Household waste bins will be reduced in size as part of a Wyndham council plan to divert 90 per cent of the city’s waste from landfill.
Under the council’s new waste and litter strategy, residential waste wheelie bins will go from 140 litres in capacity to 120 litres, saving 1.4 million tonnes of waste across the city every year.
Recycling bins will increase in size from 240 litres to 360 litres.
Wyndham council sustainable development director Dean Rochfort said reducing the size of Wyndham’s waste bins would make them consistent with Australian standards. Changes won’t be made until at least 2018, when the council’s current waste collection contract expires.
“Any standardisation of bins would occur after that period,” Mr Rochfort said. “Council is committed to introducing the changes in bin sizes in the most cost-effective way possible.
“With around 125,000 households in Wyndham, the most cost-effective way will be to include [bin size changes] as part of council’s next long-term waste collection contract.”
Reducing landfill
The move is one of many changes Wyndham council will introduce in coming years to divert 90 per cent of waste generated in the city away from landfill by 2040.
Other measures will include:
- Redeveloping the transfer station at the Werribee tip by 2020;
- Gradually phasing out the current tip token system in favour of introducing three hard-waste collections a year and providing better recycling options at the transfer station;
- Rolling out subsidised green waste bins to all properties; and
- Installing “reverse vending machines” where residents can deposit beverage containers in exchange for small incentives.
- Cr Peter Gibbons said the strategy shifted the focus from waste management to resource recovery.
Fellow councillor Bob Fairclough added: “Over the past few years, there has been a big shift in our view of waste.
“Previously, we regarded waste as an item we had to bury and forget about.
“Waste is now being considered by some people as a new gold mine … waste material is now being transformed and recycled into a number of new, exciting and profitable products. For example, plastic waste is being converted to outdoor furniture.”
