I would like to thank the community for helping to make it a generally smooth transition.

A big part of the successful roll out was the way Kempsey Shire Council staff and the community worked together to raise awareness of how the new system could help the environment and keep our waste management costs down.

Residents were proactive in asking questions about the new service, what the changes meant for them, and how to get the most from the three bin system by sorting rubbish correctly.

This assisted staff in providing better quality information back to the whole community, and allowed them to target areas of main concern.

It is so important that we all do our bit when it comes to waste management.

Landfill is costly and it harms the environment.

The waste levy communities must pay to the NSW Government each year for every tonne of landfill continues to increase significantly.

A Council audit has found that three quarters of what the community put in red bins need not have been thrown in there.

It found a quarter of the waste could have been recycled, with around half made up of food scraps and garden waste meant for the organic green bin.

As red bin waste costs twice as much to process than yellow or green bin waste, it can make a huge difference if we are careful about where we dispose of unwanted waste.

If we all take the time to put discarded items in the right bins, it will help save our community paying unnecessary waste levy charges which could be better spent elsewhere in the valley.

For more information about Council's new waste service, along with tips on how we can save money and the environment now and into the future, visit kempsey.nsw.gov.au/waste