Rural Landfill Bin Collection Changes

To support households, Council provides additional resources to help better manage organic and recyclable waste, including:

• Subsidised 220L compost bin delivered to your home for $50 / pick up from Salvage Shed (tip shop) for $60 (see below for image)
• Optional FREE upgrade to a 360L recycling bin (if current bin is standard 240L)
• Invitation to attend FREE Composting workshops delivered by North East Waste
• Educational handouts and videos on how to manage organic waste. See Council's Home Composting and Worm Farming page for helpful information.

 220L compost bin 

  7L kitchen caddy for food scraps

A comprehensive review of our rural bin collection service, including a trial of 80 rural households across the Ballina Shire, identified significant opportunities to improve environmental outcomes and support more sustainable waste operations.

In 2020 and 2022, Council audited bins from 100 rural households. Results showed 58% of landfill bin contents could be composted or recycled. The audits also suggested weekly landfill collections may encourage higher waste generation compared to neighbouring councils with fortnightly services.

From September to November 2024, Council conducted a trial with 80 rural households in 4 different areas across the shire to investigate how to best support rural residents to improve resource recovery. Landfill bin collection frequency was reduced to fortnightly and participants had access to a variety of educational resources. The comparison below illustrates the differences between the 2022 audit of weekly rural collections and the 2024 audit results from the fortnightly rural collection trial.

Key differences observed after trial intervention:

• 25% decrease in overall waste generation per household
• An average of 18% capacity remaining in the household landfill bin each fortnight
• Over 50% reduction in volume of organic and recyclable material in the landfill bins
• Higher presentation rate of landfill bins during trial, illustrating more efficient utilisation of the service
• Trial participant feedback generally indicated satisfaction with the changes and increased number of households managing organic waste on their property by home composting or another means.

The change to collection services was implemented on 13 October 2025. To make the most of available support, rural residents are encouraged to:

• Review your current service and the options available below.
• Review the A-Z guide, Rural Waste Guide, and other resources provided on this page to ensure you're placing the correct materials in each bin and you're aware of what items don't belong in any home bin.
• Explore home composting options. These include compost bins, worm farms, Bokashi systems, or feeding veggie scraps to animals. Our free composting workshops were held in early September, but keep an eye out for other workshops throughout the year.
• Can’t compost at home? Team up with a neighbour who does, or use Peels to find a local compost drop-off. You can also register as a Peels host to accept food scraps from others in your area.

The cost of collecting waste and recycling bins only makes up about 30% of the total cost to deliver the full domestic waste service. The remaining costs come from processing and disposing of waste and recycling (63%), and education and administration (7%).

The standard rural waste collection service includes a fortnightly landfill and recycling bin collection, on alternating weeks. Residents with a standard 240L recycling bin can request a free upgrade to a 360L bin.

Additional landfill or recycling bin collections can be purchased for a fee (serviced fortnightly). Refer to the current fee schedule for pricing. Residents can also choose to purchase additional bin collections from external waste collection companies.

Before adding extra bins, we encourage households to review their waste habits and focus on reducing landfill by composting organics and recycling correctly. If you have unique circumstances, please contact Council’s Resource Recovery team for support.

If your household needs more waste capacity, you can order additional bins. Based on the 2025/26 fees and charges, an extra landfill bin will cost $140 and an extra recycling bin $114 (both serviced fortnightly).

Before ordering extra bins, we encourage households to review their waste habits and focus on reducing landfill through composting and correct recycling. Many common items, such as batteries, electronics, gas bottles, light globes, oil, and paint, should never go in kerbside bins but can be dropped off for free at the Ballina Resource Recovery Centre or other sites across the Shire.

Council’s standard bin service is designed for an average-sized household. While larger households may produce more waste, our user-pays system helps keep costs low for everyone and encourages waste reduction.

Importantly, our policy is designed to support residents who minimise bulky waste through reuse and recycling. This system is the most equitable, efficient, and cost-effective option for the community, as additional services are only paid for when needed.

Learn more about safely disposing of problem items on our website: Community Recycling Centre (CRC) | Ballina Shire Council

Our waste contractor does not offer a 360L landfill bin because the weight of a mixed landfill bin of that size is often too heavy for the mechanical arm of the truck to lift. Instead of increasing the size of your bin, the standard approach is to first review your household’s waste habits, use Council’s support to reduce waste where possible, and only purchase an additional bin if needed.

Recyclable materials like paper, cardboard, glass, and hard plastics can be used to make new products. When sent to landfill, we waste valuable resources and energy, and miss the chance to recycle them into something useful. Recycling also means we don’t need to use as many raw materials, which helps protect the environment from further deforestation and mining.

Organic waste, like food scraps and garden clippings, creates problems in landfill. It breaks down without oxygen and produces methane, a greenhouse gas much stronger than carbon dioxide. These materials also contain nutrients that are great for soil health. Composting turns them into useful soil conditioners instead of harmful waste.

Both types of waste also take up limited landfill space. By recycling and composting, we can save space, reduce pollution, and make better use of our resources.

While we aim to help our residents minimise the waste they send to landfill and practice better waste management, we also aim to keep the cost of services low.

Due to the small number of rural properties over a large area, introducing an organics collection service isn’t financially viable. Instead, we are supporting residents to manage organics at home through composting, which benefits soil health. Reducing landfill collection frequency will also discourage placing organic and recyclable materials in landfill and encourage better overall waste management.

Composting is a simple way to turn food scraps and garden waste into something useful. It creates nutrient-rich material that helps your soil stay healthy and your plants grow better without needing chemical fertilisers. Composting also keeps organic waste out of landfill, which helps reduce harmful greenhouse gases and saves space.

It’s an easy, natural way to recycle and help the environment. Learn more on our Home Composting and Worm Farming webpage.

We understand some households use nappies, sanitary items or medical items and may have concerns about odour or hygiene with a fortnightly collection. Here are some practical solutions:

• Reduce odour by lining your bin with newspaper or sprinkling bicarbonate soda in the bottom. Keep your bin out of direct sunlight where possible, and make sure the lid closes properly with no cracks.
• Research shows that landfill bins with nappies don’t smell significantly worse after two weeks compared to one. For more tips, check our factsheet on hygiene products and bins(PDF, 496KB).
• Consider reusable options. Reusable versions of nappies, period and continence management products have come a long way! 

  For nappies, find helpful videos, tips, guides, and a Facebook community: Clean Cloth Nappies® website.                                                          For continence products, the Continence Foundation of Australia website has excellent information to help choose the right product for you including this helpful video from a Nurse Continence Specialist about the range of continence products available.

• As a last resort, ensure any disposable nappies, sanitary or medical waste are securely bagged before placing them in the bin. 

If your recycling bin is already full, that’s a great sign you’re recycling. Here are some tips to help you manage your recyclables more effectively:

• Check you’re recycling right – make sure only clean, accepted items go in the bin, including hard plastic containers, glass bottles and jars, steel and aluminium cans, and paper and cardboard. Visit  ballina.nsw.gov.au/recycling-bin for a full guide.
• Upgrade your bin for free – call the Resource Recovery hotline on 6686 1287 to swap your 240L bin for a 360L bin.
• Need more space? You can order an extra 240L or 360L recycling bin for $114.
• Dispose of bulky or hazardous items correctly – larger items like e-waste, appliances, and scrap metal, and hazardous items like batteries, paint, or gas bottles, should never go in kerbside bins. These can be dropped off for free at the Ballina Community Recycling Centre at 167 Southern Cross Drive, Ballina.

Surrounding councils, including Lismore, Byron, Tweed, Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley, already have fortnightly landfill collections for both urban and rural households. This aligns with regional and statewide goals to reduce waste and improve resource recovery.

Audits from Byron Shire show less waste going to landfill and lower overall waste generation compared to rural households in Ballina Shire, highlighting the benefits of a fortnightly system.