Council has chosen to implement a user pays model for these waste types in order to reduce the burden on ratepayers for their management and processing.
Air-conditioners, Fridges & Freezers
Degassing is a requirement to comply with the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989. Refrigerants gases can be extremely harmful to the environment, and they can leak into the atmosphere when equipment is not disposed of properly.
It is an offence for anyone other than a licenced technician to handle the refrigerants used in these items. Therefore, Council periodically engages a contractor to extract gas from refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners. Once the gas is removed, the items can be recycled as scrap metal.
Mattresses
Mattresses are large and bulky, taking up significant air space in the landfill. The process of shredding the mattresses allows the steel springs to be separated for recycling, and the left-over material can then be compacted to a higher degree in the landfill. This also makes it safer for machinery operators working on the landfill.