Former council staff member Garry Stoll recently penned a letter to the editor, which was printed in The Irrigator, saying it was "both disappointing and concerning that the first priority of the draft Leeton Shire Council Waste Management Strategy is to impose a charge for all domestic waste taken to the Leeton Landfill".

He said the draft strategy argued that new charges are needed to drive behavioural change in Leeton residents by making them separate their waste at the landfill to reduce or prevent the charges they may have to pay. Mr Stoll said council had never charged for general domestic waste at any of it landfills.

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In a statement to The Irrigator, council has now refuted statements Mr Stoll made in his letter.

"It's important to always work with the full facts," the statement said.

"The average reserve amount quoted in Mr Stoll's letter for waste management is based on figures from only half the councils in NSW - 42 per cent of which are metropolitan councils who generally do not own and operate their own landfills.

"Leeton shire is in the process of improving its management disciplines for solid waste including the development of a well considered waste management strategy (the first ever for Leeton Shire Council), a landfill asset management plan and closure plans for three sites across the shire."

Council said it was committed to ensuring domestic waste charges do not exceed the reasonable cost of providing services.

"Equally, (council) is committed to driving re-use and recycling and ... diversion from landfill," the statement said.

"We all know it's the right thing to do."

According to the Office of Local Government, council's environmental spend, which includes solid waste, for the 2019 financial year was $231.80 per capita. Similar sized councils averaged $295 per capita.

You can read Mr Stoll's letter in full here.