By Jacqueline van Aanholt
TAMWORTH region residents are being urged to only put out items approved for the biannual bulky household goods collection underway across the council region at the moment.
Halfway through the collection's first week more than 100 tonnes of material has been collected, including 90 tonnes of waste and 12 tonnes of recycling.
Tamworth Regional Council's waste services manager, Jon Beckett, said the collection is on schedule but there were some residents who were not following the guidelines and leaving items on the kerbside which are not approved for collection.
"Tyres, empty gas bottles, window panes and fridges are among the non-approved items being put out for collection," he said.
"They will not be picked up and will have a sticker put on them to indicate they are a rejected item.
"It is the responsibility of householders to remove those stickered items from the kerbside or footpath and dispose of them properly."
Tyres, empty gas bottles, window panes and fridges can all be taken to the Forest Road Landfill.
Fridges attract a fee of $11 because of the cost of degassing.
"The cost for disposing of tyres starts at $6 and increases depending on the size and type of tyre," he said.
"Fortunately, most people are doing the right thing, piling goods next to their wheelie bin and the collection is running smoothly."
The bulky household goods collection started on Monday.
It coincides with the usual pick-up for household garbage in the wheelie bins with red lids.
This week Tamworth, Moonbi and Kootingal will be covered. Next week June 25 to 29 Barraba, Manilla, Nundle and Attunga will be done.
"The collection is for household items such as furniture, small white goods, electrical appliances, bedding or small bundles of tree branches and there is a limit to how much can be put out about the size of a standard ute load," Mr Beckett said.