Bayside Council considers fortnightly household waste collections

BAYSIDE council is considering collecting residents’ household bins every fortnight and wants residents to dispose of food waste in green recycling bins to cut the amount of rubbish going into landfill.

BAYSIDE council is considering collecting residents’ household bins every fortnight in a planned shake-up of its waste services.

The inner-south council wants residents to put their food waste into green recycling bins to cut the amount of rubbish going into landfill.

Mayor Laurence Evans said food waste filled up nearly half of household bins.

COLES TO CUT FOOD WASTE GOING TO LANDFILL

VICTORIAN HOUSEHOLDS BIN $5.4BN OF FOOD A YEAR

ARE WE RUBBISH AT RECYCLING?

Bayside Mayor Laurence Evans says food waste fills up nearly half our bins.

“If we can reduce and recycle our food waste, we will be well on our way to reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill,” Cr Evans said.

It’s believed a fortnightly household collection would be the first of its kind in Melbourne.

The council has launched its draft recycling and waste strategy after consulting with 1800 residents earlier this year.

Putting food waste in the garden waste or red lid wheelie bin would start from next July. Residents who don’t have the red-lid service will have to pay $100 for a bin.

Glen Eira mayor Tony Athanasopoulos said the council aimed to divert up to 15,000 tonnes of food waste currently sent to landfill each year.

The council would also provide kitchen mini-bins free. This food and garden waste would be turned into compost for use in neighbourhood parks and gardens.

The reduction in food waste is expected to lead to changing the frequency of bin collections. If approved, fortnightly collections would begin after the council’s contracts expire in 2022-23.

The moves come after the neighbouring Glen Eira council introduced food scrap collection into its fortnightly green waste collection service from May 1.

Glen Eira mayor Tony Athanasopoulos said the council aimed to divert up to 15,000 tonnes of food waste currently sent to landfill each year.

“Around one in five bags of food we buy is uneaten and ends up in the bin,’’ he said.

Councils across Victoria have been scrambling to revise their rubbish collection contracts since China stopped importing most of Australia’s waste recycling earlier this year. Cr Evans said the Chinese crackdown meant Australia had to get serious about recycling.

“I get a bit upset when we send all our waste to China. It’s like chucking it to somebody else rather than solving the problem ourselves,’’ he said.

The state government has already pumped in $37 million on a range of measures including a public education campaign, improved recycling processes and a push for government departments to buy more recycled products.

[e-mail]

@IanRoyall