Following direction from the Office of Local Government and the Environment Protection Agency, bookings must now be made to dispose of essential residential waste at Blaxland and Katoomba Waste Management Facilities.
The Environment Protection Agency and the Office of Local Government has advised that: "No member of the public should be visiting a recycling or waste management facility as it is not one of the essential reasons for leaving your home."
Rather than close our Waste Management Facilities Council is introducing a new process that aims to better protect our employees and the community. From Tuesday 24 August 2021, until at least the end of September, residents will be required to ring Council and book a time to drop off essential waste.
Blue Mountains Chief Executive Officer, Dr Rosemary Dillon, said: "Council needs to take this measure in order to ensure the safety of Staff, and our community. It allows us to ensure public use is for urgent purposes, while regulating the flow of people into the tip.
"One of the major sources of COVID-19 infection is the workplace. Our workers face the same risks as everyone but often have to be at work while the rest of the community can stay at home. We need to reduce the exposure of our staff to risk of transmission, as well as the exposure of the community interacting with staff."
"We urge Blue Mountains residents to follow current Public Health Orders and limit their movements and stay at home, unless for essential purposes, until at least the end of September."
Essential waste is defined as waste that arises from the following circumstances:
- The resident is moving
- A deceased estate
- Safety matter
- Public nuisance matter
- Asbestos or hazardous material that poses the community with a safety risk, or
- Garden vegetation for bushfire season property preparation.
Commercial and business waste will be accepted at Waste Management Facilities, as usual.
Blue Mountains residents still have other options for the collection of waste:
- Regular residential waste collection bins (red, yellow, green bins).
- Booked kerbside service - two free services are available for each residential property per financial year. An additional kerbside service can also be booked for $95. Go to https://www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/BookedWasteService.
- Additional residential waste collection bins can also be ordered. Download the Domestic Waste Service Bin Form to order an additional bin. Go to bmcc.nsw.gov.au/waste-and-recycling/forms-and-resources.
- Hire a skip bin. The skip owner will collect and dispose of the waste at a Waste Management Facility.
"We thank our residents for showing patience during this extended lockdown period, and only booking to visit our Waste Facilities for essential reasons," Dr Dillon said.
When residents call Council, and confirm their waste is essential, they will receive a time to deliver the waste to a facility.
In order to be given access to a facility at the booked time, visitors must be COVID compliant:
- The visitor must provide a surname to the gatekeeper to prove the booking.
- There must be no more than two people per vehicle.
- Masks must be worn, and
- All visitors must be checked in to the facility using the QR code at the gate.
Both Blaxland and Katoomba facilities will have electronic information signs at the gate advising visitors that access is limited to booked essential waste only.
Call Blue Mountains City Council 4723 5000 (Lower Mountains) or 4780 5000 (Upper Mountains) in order to book a time to deliver essential waste to Katoomba or Blaxland Waste Management Facilities.
Photo: In an effort to control non-essential visits to Waste Management Facilities at Katoomba and Blaxland and maintain the safety of the community and BMCC staff, bookings must now be made to dispose of essential residential waste.
