Maitland City Council says it is all above board.

Council has commissioned an audit of residential waste as part of its obligations in return for state government grant money that the city receives.

Residents from across the city reported finding people sorting through their bins in the early hours of the morning during the past two weeks.

This raised concern among some, because there had been no prior warning that the audit would be happening.

A council spokeswoman said it was the third time an audit had taken place since 2008.

“The outcomes of the audit help council understand what management systems it should look to in the future that have the greatest impact on the types of waste that is being presented,” she said. 

“It also helps council form targeted education messaging on improving community behaviour in respect to waste generation and management.” 

Council’s development and environment manager David Simm said 220 homes were surveyed during the past two weeks.

He said the audit was designed to help council understand what people were throwing away, so better waste management systems could be introduced.

Mr Simm said people would not be penalised or prosecuted if the investigators discovered that they had not sorted their garbage properly.

“Prior warning was not given so that people didn’t change their behaviour,” he said.  “This is a standard approach to waste auditing particularly in NSW.”