  
• a very high percentage of kerbside collections grow in size by other residents adding to piles that aren't their own
• people place their bulky goods on their kerb well before their collection date leading to areas looking messy, unkept and decreasing the amenity of the area
• illegal dumping has increased dramatically across the region under the current system as people who are not entitled to the service add to existing piles
• Coffs Harbour is proudly a tourist destination and the current service is inconsistent with this, as streets are strewn with often oversized and untidy piles of waste
• currently a large proportion of bulky goods placed for collection are sent to landfill. The new system will allow for improved sorting, recovery and recycling
• the quantity of bulky goods has doubled in the past five (5) years, and besides the increasing cost of collection and disposal, a large percentage of this waste could have been repurposed or recycled
  

Each household paying the Domestic Waste Occupied Land Charge will be entitled to two (2) free vouchers per calendar year, running from March to March.  

Eligible residents will be able to call the Coffs Coast Waste Services Hotline on 1800 265 495 to request the vouchers. Proof of residency will be required.  

Vouchers are mailed by post to eligible properties, so ensure you order your vouchers at least two weeks in advance so they have time to arrive. Vouchers will only be sent to the corresponding street address. Vouchers will not be mailed to PO boxes or to another address, i.e. the owner of the property’s home address.

Vouchers can only be redeemed for materials taken to the Englands Road Waste Management Facility, Coffs Harbour.

They cannot be redeemed at any transfer stations, as these facilities are not equipped to deal with bulky materials.  

To book a user-pays collection residents call the Coffs Coast Waste Services Hotline on 1800 265 495.

You will be required to pay a $46 fee via credit or debit card over the phone, direct deposit or in person at Coffs Coast Waste Services office, and will receive your collection date. You will need to provide proof of residency.

Coffs Coast Waste Services is a shared waste contract between Coffs Harbour, Bellingen and Nambucca Councils. There are two periods when the contractor is servicing the other two Council areas and is unavailable for collections within Coffs Harbour.

The service is unavailable in Coffs Harbour between April 30 – July 6 and August 6 – September 14.

However , Residents can still call the hotline on 1800 265 495 and book in a collection during this time, and the first available date will be allocated outside these periods.

Collections will not be available on the following public holidays:

Good Friday 30 March

Easter Monday 2 April

Anzac Day 25 April

Queen’s Birthday 11 June

October Long Weekend 1 October

Christmas Period from 25 December to 4 January

• White goods – Fridges, freezers, washing machines, stoves, dryers, etc. *These are free AT ANY TIME*
• Small electrical appliances – televisions, toasters, etc. *These are free AT ANY TIME*
• Bulky Household items – hot water system, bikes, ironing boards, toys, etc.
• Mattresses
• Furniture – bed bases, couch, table, etc.
• Carpet / linoleum (max. 1.5m in length, 50kg weight)
• Metal guttering, aluminium frames (max. 1.5m length), etc. 

• Soil, sand, rocks
• Hazardous materials – gas bottles, chemicals, paints, oils, asbestos, fibro, etc.
• Building materials – concrete, bricks, roofing materials, fencing wire, etc.
• Gas cylinders and flares, oil heaters
• General household garbage
• Green waste
• Glass, mirrors
• Car batteries, car parts, tyres
  

You can take the following items (household quantities only) for FREE recycling at the Community Recycling Centre, at the Englands Road Waste Facility:

We encourage you to use this service as a last resort once you have tried to re-use, re-sell, swap, give away or upcycle goods in good condition.

Council has received community concerns and comments that this new system may lead to an increase in illegal dumping.

The new system, coming into effect in March 2018 should on the contrary lead to a decrease in illegal dumping as residents now have up to four (4) opportunities per year to dispose of their unwanted bulky household items in a responsible manner. 

The new system will help to create a culture within the community that illegal dumping is not acceptable, and will contribute to an overall decrease in dumped goods.

Residents are ultimately responsible for how much waste they create. Having to correctly sort bulky goods and either self haul or book a user-pays collection provides an opportunity for residents to think about how much waste they are creating, and look at other options to reuse, resell, swap or upcycle goods still in usable condition.

If you see dumped items on the kerbside, in a park, reserve, the beach or the bush Council encourages you to report them via the RID online tool. Reporting of illegal dumping through RIDonline can result in fine being issued for up to $2000.

How to use RIDonline

1. Go to https://ridonline.epa.nsw.gov.au/#/home on your smart phone, tablet or computer
2. Take a photo of the illegally dumped material 
3. Add the location and description of the dump site
4. This report is then sent to the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) NSW and sent to the relevant authority to investigate

From March 2018, only the person(s) residing at the property, whether this is a tenant or owner-occupier, can book a dial-up user-pays collection service or request self-haul vouchers for that property.

Proof of residency will be required.

From March 2018, each eligible rateable residential property (for which a Domestic Waste Occupied Land Charge applies) has an entiltement of up to two (2) dial-up user-pays and two (2) free self-haul vouchers in a 12-month period. 

From March 2018, those living in a multi-unit dwelling are eligible if paying a Domestic Waste Occupied Land Charge to use the free self-haul vouchers and the dial-up user-pays system. Up to two (2) free self-haul vouchers and two (2) dial-up user-pays collections are available to each dwelling per twelve month period, from March to March.

From March 2018, tenants of Department of Housing NSW where a Domestic Waste Occupied Land Charge is paid will be eligible for the service.

The dial-up user-pays system is available to households that pay a Domestic Waste Occupied Land Charge.

From March 2018, residents who cannot transport their waste to the Waste Facility will be able to contact the Coffs Coast Waste Services book a user-pays collection. The service will be able to be used twice a year. Payment will be made directly to Coffs Coast Waste Services and the service will only be provided after payment is received.

This service is available in conjunction with the self-haul voucher system, which together entitles each household paying a Domestic Waste Occupied Land Charge to up to four (4) services per year, March to March.

Dial-up user-pays collection service:

Yes. The administration costs, disposal costs and State Government waste levy for the materials disposed of are covered by Council.

Self haul voucher system for disposal:

Yes. The administration costs of the vouchers, postage, disposal costs and State Government waste levy for the materials disposed of using the self haul vouchers are covered by Council.