RESIDENTS across Ipswich have diverted almost 10,000 tonnes of garden waste from landfill in just six months, following the rollout of green-lidded garden organics (GO) bins.
More than 56,000 GO bins were delivered to households in mid-2025, with around 90,000 households now participating in the city’s three-bin waste system. The initiative allows garden waste such as grass clippings, leaves and hedge trimmings to be processed into compost instead of being sent to landfill.
Mayor Teresa Harding said the early results showed strong community support for the program.
“Whether it’s grass clippings, fallen leaves or hedge trimmings, Ipswich residents have been using their GO bins – and using them correctly,” Mayor Harding said.
“Contamination rates have been below one per cent across the first six months, with Ipswich Waste Services trucks collecting 9,872 tonnes of garden organics from more than 530,000 bin services.”
The collected material is processed into compost products used in food production, gardens and landscaping. Council estimates that diverting this waste from landfill has avoided carbon emissions equivalent to taking about 2,000 cars off the road for a year.
Mayor Harding said the three-bin system was introduced to help reduce the financial and environmental impacts of the Queensland Government’s waste levy, which currently charges councils $125 per tonne of landfill waste and is set to rise to $135 per tonne in 2026–27 and $145 the following year.
The green-lidded bin rollout was supported by a $5.9 million State Government grant.
“This has been an overwhelmingly positive start to the three-bin system for our city,” Mayor Harding said. “I’m proud that Ipswich has embraced this change and is moving toward a more sustainable future.”
Environment and Sustainability Committee Chairperson Jim Madden said extensive community education had been key to the program’s success.
“The low contamination rates indicate the community is on board with council in our waste reduction journey,” Cr Madden said.
He said the shift to the three-bin system was delivering tangible savings, estimating an average reduction of about $10 per household compared with costs under the previous two-bin system.
Participation has continued to grow, with 60 per cent of GO bins presented for collection in December, up from 48 per cent in November.
Council’s broader landfill-reduction efforts also include its On-Demand Large Item Kerbside Collection program, which recycled nearly 1,000 tonnes of material in its first year.
