A BENDIGO waste collector says there is no need for hard rubbish collection in the city.
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Patrick Joyce from Joyce Industries said his business was constantly asked to take people’s fridges and household goods to scrap metal services, but said it would be an “absolute mess” if the council approved kerbside hard rubbish collections.
“It would be a war,” he said. “There’s just no need for it.”
Mr Joyce said there were too many “illegal scrappers” operating in the region that took people’s money for collection of their white goods or tried to onsell items.
“It’s just not on. I wouldn’t want to see more of that happening.
“I can see why people are not going to the tip, with rising fees, but there’s plenty of options out there,” Mr Joyce said.
He said his business – which collects washing machines to lawn mowers free of charge to sell for scrap metal – received up to 40 calls a day.
“Sometimes we have days where we collect three tonnes of metal.”
Albd Waste Services staff member Greg Murphy said a rise in tip fees saw more people turning to their service.
“There’s definitely been an increase in people looking to offload old items,” he said.
“We get just about everything – people drive cars in here and just leave them here. People unhook the trailer and leave that.
“We’re here for anything metal. Brass and non-ferrous metals. “People are better off bringing it here. “
Mr Murphy said the East Bendigo service could take up to 100 tonnes a week of scrap metal from Bendigo to a larger Melbourne sorting plant.