Greater Shepparton City Council will be making changes to its kerbside waste collection service following the introduction of the State Government's Waste and Recycling Policy.
These changes include further measures to divert waste from landfill, increase the recovery of glass and other recyclable material, as well as additional recovery of compostable material currently going into the red lid bin.
Currently, 70 per cent of what is going in the red lid bin is made up of recyclable products, food waste and garden organics. By increasing the frequency of the green lid bin to weekly residents will be able to increase their diversion of food and garden waste from landfill, saving money in landfill levies.
Following extensive community consultation earlier this year, Council endorsed changes to the current kerbside collection model at the July Council Meeting to align with the State Government's policy that was released in February 2020. The policy has a number of targets:
- All Victorian residents must have a separate glass disposal service by 2027
- 80 per cent of landfill waste diversion by 2030. Council is currently diverting around 54 per cent
- Standardisation of bin items which considers glass as a contaminant for the rest of the comingle recyclables
- Discourage landfill waste generation by doubling the EPA landfill levy
In recent years, the recycling cost has increased significantly (over $1.5 million) and glass contamination has been identified as one of the major problems which reduces the commodity price of recyclable comingle items. With the increased EPA landfill levy, Council will have to spend an additional $1 million annually on the red lid bin service if this change is not made.
"It is important that we all make an effort to reduce landfill waste generation and work together to increase waste diversions. This will not only be good for the environment but also provide significant financial benefits for the community in the long run," Mayor, Councillor Shane Sali said.
In order to comply with the State Government's policy, Council will introduce a fourth bin (purple lid). This bin will be collected monthly, with the following changes also made to the red and green bin collections:
- Food organics and garden organics bin to be collected weekly (green lid)
- Landfill bin to be collected fortnightly (red lid)
- Recycling collection to remain fortnightly (yellow lid) – alternate week to the landfill bin
- Glass bin (purple lid) to be collected monthly
Cr Sali said removing glass from the recycling (yellow lid) bin and changing the frequency of the current bins would reduce the amount of contamination and ensure Council met the State Government's targets, but also reduce the cost to the resident.
"EPA levies are increasing at 20 per cent per tonne annually, which is more than double what they were three years ago. This is driving the cost of the red lid bin higher and higher," he said.
"In order to minimise the cost to the resident and promote a more circular economy, the change in the collection frequency of the red lid bin to fortnightly and the green lid bin to weekly needs to occur."
Following extensive bin audits, Council understands that the contamination rate of the red lid bin is exceptionally high, with 53 per cent contamination from food and garden waste and a further 17 per cent contamination of recyclable items.
"If we are able to encourage residents to redirect the right thing to the right bins, then the red lid bin will be able to have the capacity to be collected fortnightly," Cr Sali said.
"The introduction of a fourth bin – the glass bin – will also ensure residents have better access and ability to dispose of glass from their homes. This extra bin will help reduce contamination and ensure higher value for the rest of the recyclable items in our yellow lid bins.
"Glass often breaks when placed in the bin and when it mixes with the other recyclable items it makes it very difficult to recover the glass, while at the same time it contaminates the other recyclables such as paper and cardboard."
Cr Sali said this state-wide initiative would see the alignment of kerbside waste systems, so that no matter where you live in Victoria the red, yellow, green and purple lid bins will all be used uniformly across the state.
"Overall, the kerbside transition plan is expected to provide multiple benefits in regards to economic, environmental and regulatory targets," he said.
"It is a learning process for us too as Councillors and ratepayers, and we will be walking through the transition and education process alongside the community. This is why we requested more time on the transition plan to ensure we all were educated on the changes being proposed."
Council will now focus on providing targeted and comprehensive waste-education information for all residents, between now and the proposed introduction of these changes which is yet to be confirmed. A report will also be presented to Council, no later than the December Council Meeting, outlining the proposed transition and roll out process, along with the community education which will be undertaken to ensure an easy and successful transition.
