Council’s current waste strategy ‘Don’t Waste It! Waste Management Strategy 2022-25’ is due to expire and we need to write a new one. Before we do that, it is important to engage with our community to help shape future services.

The state government is also reforming how waste services are delivered across the state and this impacts Port Phillip.

• When food and garden material break down in a landfill, they produce harmful greenhouse gases like methane which contribute to global warming.

• Landfills can also cause water pollution when harmful chemicals and landfill bi products leach into surrounding groundwater.

• We are running out of landfill space. Victoria’s current landfills are expected to be full by 2038.

• It is cheaper to process recycling and FOGO material which in turn is cheaper for residents.

Contamination occurs when unrecyclable materials end up in the FOGO bin or mixed recycling bin. If the contamination is high enough it might result in the whole contents of the bin going to landfill. It costs more money to send waste to landfill and is worse for the environment.

Yes, FOGO material is collected and transported to our processor Repurpose It’s facility in Epping. The FOGO material is sorted, and contamination removed. The eligible material is then recycled and turned into valuable compost to be used in Victorian parks and gardens.

Mixed recycling is collected and transported to Cleanaway’s Material Recycling facility. Contaminants are detected and removed. Recyclable plastic, glass, paper and cardboard is recycled into new plastic, glass and paper products.

The provision of a four-stream waste service (FOGO, mixed recycling, glass and landfill) has been mandated by the State Government in The Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021 (The CE Act). The CE Act aims to standardise waste services across the state, making it easier for people to sort materials at home. The separation of household waste into the four streams increases the volume and quality of materials that can be recycled. That way we can get more value from precious resources and reduce waste sent to landfill.

The proposed service standard details how Council is to provide the four streams and determines the materials accepted in each stream. They also outline the auditing process and potential infringements for not acting in accordance with the standard.

The State Government has decided that all councils must provide a kerbside glass service to residents by 1 July 2027. From this date, glass will also become a contaminant in household kerbside recycling bins. It is likely that eligible properties will receive a kerbside glass bin.

• To reduce contamination. When glass is broken in the recycling bin, it spoils the paper, cardboard and plastic, making them harder to recycle.

• To improve glass recycling. Glass collected separately from other recycling is easier to recover. It allows more recovery of glass for recycling and reduces the use of virgin materials, making the most of limited natural resources. 

• It is safer. Keeping glass separate from other recycling reduces the risk to waste collection staff. 

• To support local manufacturing businesses.

• To improve circular economy processes such as reduced environmental impact while more productively using natural resources.

There are several pieces of legislation/associated guidelines attached to this. They are:

• The Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021

• Household Waste and Recycling Service Standard 2024

• Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) (Mandatory Service Provision and Other Matters) Regulations 2024

It is likely to either be an 80 or 120L purple lidded wheelie bin.

Other councils generally collect their glass bins every four weeks. We are not sure what this would look like once glass becomes a contaminant in the recycling bins.

Most of the communal glass hubs will remain. Some of them may move to a different location based on usage data. The ones remaining will be made more permanent (with bin surrounds and permanent signage). 

It is likely that all households that have a FOGO bin will receive a glass bin. Houses and townhouses will receive an individual bin and most apartment buildings will share a bin on their property.

The proposed service standards states that councils have to provide the service unless it is not ‘reasonably practicable.’ The definition of ‘not reasonably practicable’ is:

• a household does not have appropriate onsite space for bin infrastructure, or

• a collection vehicle cannot access the kerbside of the household;

We understand from Recycling Victoria that most properties that receive a kerbside service in Port Phillip will be considered suitable to receive a glass service, but until the Service Standards are confirmed we cannot be sure.

From 1 July 2027 recyclable glass will become a contaminant in the mixed recycling bin. This means that all the glass currently in your yellow bin will need to go in the glass bin. Even if you don’t have a glass bin, you will not be able to put your glass in the yellow bin the way you do now.

It will not apply to your building at the same time; however we expect it to apply to all residential buildings in the next few years.

From our 2024 municipal wide waste audits we know that 35% of a kerbside garbage bin is FOGO material and 14% recycling. If these materials are put in the right bin, the landfill bin should not be full.

Bins generally smell. We know from the other councils that have moved to f/n garbage that pests and smell do not increase with a f/n collection.

If you dispose of all your food waste in the FOGO bin (which will remain on weekly collection) the smell of your garbage bin can even lessen.

Council has not decided to move to a f/n service. Looking at other Councils who have f/n garbage their standard option is generally 120L or 140L with an option to upsize.

• We are running out of landfill space. Victoria’s current landfills are expected to be full by 2038.

• Saves ratepayers money as it reduces collection and landfill costs. It is more expensive to send waste to landfill. Council pays a landfill levy (set by the State Gov) which increases every year. The increase in these costs is then passed onto the ratepayer through the waste charge.

• It is cheaper to process recycling and FOGO material which in turn is cheaper for residents. This encourages residents to use the correct bin.

• One less bin on the street each week.

• 26 Vic councils have a f/n garbage collection.

• This includes metro councils like Banyule, Bayside, Boroondara, Glen Eira, Knox, Manningham, Monash, Nillumbik and Yarra Ranges.

The diversion rate is the percentage of the total waste stream that is correctly recycled.

We use the diversion rate to track how much FOGO and mixed recycling is correctly recycled and not sent to landfill. As we correctly recycle more items the diversion rate will increase.

Typically, diversion rates increase when councils move to a fortnightly garbage collection as there is less space in their landfill bin. Residents are more likely to correctly sort waste into each bin.

Our neighbours in Glen Eira moved to a fortnightly garbage collection in mid-2021 and Bayside moved to one in 2023.

Glen Eira’s diversion rate significantly increased from 49.1% in (2020/2021) to 61.9% in 2021/2022). Similarly, Bayside’s diversion rate increased from 59.3% in (2021/2022) to 71.1% in (2022/2023). Stonnington, like us have a weekly garbage collection and like us, they have a lower diversion rate of 40.6% (2023/24). Our diversion rate is slightly lower at 37.4% (2023/2024).

Kerbside collection waste diverted from landfill

(sourced from Know Your Council comparison dashboard | vic.gov.au)

If we were to introduce f/n garbage there would be exemptions for those who require a larger garbage bin for households with large families, children in nappies and medical waste. Remember that no decision has been made on moving to f/n garbage.

A circular economy moves us away from a linear mindset – take, use and throw away. Instead, it focuses on opportunities to reduce the environmental impacts of production and consumption through promoting reuse, recovery and recycling of materials.

The idea behind a circular economy is that materials never become waste, and products and materials are kept in circulation. This involves maintenance, reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing, recycling and composting.

It’s good for the environment. A circular economy reduces the use of virgin materials, destruction of natural resources and can reduce total annual greenhouse gas emissions. It also encourages innovation to reuse, refurbish and remanufacture materials.