From October 2023, all food waste will be collected together with green waste in a weekly bin collection.

Around 70% of Yarra Ranges residents currently have a green waste bin with a lime-green lid. This bin will become the FOGO bin. This bin will be collected weekly.

The FOGO bin will become part of the standard bins provided to every household across the municipality, together with the rubbish bin and recycling bin.

This collection will take all food waste currently placed into rubbish (regular waste) bins and create compost for horticultural use.

FOGO bins will be collected weekly, to help reduce odour and hygiene concerns, and ensure as much compostable material is collected as possible.

The State Government's Recycling Victoria policy states each household will have access to a FOGO collection provided by their council by 2030. The collection will be introduced in Yarra Ranges in 2023 to align with the start of our new waste contracts.

The 30% of households who currently don’t have a green waste bin will receive a 240L or 120L wheelie bin and the cost will be added to their waste charge.

Rubbish or general waste bins will receive a new red lid (from mid-2023) to align with changes across VIctoria, bringing up into line with the Australian Standard bin lid colours.

Rubbish bin collections will change to fortnightly. Instead the FOGO bins will picked up weekly.

With the introduction of weekly FOGO bins, collection of rubbish bins will change to fortnightly.

This is a re-organisation of collections rather than a reduction in services, to ensure the best possible recovery of recyclable materials, including organics that will be recycled into compost.

There are changes happening to waste collections across the state to put more emphasis on collecting as much material for recycling as possible.

We know from data collected across Victoria that food waste makes up more than 40% of the contents of the average household rubbish bin. Another 10% on average is made up of material that could have been recycled, including plastics and paper.

Data from councils that have already begun a food and garden organics collection demonstrates that twice as much food waste is collected if a weekly food and garden organics bin collection occurs. This is because if bins are collected fortnightly, people are more concerned about odour and hygiene, and are less likely to use the service.

For most households, the other 50% on average is made up of plastics that cant be placed into the household recycling bin, and other items that are not biodegradable, and create less odour. The majority of households should not experience odour or hygiene issues from less frequent collection.

We know that the change to fortnightly rubbish collections will be one of the most challenging aspects of future changes. However, it is one of the most important changes we need to make.

The amount of waste we produce is increasing at record levels. While we are recycling more than ever, we need to keep finding new ways to reduce our waste.

Education will be a big aspect of our work in the lead-up to and during these changes. Council will support residents to review the kinds of waste that they produce, and potential ways to minimise their waste.

Further information will be provided in early 2023, before the introduction of the new changes.

We understand that these changes will be a challenge for some families and households.

Council is still considering the options for larger households. We will provide information in early 2023 about how we can support these households to adjust to the changes.

In 2014, Lake Macquarie City Council conducted a trial of a fortnightly nappy collection with 100 families. The trial showed that the average odour from garbage bins containing nappies was the same after two weeks as it was after one.

Recommendations from families involved in the trial were to double-bag nappy waste and store the bin in a shady position where possible, especially in warmer months, to reduce odour.

Participating families found that nappies made up 30-50% of the contents of a 240L bin after a fortnight, depending on the number of children in nappies.

Yarra Ranges Council is working with other councils across Victoria to determine the best ways to promote and support the use of reusable nappy and sanitary items, either as a full or part replacement of disposable products, depending on the needs of families.

Local options for recycling nappy waste are also being explored.

Further information for residents regarding waste for nappies and sanitary products, including incontinence products will be provided prior to the change over of the service in October 2023.

Waste collection services provided by council are charged to recover the cost of the services provided.

There will be some changes to waste charges over time to cover changes such as changing the rubbish bin lids to red, an extra food and garden organics bin for those who do not yet have them, and the addition of a separate glass collection in 2025/26.

As a community, however, we can minimise increases in costs over time, by reducing the amount of rubbish we create. This, in turn, has the potential to reduce the amount of landfill levy charged to the council.

Also, if we can also get better at recycling and reduce contamination in recycling bins, we can reduct the 'contamination fees' charged to council.

Under the State Government policy, all homes will be required to have four rubbish bins.

Council recognises that this may create storage issues for some households, in particular townhouses, apartments and units. We are still considering the options for multi-dwelling residences and will provide further information in early 2023 about how we can support these households to adjust to the changes.

The state government’s Recycling Victoria policy states that each household will be provided with a glass collection, separate to other recycling items. This is being introduced in response to the recycling industry’s concerns about glass contamination in other recyclables, particularly paper and cardboard.

A Glass Recycling collection will begin in the 2025/26 financial year.

Further information on the Glass Recycling collection will be available in 2024, before the collection starts.