Waste management for apartments

Waste management in apartment buildings has some challenges as waste and recycling bins are shared and residents may need different levels of support to recycle correctly. This page includes free resources to support residents, owners, strata managers and building managers to encourage responsible waste and recycling management in apartment blocks.

   
  Need help getting your building’s waste management in order? Council can meet you on site and provide tailored advice. Contact us at waste@waverley.nsw.gov.au to request a site visit. 
  

The “Recycling right in Waverley: A guide to help residents recycle more” guide is an easy-to read explainer of waste services. Strata managers, committee members or real estate agents are encouraged to supply this free guide to residents, especially those new to the building as part of the welcome pack for residents.

The assessment process is available to apartment buildings to ensure the correct bin capacity is provided for waste and recycling storage. Request the assessment utilising the form.

Council can provide a variety of materials to support responsible waste management and recycling. Browse the resources available and order them.

It’s important that the Strata Management sets clear expectations around waste management by using on-site signage, guides for new residents and maintaining an adequate number of bins to meet the property’s needs.

  • Consider implementing a strata by-law for better waste management in your building.
  • For minor excess waste events, you can order additional kerbside bin collections.
  • For bulky waste collections, you can utilise Council’s clean-up service. Note that building managers can book a clean-up service on behalf of different units.
  • For persistent illegal dumping you should report it to Council. Council may seek to recover costs from Strata who fail to contain illegal dumping that is being caused by their residents.

The waste management by-law template was developed by a strata lawyer and is available free of charge to all strata developments in Waverley.

The template covers a range of issues related to illegal dumping, litter, recycling contamination, and maintenance of bins and waste storage areas.

Once the by-law template is received, your strata committee will need to adopt the by-law at a General Meeting. Request the bylaws here.

Council is running a trial program to recover unwanted textiles in good condition from apartment buildings. The program commenced in 2019 and includes apartment buildings of 30 units or more. Buildings must have sufficient storage space for the textile bins and commit to maintain the service for at least 12 months. A third-party organisation collects the clothing materials from each building and reports the tonnage of textiles reused/repurposed in Australia and overseas.

The program is currently not open to new apartment buildings while we evaluate the effectiveness of the service to drive clothing reuse and avoid waste, whilst ensuring transparency and sustainability in the supply chain. If you wish to obtain more information about this program, please contact us at waste@waverley.nsw.gov.au.

In the meantime, consult our A-Z Waste & Recycling Directory to find textile recycling options near you.