Kerbside Bin-in-Market Audit
Resource Hub conducted a five-day on-site kerbside bin audit across Wollondilly Shire, cross-referencing council’s rating data against actual bin numbers on the ground – uncovering $173,000 in lost annual revenue from bin undercharging, and 19 properties not listed in council’s rating system at all.
This was a second phase of work after an initial assessment which had already seen significant savings from a desktop rateable audit.
Challenge
Councils rely on accurate rating data to charge residents for their kerbside bin services. The standard residential allocation is one general waste (red lid), one recycling (yellow lid), and one organics (green lid) bin – and rates are set accordingly. But what happens when what’s sitting on the kerb doesn’t match what’s in the system? Or when the ratepayer wants different sizes?
Wollondilly Shire Council knew there were discrepancies between their rating data and actual bin numbers across the shire. Residents acquire additional bins over time – through council requests that don’t flow through to the rates system, bins purchased privately, or bins from neighbouring councils finding their way into circulation. Without someone physically checking, these gaps can go undetected and unrecovered.
Resource Hub had previously completed a cross-region desktop bin audit for Wollondilly with a smaller on the ground effort – one-day on foot, concentrated on a single bin type in the suburb of Bargo. The findings from that initial project findings from both the desktop assessment and the walk throughs, were significant enough that council engaged Resource Hub to return and conduct a full-shire audit across five days – chasing garbage trucks, mapping collections, and cross-referencing everything against the rating data.
What we did
The Resource Hub team spent five days on-site across Wollondilly Shire, following garbage trucks through the shire’s main townships and suburbs.
The methodology involved:
- Shadowing kerbside collection routes across Picton, Bargo, Nattai, The Oaks, Tahmoor, Buxton, Silverdale, and Warragamba
- Recording actual bin numbers, bin types, and conditions observed at each property during collection. This included bin branding, lid and body colour.
- Cross-referencing on-ground findings against council’s rating data to identify discrepancies by property, bin type, and suburb
- Flagging unauthorised bins — including privately purchased bins and bins from neighbouring councils — for enforcement follow-up
- Identifying properties with bin allocations that were not present in the council rating system at all
Resource Hub then completed a full data reconciliation, compiling findings into a comprehensive handover report and itemised workbook that council could use to directly update rating records and begin recovering lost revenue, plus supporting recommendations to change Council’s approach to unexpected bins and how the contractor is able to manage and report those bins in future.
Outcomes
The audit identified approximately $173,000 in lost revenue from bin undercharging across the shire, per year.
Breaking this down by bin type:
- 25% of mixed waste (red lid) bins assessed were incorrectly or not charged
- 15% of recycling (yellow lid) bins assessed were incorrectly or not charged
- 9% of organics (green lid) bins assessed were incorrectly or not charged
Beyond the bin discrepancies, the audit uncovered 19 properties that were not listed in council’s rating system at all – meaning they were receiving bin services without appearing on council’s books, a finding with implications beyond waste charges alone, targeting opportunities to inmprove process across other Council departments and communication pathways.
The team also identified clearly unauthorised bins throughout the shire – bins purchased privately from hardware stores and, in a number of cases, bins from neighbouring council areas that had made their way into Wollondilly’s collection network. These were flagged for council’s enforcement action.
The wrap up was a comprehensive handover report and data workbook itemising every discrepancy by property – giving Council everything needed to update their rating records and begin recovering lost revenue…which they did almost immediately!
Conclusion
Wollondilly Shire Council knew something wasn’t adding up. The initial one-day project in Bargo gave them a snapshot – and this picture, in conjunction with their own initial reviews, was clear enough that they brought Resource Hub back to look at the whole shire.
What the full audit revealed was a significant and recoverable revenue gap. Rating data that looks accurate on paper can drift substantially from reality over time, particularly in growth areas where new dwellings, bin additions, and property changes don’t always flow cleanly through to council’s records.
By getting out on the ground and ground-truthing the data, Resource Hub gave Wollondilly Shire Council the evidence it needed to correct its records, significantly improve confidence in financial and kerbside pick up routines, recover lost revenue, and ensure residents are being charged fairly and accurately for the services they receive.