Bendigo Council slims down waste collections

There will soon be a major shake-up of Bendigo’s bin collection schedule. Read why the changes are being made and how it will affect you.

Bendigo bins, the smallest for landfill, the big ones for compost and recycling.

Garbage bin collections will be slashed to twice monthly in Greater Bendigo later this year, down from the current weekly service, as the municipality grapples with a landfill nearing the end of its life.

Mayor Andrea Metcalf said the council would step up its green waste collections to weekly in the hope of diverting kitchen scraps and lawn cuttings to a separate facility.

“Council acknowledges this is a significant shift in how we have traditionally managed waste collection,” she said.

“However following the 2022 waste services review we also know nearly half of what is currently in general waste bins should either be in our recycling or organics bins.

“Our landfill will close this year when it reaches capacity and becomes a transfer station, so we cannot keep going the way we’re going and keep sending waste unnecessarily to landfill when it can be properly recycled or repurposed.”

Bendigo bins: red for household waste, yellow for recycling, green for compost.

Currently, Bendigo residents have their garbage bins collected weekly and recycling and green bins emptied fortnightly. The changes will not affect rural properties, which do not have green bins, for at least 12 months.

Cr Metcalfe said she suspected people avoided using their green bins because the fortnightly collections could make them smell bad.

“At the moment we expect organic waste is ending up in general waste bins because these bins are collected weekly. By making the switch, then this should be less of a problem for households.”

Cr Metcalfe said the municipality was keen to reuse scraps.

“Organic waste is really valuable and can be turned into great compost for use on parks and gardens, instead of rotting in landfill and emitting greenhouse gases,” she said.

“Likewise, household recycling can be turned into other products, extending the life of plastic bottles and containers, paper, aluminium cans and foil, aerosol cans and more.”

The municipality is also under pressure to meet a state government target for all Victorian councils to send zero organic waste to landfill by 2030.

It opened its own soft plastics recycling scheme on January 1 after the supermarkets stopped accepting the items in store.

Residents can find more information about how to dispose of their goods on the council website.