Eleven new general waste and four recycling trucks will hit Mackay region roads next week.
Not only will the vehicles enhance council’s waste collection services, fitted with the latest in waste collection technology, they are decked out with professional photograph’s of Mackay’s natural assets to help promote our region.
Mackay Regional Council Mayor Deirdre Comerford said the colourful, eye-catching promotional signage was part and parcel of the new #Mackaypride campaign launched at December’s Diversify Mackay Leadership Alliance (DMLA) forum.
Waste, Health and Regulatory Services portfolio councillor Laurence Bonaventura said the images were a great way to encourage residents to take pride in our region.
“Seeing breathtaking images of our natural environment should remind all of us to do the right thing – dispose of our rubbish correctly, reduce, reuse and recycle,” he said.
To improve service delivery, the new fleet is fitted with state-of-the-art GPS tracking systems to monitor real-time performance and prevent bins from being missed, and safety cameras will alert collectors to any contaminants that have been incorrectly disposed of.
“This will allow unsafe items, such as empty gas bottles, to be removed prior to rubbish reaching Paget’s Materials Recovery Facility or Hogans Pocket,” Cr Bonaventura said.
“The new vehicles are also engineered to close bin lids after collection. So from March onwards, if you see your bin lid down please don’t assume it hasn’t been collected; make sure to check it first”.
In addition to all these benefits, new red-lidded general-waste bins will gradually replace the current green-lidded bins in accordance with national guidelines. Red-lidded bins for general-waste and yellow-lidded bins for recycling.
Cr Bonaventura said these collaborative improvements had been prompted by an eight-year partnership renewal between council and waste contractor J.J. Richards and Sons.
The J.J. Richards team feel very proud and privileged to be entrusted by the council to deliver such an important community service to the people of Mackay.
