Bin police cracking down on Melburnians’ recycling habits

Instead of increasing collection services, this council is asking residents to resolve waste overflow with this quick fix— which could become a health and safety issue.

Inner-city rubbish bins will be checked to see if the lids are down and if residents are flattening their cardboard waste.

Yarra Council, which includes Collingwood, Fitzroy and Richmond, said that a rise in online shopping and more people staying home during the pandemic had created a huge demand for cardboard recycling.

“The kerbside system was not designed to cope with the volumes of cardboard now flowing in and out of some households, however this issue can be resolved by following several relatively simple processes,” a management report stated.

But Yarra will not change its current fortnightly recycling collection service to weekly, instead launching a move to change bin behaviour.

“Collection crews will carry a bin tag, which will be placed on bins with lids up or material beside bins after the bins have been emptied,” the report, to be considered by councillors at a meeting on Tuesday, states.

“The tags will encourage residents to try flattening recycling … or to request a larger recycling bin.”

But Yarra councillor Stephen Jolly said the council was trying to blame residents for its own mistakes, and should revert to weekly recycling collections.

Residents in Abbotsford have previously voiced their frustration at fortnightly collection. Picture: David Geraghty

“They’re telling people to jump up and down on containers and cans like kangaroos, it’s crazy,” he said.

“It could become a health and safety issue.”

A Yarra spokeswoman said the council had recently voted 7-2 to retain fortnightly collections for recycling, as was the practice in 72 other Victorian municipalities.

“We acknowledge that adjusting to change takes time, and we have been meeting residents across the municipality to listen, provide information and one-on-one advice,” she said.

“This ongoing support includes upsizing residents’ bins for free, opportunities to engage with our waste team … including visits to apartment blocks, and providing resources and information to help residents adjust to the new system.”

The move is the latest in the council’s Yarra Waste Revolution program. The council commissioned Collingwood consultants Ellis Jones to sell the message to residents.

The $110,000 cost of the communications advice and analysis was mostly paid for by a grant from Sustainability Victoria.

The report said it tried to educate residents to change their behaviour and properly sort and clean recyclable material.

Ellis Jones director Melinda Scaringi was appointed to the council-funded Yarra Energy Foundation in December.

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