Getting rubbish collection right is one of the fundamental responsibilities of a reliable city council. After all, proper waste management contributes greatly to good hygiene and prevents disease and illness from spreading in a local community.

However, residents of Greater Shepparton, a regional area north of Melbourne, aren't happy after their local council announced a major change to the bin collection system. And the internet is worried this is just the start…

Starting this month, the red-lid bin, which is for general household rubbish, will be collected fortnightly instead of weekly – the same schedule as the yellow-lid recycling bin. While the green-lid bin, which is used for food and garden waste, will now be collected weekly.

Greater Shepparton City Council announced the news on their Facebook page this week.

‘Tatura and Kialla residents, changes are coming to your kerbside bin collection this month,’ the post read.

The council also added a photo to their post detailing the new schedule.

The post was slammed by the residents of Greater Shepparton. Credit: Facebook

However, the post was met with fury from its residents – with many saying they were against the idea.

‘So, what if you are renting and have a small red lid bin?’ One asked.

While another stated: ‘Do we just throw our garbage bags on the kerbside when the small bin gets full in the first week? This is just ridiculous!’

‘The council has this all wrong. Just leave it the way it is. Why change something that isn't broken?’ Someone added.

Another resident labelled the change as ‘the most idiotic thing the council has come up with’.

While others pointed out some obvious issues with the change of collection. ‘Going to be a lot of smelly nappies in the red bins now if only being collected every two weeks,’ someone shared.

Some people claimed there will be ‘a lot of waste on the road’. Another added that they hope the council hires more people to clean the rubbish up.

‘It’s going to be disgusting,’ one declared.

But what prompted this change?

According to the Greater Shepparton Council’s website, the Victorian government is standardising household recycling and waste services across the state. They also claimed that the collection frequency change will help ‘reduce green waste’ such as food and garden organics, and contamination in the red bin, which is currently around 53 per cent.

The changes will be carried out from March 16 in Kialla with other suburbs to follow. Then, the new collection times will start in Tatura from March 22 and the remainder of Greater Shepparton from late 2023 onwards.

The council said the schedule change was in line with the Victorian government’s plan to reduce green waste contamination. Credit: Greater Shepparton Council

The website also provided some interim solutions to the problems raised by the community members. According to them, if a resident has a ‘large amount of nappies’ or medical waste to dispose of, they will have to consider upsizing their bin.

‘Please get in touch with the Resource Recovery Team to discuss your options via email [email protected] or call 5832 9700,’ the website read.

For rural property owners without a green bin, the council stated that they are still looking into options.

This change aligns with the Victorian government’s targets to divert 80 per cent of waste from landfill by 2030.

In line with this announcement, a new purple-lidded bin, which is designated for glass, is set to join the other three. Some Victorian councils rolled out these bins last year, and it is expected that the rest of the state will have them by 2024.

This four-bin system is part of the Victorian government’s plan to standardise household recycling and waste services across the state. To comply with the new Recycling and Waste Policy, local councils must introduce the purple-lid bin to improve the diversion of glass waste from landfill.

According to the Greater Shepparton Council’s website, the purple-lid bins will be collected monthly. Its capacity is 120L, which is about the size of a medium-sized bin. Moreover, this addition is compulsory for all residents to have. Rural property owners will also receive a purple bin when the rollout occurs.

Australian Council of Recycling CEO Suzanne Toumbourou previously stated that this move will help consumers make better decisions when it comes to recycling and reduce contamination as well.

‘Householders have a really meaningful role to play, and they will be further motivated to play that role as they see really great recycling roles being delivered by our sector’, she said.

Key Takeaways

• Greater Shepparton City Council has announced a major change to the frequency of their bin collection, with the red-lid bin for general household rubbish being collected fortnightly instead of weekly.
• The post announcing the news on Facebook was met with fury from residents, with many speaking out against the idea.
• The change was made in the hope that it will reduce green waste contamination, which is currently around 53 per cent and aligns with the Victorian government's targets to divert 80 per cent of waste from landfill by 2030.
• As part of the state government's plan to standardise household recycling and waste services across the state, a purple-lidded bin designated for glass will be introduced, to be collected monthly.

What are your thoughts on this, members? Are you affected by this change? Share your thoughts in the comments – we’d love to hear from you.

 

[Ricci]

I don't have any rubbish bins!! In our village we have skips dotted about, a red lidded skip and a white lidded recyclable skip. We each indoors have a double in cupboard bin and in my garage I have a black plastic sack for larger plastic waste. The skips are exchanged three times a week so there's never a smell or overloaded skips. It seems to work well here.

 

[Jennylolo]

big families- 2 adults and 6 kids plus pets won't cope. I know such a family and they compost, grow own food, make foods and put in recycled jars, but there is still a lot of waste for the red bin. They have own garbage bins for glass and cans they take to recyclers. Bins shouldn't be overflowing for safety and health. But weekly red bins are often like this. I can't imagine if they were fortnightly. I have very little as a single and could go month without filling the red one. But every situation is different.

 

[Red Gem]

Getting rubbish collection right is one of the fundamental responsibilities of a reliable city council. After all, proper waste management contributes greatly to good hygiene and prevents disease and illness from spreading in a local community.

However, residents of Greater Shepparton, a regional area north of Melbourne, aren't happy after their local council announced a major change to the bin collection system. And the internet is worried this is just the start…

Starting this month, the red-lid bin, which is for general household rubbish, will be collected fortnightly instead of weekly – the same schedule as the yellow-lid recycling bin. While the green-lid bin, which is used for food and garden waste, will now be collected weekly.

Greater Shepparton City Council announced the news on their Facebook page this week.

‘Tatura and Kialla residents, changes are coming to your kerbside bin collection this month,’ the post read.

The council also added a photo to their post detailing the new schedule.

View attachment 15028

The post was slammed by the residents of Greater Shepparton. Credit: Facebook

However, the post was met with fury from its residents – with many saying they were against the idea.

‘So, what if you are renting and have a small red lid bin?’ One asked.

While another stated: ‘Do we just throw our garbage bags on the kerbside when the small bin gets full in the first week? This is just ridiculous!’

‘The council has this all wrong. Just leave it the way it is. Why change something that isn't broken?’ Someone added.

Another resident labelled the change as ‘the most idiotic thing the council has come up with’.

While others pointed out some obvious issues with the change of collection. ‘Going to be a lot of smelly nappies in the red bins now if only being collected every two weeks,’ someone shared.

Some people claimed there will be ‘a lot of waste on the road’. Another added that they hope the council hires more people to clean the rubbish up.

‘It’s going to be disgusting,’ one declared.

But what prompted this change?

According to the Greater Shepparton Council’s website, the Victorian government is standardising household recycling and waste services across the state. They also claimed that the collection frequency change will help ‘reduce green waste’ such as food and garden organics, and contamination in the red bin, which is currently around 53 per cent.

The changes will be carried out from March 16 in Kialla with other suburbs to follow. Then, the new collection times will start in Tatura from March 22 and the remainder of Greater Shepparton from late 2023 onwards.

View attachment 15029

The council said the schedule change was in line with the Victorian government’s plan to reduce green waste contamination. Credit: Greater Shepparton Council

The website also provided some interim solutions to the problems raised by the community members. According to them, if a resident has a ‘large amount of nappies’ or medical waste to dispose of, they will have to consider upsizing their bin.

‘Please get in touch with the Resource Recovery Team to discuss your options via email [email protected] or call 5832 9700,’ the website read.

For rural property owners without a green bin, the council stated that they are still looking into options.

This change aligns with the Victorian government’s targets to divert 80 per cent of waste from landfill by 2030.

In line with this announcement, a new purple-lidded bin, which is designated for glass, is set to join the other three. Some Victorian councils rolled out these bins last year, and it is expected that the rest of the state will have them by 2024.

This four-bin system is part of the Victorian government’s plan to standardise household recycling and waste services across the state. To comply with the new Recycling and Waste Policy, local councils must introduce the purple-lid bin to improve the diversion of glass waste from landfill.

According to the Greater Shepparton Council’s website, the purple-lid bins will be collected monthly. Its capacity is 120L, which is about the size of a medium-sized bin. Moreover, this addition is compulsory for all residents to have. Rural property owners will also receive a purple bin when the rollout occurs.

Australian Council of Recycling CEO Suzanne Toumbourou previously stated that this move will help consumers make better decisions when it comes to recycling and reduce contamination as well.

‘Householders have a really meaningful role to play, and they will be further motivated to play that role as they see really great recycling roles being delivered by our sector’, she said.

Key Takeaways

• Greater Shepparton City Council has announced a major change to the frequency of their bin collection, with the red-lid bin for general household rubbish being collected fortnightly instead of weekly.
• The post announcing the news on Facebook was met with fury from residents, with many speaking out against the idea.
• The change was made in the hope that it will reduce green waste contamination, which is currently around 53 per cent and aligns with the Victorian government's targets to divert 80 per cent of waste from landfill by 2030.
• As part of the state government's plan to standardise household recycling and waste services across the state, a purple-lidded bin designated for glass will be introduced, to be collected monthly.

What are your thoughts on this, members? Are you affected by this change? Share your thoughts in the comments – we’d love to hear from you.

 

[PepeLePew]

I live in Qld and would dread this happening here. I also rent so only have a small red lid bin that is pretty much filled up every week. It is used not only for household scraps but also garden waste (grass, weeds, cut up tree branches etc) as the Landlord refuses to get a green bin for me, even though I have offered on many different occasions ever since they were introduced, to pay the extra every 3mths for it.

 

[chips]

well we have 5 bins a small Red for normal kitchen rubbish as I compost everything, is never full Yellow for bottles Blue for Paper and 2 Green bins for garden waste which are full every time as we live next to bush and try to keep it clear so I hope we don't get a Purple one we have nowhere to keep it The rd bin goes out weekly and the other ones go out fortnightly.