FREMANTLE’S Verge Valet is set to continue after a one-year review found it had been successful. 

At last week’s meeting, the council voted to continue the service which allows residents to pre-book their bulk waste collection. 

The valet service replaced the city-wide bulk verge collection, or “bring out your dead” model, and has increased the City’s overall resource recovery rates. 

The new service, which was introduced in October 2023, has resulted in a 70 per cent diversion rate from landfill, according to the City. 

Landfill

Additionally, the pre-booking model was found to discourage “opportunistic disposal” of residents’ bulk waste and has led to “more conscious” disposal habits of residents using the service. 

Hilton warder Ben Lawver was one of the two votes against the service’s continuation, citing some community sentiment against Verge Valet.

“Just yesterday, I put up a Facebook post asking folks [on their thoughts] and just about 200 comments except for one wanted to go back to the old system,” Cr Lawver said. 

“I’ve also door-knocked pretty extensively on this in the last week… from my contact with the community, there’s pretty broad support for going back to the other collection [model] that we previously had.” 

Cr Lawver said he’d calculated that Verge Valet cost the City “more than double” per tonne of waste removed as opposed to the ‘bring out your dead’ system. 

Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge acknowledged the Valet’s hiccups but highlighted other councillors’ sentiment that the new service was addressing the City’s landfill reduction strategy. 

“It’s clear that, while not necessarily a cost decision, [the Verge Valet] has always been a waste recovery, landfill avoidance decision,” mayor Fitzhardinge said. 

“I think the experience of other councils and the research that was done when we were looking into this around behaviour change and education, is the bit that is most valuable in this. 

“If [the waste] is not going to landfill, maybe it’s in people’s backyards, but maybe it’s gone to Marketplace, maybe it’s in the St Pat’s shop, or maybe [the resident] has decided to get the item fixed. 

“I think that’s a great thing…the Verge Valet serves more people, and serves them better.”

by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER