Victorian households set for change after recycling system overhaul

A four-bin system was recently introduced in this Melbourne locale, ahead of a statewide overhaul that will add purple bins for glass to more than a million households. But the move has caused a stink, residents say. HAVE YOUR SAY

Victorians face being hit with higher rubbish charges as all households are forced to sort their waste into four bins in an Australian first.

And general waste bins could be picked up fortnightly, instead of weekly, under the major shake-up of the state’s recycling system.

In Hobsons Bay, where the four-bin system was introduced earlier this month with a fortnightly general waste collection, Altona Meadows mother Linda Rock said bins were overflowing and residents were dumping rubbish at supermarkets.

Her family of five were left with so much rubbish they had filled eight large garbage bags that they had to dispose of in bins at an industrial site.

“It’s causing chaos,” she said. “It’s confusing and unnecessary. No one wants it.”

Linda Rock says the four-bin situation is not working in Hobsons Bay. Picture: Tim Carrafa

In the statewide overhaul, bins for glass will be rolled out to more than a million households across more than 40 local government areas next year.

The remaining councils will transition by 2026. Victorian councils typically have either two or three bins.

Households with only two will also get a green waste bin between 2026 and 2030, taking their total number to four.

Residents have hit out with concerns about where to store their growing number of bins, rising collection costs and overflowing and smelly bins as some councils move to collection general waste fortnightly instead of weekly.

Premier Daniel Andrews said he would not force councils to collect waste weekly, but it was up to councils to “make sure they meet the expectations of their ratepayers”.

He also conceded ratepayers could see councils pass on the cost of increasing their waste collection services.

The government will spend $129 million transforming kerbside recycling, including on purchasing the new bins and educating households with an awareness campaign.

Mr Andrews has pledged that all the new bins would be made from recycled plastic.

Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the move to overhaul Victoria’s recycling system was about “doing more with less materials” and creating jobs.

Municipal Association of Victoria deputy president Cr Ruth Gstrein welcomed the move but said: “It will be critical to provide councils with funding and implementation support as well as time frames that enable appropriate infrastructure to be put in place.”

The Australian Industry Group’s Victorian head Tim Piper said four bins would reduce recycling contamination but also warned it could lead to “higher costs and higher council rates or fewer bin pick-ups or some other unintended consequence”.

Premier Daniel Andrews at a Spotswood home where the four-bin system is already in place. Picture: AAP

A string of councils surveyed by the Herald Sun yesterday said they were undecided about whether to offer weekly or fortnightly waste collections under the four-bin scheme.

Newport Mother Amelia Eu said Hobsons Bay’s recycling scheme was “a really good initiative”, despite “some teething problems”.

Couple Andrea McDonald and Glen Baird said they were left dealing with the stench from the build-up of nappies.

Special arrangements will be put in place for apartment residents and some rural households.

A new government authority will also be created to ensure Victorians receive a “basic standard of service” on waste.

Further plans will be unveiled this week to create new uses for recycled materials, with extra cash also expected for resource recovery infrastructure projects. Mr Andrews refused to answer questions about that yesterday, after the industry had been dogged by dangerous waste stockpiles, facility fires, financial troubles and rogue operators.

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THE CASE FOR — NICHOLAS ABERLE

Bring on the bins!

Some of us are a bit rubbish when it comes to recycling, but most Victorians try to do the right thing — nobody wants to be a wally with waste. Having four bins will help make it much clearer what needs to go where on bin night.

I remember helping dad tie up newspapers and crush cans in a separate box for bin night 25 years ago, so a small effort to keeping different materials separate isn’t a new phenomenon in Melbourne.

Keeping materials separated from the start means less landfill and less contamination of recyclables. Food scraps can be converted into compost and fertiliser — a quarter of Victorian councils are already doing this.

And it will be easier to create new industries that can use recyclables as their starting materials. That means less need to damage the environment just to get more raw materials.

Not sure where the extra bins will go? Aim to produce so little waste that you can share with a neighbour.

Also, we need to remember the problem with recycling isn’t that China stopped taking our waste. It is that we have been producing too much waste in the first place. Australians generate more waste than people in almost all other countries.

And you know what? There are plenty of other countries where they have four bins (sometimes more), and they seem to manage just fine. C’mon Victorians, surely we can recycle with the best of them!

— Dr Nicholas Aberle is Environment Victoria’s campaigns manager

THE CASE AGAINSE — EVAN MULHOLLAND

The Andrews Government’s announced statewide move to four colour-coded rubbish bins is a waste of time, money and space.

Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio is conscripting every citizen to become an unpaid rubbish sorter.

Many Victorians just don’t have the room to store yet another bin.

Those Victorians with small townhouses and
one-car garages hardly have enough space to store their existing bins.

Adding an extra one will increase costs to ratepayers by an extra 25 per cent, which means higher rates.

If the aim of this policy is environmental, then that’s an additional diesel garbage truck polluting the neighbourhood every
week.

The median value of a square metre of land in Melbourne is more than $1100. The cost of storing an extra bin will waste $253 worth of land per household, on average — even more in the inner city.

Ms D’Ambrosio said the government was making waste collection an essential service.

But with council rates soaring to record highs, all it is doing is foisting this “essential” responsibility on ratepayers.

A new Dynata poll commissioned by the IPA and released last week found 66 per cent of Australians think local councils should stick to roads, rates and rubbish.

Only 10 per cent disagree. Yet apparently councils can’t even do rubbish properly.

— Evan Mulholland is director of communications at the Institute of Public Affairs

LAST TO LIFT LID ON RECYCLING

Victoria will be the last state in Australia to introduce a container deposit scheme but the government has not made any decisions on how it will work.

After opposing a cash-for-cans scheme for years, Premier Daniel Andrews announced yesterday his government would bring Victoria into line with other jurisdictions by 2023.

“As part of a comprehensive package, we think the time for a CDS is now,” he said.

Mr Andrews promised “detailed consultation” to design the scheme, with the government yet to decide what sorts of containers would be collected, how much people would receive per container, and what collection arrangements would be needed.

“There’s lots of models. Some states have got charity partners who do that, other states have vending machine arrangements,” Mr Andrews said.

“We’ll try to pick the best elements of all the different schemes and build our own, but only after we’ve had detailed consultation with councils, those industries involved in the end use … together with those in the waste and recycling business.”

Victorians will soon have to sort their rubbish into four bins. Picture: AAP

In NSW, people receive a 10 cent refund for returning products including cans and glass bottles, with collection points including 800 reverse vending machines operated by Tomra.

“The best container deposit schemes around the world use an extensive network of collection points at super­markets and retail centres,” Tomra’s Markus Fraval said.

Victorian Waste Management Association chief Peter Anderson said households would need to adjust, but that it would “dramatically increase the amount of waste that gets recycled and, conversely, reduce how much we send to landfill”. Australian Beverages Council chief Geoff Parker supported a system “aligned with the other well-run schemes”.

The Australian Industry Group’s Victorian head Tim Piper said the scheme needed to be designed properly, warning consumers would “pay more and get less back and it may undermine the recycling system”.

Mr Andrews said it was “interesting” some groups were already predicting the price of beverages would rise when specifics of the scheme had not been decided.

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