Orange City Council has changed how residents use the Ophir Road Resource Recovery Centre (ORRRC) to improve safety and reduce unnecessary or dangerous waste going to landfill.

Residents depositing waste at the ORRRC will now be directed to a new ground-level drop-off zone, eliminating the need to use the elevated drop‑off into skip bins.

The new drop-off system uses purpose‑built Australian‑made LBins, which look like large front‑end loader buckets. Vehicles can then reverse right over the lip of the LBin and safely unload waste without any risk of falling.

Orange Mayor Tony Mileto said the new system is about responding to safety concerns associated with the existing skip bin system.

“In the past, residents were required to reverse into an elevated area and throw waste down into skip bins below, which created a real risk of trips, falls, and injuries,” Cr Mileto said.

He said the LBins also make it easier for ORRRC staff to inspect loads and intercept hazardous waste or recyclable materials, stopping them from being incorrectly disposed of in landfill.

“We might be looking at things like asbestos, batteries, things like that. So what it'll do is give staff the opportunity to sort those items out so they don't go into landfill and cause harm to our environment,” Cr Mileto said.

The new general waste area also includes a tyre disposal, recycling bins, and small scrap steel recovery bins.

And, if hazardous material is detected, the contaminated bin can be easily isolated, removed, and replaced, allowing the facility to continue operating safely with minimal disruption.

Managing Director of Contained Waste Solutions and creator of the LBin system, Jason Lacey, said it is not only safer for the community but quicker too.

“They actually reverse over the edge — there are no tyre stops or anything to trip over. They can slide their material off into the LBins… and that means that there's a lot less manual handling for the public. So it's a much safer activity for them and it's also a lot quicker,” Mr Lacey said.

While some initial coaching will be required on what is waste and what can be recovered, Mr Lacey said the system has proved very successful at other waste facilities.

“At a facility in Western Australia, they actually had a 400 per cent increase in their reuse/resale/recovery volumes in the first few months of operation,” Mr Lacey said.

“It caused them a little bit of a challenge because they didn't have a resale shop… because they're recovering so much more reuse material, they are now planning to build their own reuse and resale shop.”

Council received $120,187 in funding for this project from the NSW Environment Protection Authority’s (EPA) Landfill Consolidation and Environmental Improvements Grants Program.

The existing public waste retrieval skip bins, located near the Resource Recovery Shop, will remain in use for small trucks and tipper trailers. Two bays will continue to accept mixed waste, with the remaining two bays dedicated to cardboard and mixed recyclables.