Under the government target 70 percent of waste should be diverted away from red bin landfill by 2021.

According to figures released by council, the city has a way to go to achieve that target.

In 2016 residents were diverting 45 percent of waste away from red bins.

By 2020 that figure had improved to 58 percent.

However it remained well short of the 70 percent target.

A report to council last week stated "it is clear that many Orange households have room for improvement" when it comes to sorting their rubbish properly.

It added that "fully utilising the [green] bin service rather than disposing of recoverable organic waste in [red bins] will significantly improve resource recovery rates", thus freeing up space in red bins.

Ahead of signing a 10-year NewWaste contract in 2016 council resolved that if the city did not meet the 70 percent target by 2021 it retained "an option to re-negotiate the ... contract within five years to include fortnightly waste collection service frequency to assist in achieving the required 70 percent waste diversion target".

In 2016 council undertook a trial for fortnightly red bin waste collection.

However it proved hugely unpopular with the community and was shelved.

Councillor Jeff Whitton said the trial in 2016 left residents "outraged".

"The community are far more educated now on how to manage their waste with green bins and yellow bins," said Cr Whitton.

"A fortnightly red bin pick up would be a concern to the community."

Meanwhile, data from council also showed that residents have decreased the amount of rubbish thrown away each year.

Since 2015 data collected by the Ophir Road Resource Recovery Centre weighbridge has been analysed to identify patterns and trends in waste behaviours in Orange. In 2016 the amount of rubbish thrown away annually was an average of 1.77 tonnes per person.

By 2020 that was down to 1.35 tonnes.

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