As apartment and strata living becomes more common, waste disposal has become more of an issue. Nobody enjoys having, seeing or smelling rubbish near their living spaces, which means that all residents should follow the proper protocol when it comes to rubbish disposal. We often see conflicts arise between tenants as a result of improper waste disposal, so it’s crucial that strata management has clear and efficient waste management systems in place.
What are the laws around waste disposal?
According to Schedule 2 of the Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2010, all owners and occupiers of a lot must follow a set of rules when it comes to garbage disposal.
If you DO have shared receptacles for waste:
You must ensure your waste is securely wrapped, drained, separated and prepared in accordance with the applicable waste and recycling guidelines. You are responsible for cleaning up any waste or spillage that may occur when you are transferring your rubbish to the shared receptacles.
If you do NOT have shared receptacles for waste:
You must maintain rubbish receptacles within your lot, ensuring it is securely wrapped, drained, separated and prepared in accordance with the applicable waste and recycling guidelines. After this, you must place your bins in the designated rubbish collection area no more than 12 hours before rubbish collection time, and promptly return it to your property after collection.
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What happens to waste left in common areas?
According to Schedule 2, owners and occupiers may not dispose of their waste on common property unless they have the prior written approval of the owners corporation. If the waste includes perishable goods, the owners corporation may dispose of this without any notice. For all other items, they remove the goods after issuing a disposal notice which includes a description of the goods, the date and time the notice was issued, the date and time the goods will be moved from the common property, and contact details of a member of the strata committee.
The owners corporation is allowed to either move the offending goods to another area, throw them away, or sell them (and put the proceeds of the sale into the administrative fund).
Be considerate of others
When living in a strata property, it is important that you are sensitive and considerate of your effect on your neighbours and those around you. Leaving a mess in common areas and rubbish disposal areas may breach your strata’s by-laws, and you may receive warnings of fines as a result of repeat offences.
Do you have concerns about waste disposal and management on your strata property? Get in touch with our team today for more information on our range of body corporate services or explore our document bank for more information.
