Around 70,000 tonnes of hard or 'bulk' waste is collected off Perth verges each year and almost all of it goes to landfill – but as the cost of this practice skyrockets, it's becoming clear the traditional 'bring out your dead' has a limited lifespan.
And if the recent experiences of two Perth councils are anything to go by, the way of the future is: skip bins.
Verge-side waste makes up about 11 per cent of the total waste councils collect, and most do pickups once or twice annually, using either council staff or contractors, from small specialists to big companies such as Suez or Cleanaway.
Most divert some recyclables, including whitegoods, e-waste, scrap metal, tyres and mattresses, usually through the local privately or council-operated 'waste transfer' or 'waste management' station.
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"Most people seem to think that all the good stuff is collected by others picking off the verge, by second hand dealers or it is taken to tip shops," Mindarie Regional Council spokesman Geoff Atkinson said.
"All this is only a small proportion of what is placed out on the verge."
The rest is channelled to one of the metropolitan area's 17 landfills.
But no new landfills are allowed in the metro area, and the state government has for some years been imposing hefty levies on councils as a 'towards zero waste' strategy – at the moment, it costs a council $60 per tonne tossed.
Mr Atkinson said this had prompted a quest for ways separate out more recyclables.
This could occur at verge level, with separate collections being made, at the tipface, as was the practice at the regional council's Tamala Park landfill, or at one of the aforementioned 'transfer stations'.
Most green waste in WA is mulched and recycled, with many councils providing free mulch to residents. Photo: Travis Hayto
He said most of the recovered materials were metals and wood, the heaviest materials and thus the most expensive to dispose of in landfill.
The big advantage for them is the data and information that we have. Joondalup went to skips last year, so you will see a steady stream of councils doing it from now on.
Andrew Murphy, Waste and Fleet manager, City of Stirling
But recovery rates are low. In the 2014/15 financial year only about eight of nearly 70,000 tonnes of vergeside waste was recycled, the WA Local Government Waste and Recycling Census showed.
Few of WA's regional councils undertook verge collections, and their recovery rates were also low.
Councils are looking to on-demand skip bins to improve the rates, including Bayswater, Joondalup, Kalamunda and the City of Stirling.
Stirling's Waste and Fleet manager Andrew Murphy said the City made the switch 18 months ago.
Now, residents got one on-demand skip-bin a year (two more at subsidised rates) and also got free pickups for whitegoods, e-waste and mattresses.
"Mattresses are 100 per cent recyclable," he said.
The early stages of landfill. Photo: WA Waste Authority
"You strip the metal and all the flock and other material gets used for insulation. The steel goes to a steel manufacturer and back to the commodity market.
"Fridges get degassed, the metal is again recovered from those and other whitegoods for the commodity market via metal merchants.
"We also have a company that strips down e-waste. Inside a telephone or PC or laptop there are precious metals, platinum, gold; so it is economically worthwhile to strip the material.
"We also divert lithium batteries, which can if pierced or damaged combust and cause fires in a truck or landfill, with battery collection points all over the community, Bunnings, libraries, schools."
The City's Balcatta transfer station also has a Tip Shop, which allows people to drop off items that can be resold, such as furniture, clothing and electrical goods, while providing employment for people with disabilities.
Stirling has also transitioned households to the three-bin system, providing an extra bin for compostable waste.
But the "real good news" was regarding the material in the skip bins that previously went to vergeside collections, Mr Murphy said.
The City had just completed a trial in which the skip bin contents were sent to Suez-owned Bibra Lake facility to be combed for metals, plastics and other recyclables.
The sorting floor at Suez' Bibra Lake recycling facility. Photo: Supplied
Now, about 40 per cent was recycled, a result echoed by the City of Joondalup, which has also switched to the skip system and sends the skips to the Aurigen processing facility for sorting.
Joondalup, which collects more bulk waste per household than any other local government in Australia, was only recycling two to four per cent of the vergeside waste under the old system.
To put this in perspective, the state government has set councils a target of diverting 65 per cent of waste from landfill by 2020.
Stirling expects to hit 50 per cent in 2017 and Joondalup expects to hit the 65 per cent target by 2019.
"We had a steady stream of councils speaking to us about introducing a third bin and skips," Mr Murphy said.
"The big advantage for them is the data and information that we have. Joondalup went to skips last year, so you will see a steady stream of councils doing it from now on."
Stirling says the three-bin system is a winner. Photo: Supplied
Other initiatives being pursued include those such as the City of Swan's monthly recyclable goods 'drop-off days' throughout the year which allow residents to drop off their recyclable goods and be rewarded with free mulch from the City's green waste collections.
The City is also hoping to increase its percentages of recyclables recovered from vergeside waste when the new Recycling Centre in Bullsbrook opens mid-year.
Bayswater residents get up to three skip bins a year, with the bins sorted for recycling at its Waste Transfer Station. It also operates a refrigerator collection program.
"The system is regarded as a more convenient service for our residents, as they can order the bulk bin when they need one and it eliminates unsightly verge collections," a spokeswoman said.
The key is to bring residents along for the ride.
"It was a bold decision – some residents liked the old system," Mr Murphy said. "You always get some people who like the old system.
"But the message to residents is that it saves money. It's bringing our costs down and keeping their rates down."
WALGA president Lynne Craigie said residents could help by familiarising themselves with their local council's information on what to discard and where.
"Many charities also do home collections for bulky items," she said. Visit giv.org.au or givit.org.au for more on donating unwanted items.
Meanwhile, the push toward alternative waste treatment technologies for general weekly household bins gains momentum.
Waste processing involves some major logistics. Photo: WA Waste Authority
Rivers Regional Council (which coordinates household waste disposal for member councils Armadale, Gosnells, Mandurah, Murray, Serpentine Jarrahdale and South Perth) has awarded tenders for its waste-to-energy power plant in Kwinana.
Construction is expected to commence this year, with the first wastes to be accepted from 2020.
Mindarie and Eastern Metropolitan regional councils (Wanneroo, Stirling, Perth, Cambridge, Vincent, Victoria Park and Joondalup in the first instance and Bassendean, Bayswater, Belmont, Kalamunda, Mundaring and Swan in the second) is evaluating tenders for an alternative waste technology facility, which could include a waste-to-energy power station.
Western Metropolitan Regional Council (Claremont, Cottesloe, Mosman Park, Peppermint Grove and Subiaco) is "working constructively with the administrator" after the companies behind its Brockwaste Alternative Waste Treatment Plant, just completed in Shenton Park, went into receivership before final performance trials could be completed.
South Metropolitan Regional Council (Cockburn, East Fremantle, Fremantle, Kwinana and Melville) is still operating its Regional Resources Recovery Centre composting plant in Canning Vale and has no plans to sell the facility, despite rumours to this effect in 2015.