Media Response Leader News Bin Collection
Published on 03 February 2022
Quote Attributable Mayor Stuart James
Monash Council is committed to a more sustainable waste collection that works for residents and is better for the environment.
We all know that the amount of landfill we are generating is unsustainable and we need to take immediate steps to reduce this.
We also know that more than 50% of landfill is food and organics waste, which is why we introduced a food waste recycling service in July 2020. It’s now time to build on its success by improving our collection cycles.
From August 2022, we will be collecting food and garden waste weekly and general rubbish fortnightly. There are many Councils who have already made this change and we’ve learned from some of their experiences.
There are so many great benefits with food scraps going in food and garden waste bins:
- reduces amount of waste going to landfill
- decreases greenhouse gas emissions
- lowers the impact of climate change.
There’s no additional cost for residents, no changes to the day of the week their bin is picked up and we’ll still collect recycling bins each fortnight.
Annual landfill levies are rising steeply every year, they have almost doubled in the past three years. Whilst we won’t save money by diverting waste from landfill, we will avoid massive increases in what we do need to pay by reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill.
We know change can be hard. That’s why we want to hear from the community over the next eight weeks to make sure we can support all residents now and into the future. We’ve already had some terrific feedback over the past few days which we’re currently working through.
We’ll be communicating with all our residents further over the next few months to address these concerns, and to educate them further about alternative options to using the red landfill bins. Residents can provide feedback on how we can support them transition to the new service by visiting monash.vic.gov.au/food-waste.
We recognise the change to fortnightly landfill collections may be challenging for families using disposable nappies. Nappies generate large amounts of methane, a damaging greenhouse gas, so we are in discussions regarding re-usable nappies and nappy recycling with trials being arranged when bin collections change. Part of the feedback we’re seeking over the next eight weeks is to find the best way to support parents using nappies.
If residents would more information on the project or to take part they can visit shape.monash.vic.gov.au/reusable-nappies