For seven months residents of a St Kilda apartment block have been woken by the deafening noise of glass crashing from a Container Deposit Scheme reverse vending machine (RVM), which turned up metres outside their home with no notice.
The machines fall in a grey zone within planning controls, which means they don’t require a permit, no notice is given to nearby residents and there are no formal avenues for them to object.
St Kilda residents Grant (left) and Melissa Munday and Rocco Sorace say every authority has handballed the issue of the noisy container deposit machine.Credit: Penny Stephens
The reverse vending machine – which is the size of a shipping container – arrived in a private car park at 1 Belford Street in St Kilda in July last year after the landowners signed a lease agreement to host the state government initiative.
The RVM allows people to return empty bottles and cans to receive 10 cent refunds. It is the most popular drop-off point in St Kilda – with 420,179 containers returned since it was installed – far more than Grosvenor Hotel (84,915), Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron (29,662) and Dick Whittington Hotel (86,145).
The Belford residents who live on the fourth floor of a building overlooking the car park told The Age they were supporters of recycling and the scheme – but that the 7am noise of the pick-ups three mornings a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) was badly disrupting their home lives.
“It is so noisy – the glass falling into the back of the truck,” says Melissa Munday, who bought into the apartment complex on Belford Street six years ago with her husband Grant.
“Our bedrooms are literally not 10 metres from that. It’s almost a joke, almost a comedy on TV.”
Munday lives in one of about 15 apartments that overlook the Belford Street car park, which is privately owned and operated by a car park company. The whole area is zoned as “special purpose”, and Port Phillip Council told The Age the legislation around the scheme meant there was no planning permit required for a landholder to place one on their property.
“There was no consultation whatsoever, it just arrived one day,” said Munday. “It could be right outside your house – it could happen to anybody.”
For seven months residents have complained to Return-It (the operator of the reverse vending machine), VicReturn (the Victorian government’s agency that runs the scheme), Port Phillip Council, state MP Nina Taylor and federal MP Josh Burns.
Return-It recently moved to picking up from 8am onwards, but resident Shirin Jacobs, who has a seven-week-old baby, says even the later pick-ups are disruptive.
An aerial image of Belford Street, St Kilda shows the distance between a residential apartment building and the reverse vending machine.Credit: NearMap
“We liked to leave the balcony open for fresh air in the past. It’s really, really loud,” she said. “It’s way too noisy having a newborn – especially emptying out bottles ... It startles [my daughter] and wakes her up.”
A spokeswoman for Return-It said the scheme was “committed to minimising any potential impact on the local community” but would not state whether it would move the unit.
“We adhere to the General Environmental Duty, which requires businesses to take all reasonable steps to reduce environmental and amenity impacts. This is regulated by the EPA [Environment Protection Authority], and based on previous assessments following complaints, Return-It has been deemed compliant,” a spokeswoman said.
An internal council email seen by The Age noted Return-It had requested the unit be put in the Palais Theatre car park, 450 metres away, instead, but that idea was rejected by council officers.
A council spokeswoman said “recycling depot” was not an allowed use of the Palais land, but Return-It said the Palais car park “had potential planned future developments so was deemed unsuitable by council and the process of securing the site required Crown land approval [and] did not align with scheme timelines”.
Port Phillip Council flagged it was looking for alternative locations to offer Return-It, but that ultimately it had no control over the private company.
“We empathise with the affected residents and are continuing to assess and raise potential locations with Return-It and to advocate for a resolution to residents’ concerns,” Mayor Louise Crawford said in a statement.
“It would also require the landlord of the existing RVM site to agree to an exit from any current contractual arrangements that may be in place for the existing RVM.”
Return-It refused to reveal the value and length of the lease agreement with the car park owner, citing commercial confidentiality for the state-run scheme.
A spokesman from the office of Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos, who is responsible for the scheme, said the change in the collection time was sufficient action.
“The site provides important services for the local community, with over 420,000 containers returned since it commenced operation, and we will continue working with local communities to ensure they can enjoy the benefits with minimal disruptions,” he said.
But resident Rocco Sorace said politicians and agencies were “passing the buck”.
“Surely there’s a solution,” he said. “Imagine if their bedroom was right next to one?”
Taylor referred questions to the environment minister, and Burns did not respond to request for comment.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.