Baw Baw Shire Council has voted to continue fortnightly red general rubbish bin and weekly FOGO bin collections.
A Notice of Motion was raised by Cr Danny Goss at the August Council Meeting, requesting Council Officers to provide a report detailing the costs and implications of returning to a weekly collection of the red general rubbish bin in Baw Baw Shire.
Cr Goss raised the Notice of Motion in response to community feedback received after the change in frequency of collection for the red general rubbish bin and green Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) bin, which coincided with the introduction of the FOGO program.
A petition, with 6139 signatories (3997 of which are from Baw Baw Shire), in support of reverting back to a weekly red general rubbish bin collection was also tabled at the August Council Meeting.
In July this year, Council introduced FOGO.
Under this new program, residents can now place their food scraps in the green FOGO bin alongside their garden clippings.
A Special Consideration Program (SCP) was also introduced to provide support, for those with exceptional waste needs, following this change.
The eligibility categories are for households that create additional waste from the following:
- Medical condition and/or disability
- Two (or more) children in nappies
- Large family, experiencing financial hardship
If you fall into one of the above categories, the SCP will provide an additional 120L general rubbish bin for free.
Alternatively, you can request an upgrade to a 240L, if you would prefer to have only one red general rubbish bin.
Baw Baw Shire Mayor Councillor Kate Wilson said Council had voted to maintain the fortnightly red general rubbish bin collections and weekly FOGO collections.
“Council acknowledges the concerns that have been raised and will consider what more we can do to support our community to navigate the change.
“The facts are, returning to a weekly red bin collection would increase Council’s contractual costs by approximately $173,000 per annum, in addition to passing on an increased waste charge to every household, whether they need the additional service or not.
“It would be premature for Council to incur these costs with a forthcoming State Government election that may cause a change to waste policy mandates,” Cr Wilson said.
“The amount of waste we currently send to landfill is unsustainable; diverting unnecessary waste from the red bin is one key way to reduce landfill costs and the change in collection frequency is the most effective way to improve diversion rates.
“Over the last two months, Baw Baw Shire has reduced the amount of waste we are sending to landfill by 44 per cent, compared to the 25/26 Financial Year average.
“This shows the program is working and we are now better managing significant amounts of waste that was previously sent to landfill.”
Baw Baw Shire Council wants to remind residents there is also free recycling for soft plastics, textiles, and polystyrene at Council’s four Transfer Stations, including Lardner, Trafalgar, Erica and Neerim South.
Accepted soft plastics include shopping bags, bubble wrap, bread bags, biscuit packets, confectionary packets and frozen food bags.
Council is also currently investigating a bin latch trial program to assist residents in keeping bin lids closed.
Bin latches are easy to install and stop the lid from opening to prevent waste escaping or animals opening the lid, but don’t impair truck tipping.
