Purple bins for recycling glass coming to all Victorian council areas

More Victorians will soon be able to use a new purple bin to recycle glass, but the state government’s plan to divert waste from landfill hasn’t been without controversy.

New purple bins for recycling glass are on the way for all Victorians, including Williamstown’s Jacob Matray. Picture: Mark Stewart

Every Victorian household will use a fourth bin for recycling glass by 2027.

Joining the red, yellow and green bins, the purple bin will be rolled out across all local government areas over the next five years, with six regional areas already using the glass collection service.

Whittlesea is this month the first metropolitan area to make the transition to a fourth bin, while Frankston is set to implement the glass collection service by 2023.

The state government is also planning to rollout a food and garden organics collection service by 2030.

Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio announced a $1m grant which is to be shared across 15 councils to help them introduce or improve the four bin system.

The cities of Moonee Valley, Moreland and Yarra are among the councils to be awarded funding through the initiative.

Ms D’Ambrosio said the four-stream recycling system will help reduce emissions by 50 per cent by 2030.

The new service will also see 80 per cent of all waste diverted away from landfill, including 20,000 tonnes of glass.

The initiative is set to create 4000 new jobs and boost the state’s economy by up to $6.7bn over the next eight years.

But the introduction of the food and organics collection (FOGO) hasn’t been without controversy, with some councils moving to fortnightly rubbish bin collections, opting to pick up food and garden waste weekly instead, angering many local residents.

Monash and Banyule are among the councils that have moved to picking up rubbish bins once a fortnight instead of weekly, with Knox to make the move next year.

City of Whittlesea residents will soon receive their new purple bin and residents are encouraged to start using the bin as soon as they receive it, ready for the first collection, which is due to begin in early October.

The council said glass recycling bins will be collected once every four weeks, on the same day of the week as the regular bin collection. Information will be sent to all households detailing collection days ahead of the first pick up.

Administrator Peita Duncan said that the addition of glass recycling bins would improve the overall quality of all the recycling that is collected, meaning more of it can be recycled and kept out of landfill.

WHAT CAN BE PLACED INTO THE GLASS RECYCLING BIN:

– glass soft drink, juice, water and milk bottles

– beer, wine and spirit bottles

– sauce, condiments and oil bottles and jars

– medicine bottles

– vitamin and supplement bottles and jars

– bottles and jars from toiletries and cosmetics, such as lotions, gels and creams.