Residents are now being asked how much they are prepared to pay for a recycling bin pickup service in the town which was part of the deal which council agreed to pay for

The survey, released by council yesterday, suggests $450 extra a year, or $540 or $720 annually.

Residents pay an annual fee of $360 through rates for the current green bin collection.

The kerbside recycling service was a clause of the 10-year deal the council signed with the EPA and made public last month.

The deal was struck so council could avoid legal action over the illegal tyre dump in the town which caught fire on Territory Day last year.

It also emerged that individual aldermen could have been part of the legal action as well if it had proceeded.

Council has already paid for an air monitoring station at the sportsgrounds, at a cost council documents state is $200,000.

Council has never released any costings on what the deal will cost the community over the next decade.

In its only public statement on the issue, released on October 1, council said it was "very pleased" with the agreement and believed "this has been a win-win for all concerned".

"The agreement requires council to develop a number of programs that will address a range of waste management matters and challenges and will make Katherine a more environmentally friendly place to live in," the statement read.

"Council has agreed to fund the programs aimed at delivering improved environmental outcomes for the Katherine region ... ."

Council also agreed to develop a waste management strategy and submit it to the EPA for approval.

It must also provide the EPA a report each year showing the strategy is being delivered.

It has hired Darwin firm, True North Strategic Communication, to ask residents their "ideas, attitudes and behaviours towards waste management".

Key to that consultation was the release yesterday of an online survey which asks residents how could better manage waste.

You can complete that survey here.

The EPA agreement reads: "Katherine Town Council has agreed to fund programs aimed at delivering improved environmental outcomes for the Katherine region ... "

Council says it wants to "better understand how Katherine residents and businesses manage their waste and want to hear their thoughts on how this can be better managed over the next ten years".

Deputy Mayor Peter Gazey said more could be done to increase resource recovery in Katherine.

"A small portion of our waste in Katherine goes to recycling streams which is significantly lower than most Australian cities and we must do better, we need to look for other viable ways to reduce landfill.

"As a community we need to manage our waste better to ensure our town is a liveable and vibrant place now and into the future," he said.

Consultation is open until November 10.

As part of the strategy, the council already agreed with the EPA to include "resource recovery and recycling such as improving source separation, rationalising the management and use of existing waste facilities, implementing use of kerbside recycling, increasing diversion of food and garden organics, sourcing alternate waste treatment opportunities, reviewing efficiency improvements to KTC recycling and waste arrangement services, influencing waste behaviour of commercial enterprises".

"Council shall provide an annual financial year report to the NT EPA on the progress of action items contained in the waste management strategy, to be submitted to the NT EPA by 31 July of every year for the life of the waste management strategy."

The EPA has directed the council "the waste management strategy must be developed by a suitably qualified environmental consultant specialising in waste management strategies/plans".

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