Kerbside bin collection is set to change in townships in Hepburn Shire with the introduction of a weekly food and garden organics service (FOGO) from Monday, April 8, 2024.
With the introduction of weekly organics collection for townships, red-lidded landfill (general rubbish) bins will move to fortnightly collection, with no changes to the fortnightly yellow-lidded recycling collection.
Households in Creswick, Trentham, Daylesford, Hepburn and Hepburn Springs will receive a lime green-lidded bin and kitchen caddy in mid-to-late-March, with the weekly collection starting in townships after Easter. The weekly organics collection will continue in Clunes, where residents have successfully trialled the service since 2021.
Hepburn Shire mayor Brian Hood said a separate food and garden organics collection will help to divert thousands of tonnes of organic material from landfill.
“Our bin audits show that more than half of the contents of the average red-lidded landfill bin are items that will be able to be placed into the new organics bin,” he said.
“Instead of ending up in landfill these items will be treated as a valuable resource and converted to high-quality compost at in-vessel units at the Creswick Transfer Station. The compost will then be used to improve soil for local farms, parks and gardens.”
Residents will also be able to drop off up to 120 litres of food organics for free at council’s three transfer stations from April 8. Fees will be introduced from July 1.
“We will have greater clarity on the actual cost of the service to households when we develop our 2024/2025 budget,” Cr Hood said.
According to council, the organisation recognised some households may be concerned that a fortnightly general rubbish bin won’t be sufficient for their needs.
Households will have the option to purchase additional collection services. However, they may be able to significantly reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill by carefully separating waste items.
“Our bin audits show around 12 percent of the contents of red-lidded bins could instead be placed in yellow-lidded recycling bins. With around 50 percent of the red-lidded bin able to be diverted into the organics bin we expect many households could reduce the volume of waste going to landfill by around 60 percent,” Cr Hood said.
Council will review extending the service to rural areas next financial year. The initial roll-out does not include businesses (other than those participating in the
Clunes trial). However, businesses will be able to opt into an organics collection from July 2024. Township households will not be able to opt-out of the organics collection.
For more information on the upcoming changes, visit council’s website for more details at www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/organics.
