The three-bin system was introduced in July in the Dubbo Regional, Mid-Western Regional and Narromine Shire councils. About 24,000 residents now recycle their organic waste through the service.

Dubbo Regional Council’s manager solid waste Mark Giebel said there had been a 50 per cent reduction in the amount of rubbish going into landfill since the start of the three bins.

In October alone, 950 tonnes of organic waste was collected. Mr Giebel said before the new bin began council had expected only 500 tonnes for the year.

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The level of contamination had also been low, Mr Giebel said. When the new service started, the workers who sort through the rubbish by hand were finding a skip bin full of plastic and unorganic rubbish every day. Now, despite an uptake in the amount of organic waste, the contamination has dropped to one per cent, or one skip bin per week.

Within 12 months the goal is for contamination to be about 0.5 per cent.

Most of the contamination is from plastic, such as bin liners, which cannot be composted. Only the council-supplied liners should be used in the bin. They’re available for free from council.

The next step at the Dubbo Regional Organics Processing Plant is for the waste to be made into compost and sold. The compost will be high in nitrogen and 100 per cent organic.

JR Richards and Sons regional manager Shane Fuller said it took three months from the time someone put their bins out until it was ready-to-use compost.

Once received by the Dubbo Regional Organics Processing Plant, organic waste is hand-sorted to remove any plastic contamination. The waste is then shredded, composted, matured and tested to meet Australian Standards. The final product is screened and wind sifted.

It will be available to buy early in the new year.

Once ready to sell, Mr Fuller said it would most likely be available from the JR Richards depot in Fitzroy Street, as well as through council. Arrangements were also being made for it to be sold in Mudgee.