Media response - Waste collection frequency
Published on 28 September 2023
Approach from Yahoo News
I’m currently writing a story about some VIC councils moving to fortnightly landfill bin (red bin) collection and the impact of this move on residents and public spaces. Could someone please provide comment in response to the following:
- Since the move from weekly to fortnightly collection, have you seen an overall decrease in waste making it to landfill?
- What has the general feedback been that you have received from residents following this change?
- How did your council assist residents with these changes?
- What alternative streams or processes have the council implemented to divert waste from landfill as well as this?
- Was the waste levy reduced when the amount of collections were reduced?
Response
Monash Council recently passed 12 months since the introduction of weekly collection of food and garden waste bins, alongside the fortnightly collection of landfill bins and recycling bins.
This was a significant change for our community, but one that we knew would deliver our commitment to reduce what we are sending to landfill. Over the past year, we have decreased what we send to landfill by more than 9,000 tonnes by sending more garden and food waste to compost. This is an outstanding outcome and I thank all Monash residents for their commitment.
Support for the community at the time of the change included:
- Providing a free landfill bin upgrade to households with two or more children in nappies, a medical condition that causes more waste or a family of six or more with financial hardship
- Reducing the cost of a second recycling bin to $65 (annual charge)
- Making available a sample pack of compostable liners to households with a new green bin
Council is always looking to reduce what we sent to landfill and do this through various strategies and programs, including introducing trial soft plastics collections points following the collapse of the RedCycle program, and a recently launched collaboration with 11 other councils to encourage and support the use of reusable nappies.
Monash’s recycling and waste levy recently increased by $6 per household in response to increases in both recycling processing costs following the global recycling crisis and EPA levies imposed by the Victorian Government. The $52 annual levy to ratepayers is a cost recovery mechanism that reflects the pressures of Victoria’s evolving waste sector. Pensioners have an exemption from this charge.
Issued: 27 September 2023
To: Yahoo News
Quoting: Cr Tina Samardzija
A version of this response was also sent to Daily Mail after follow-up interest on 28 September.