News / Environment
Fortnightly rubbish collection to start next year
Council says change will reduce waste going to landfill
Mark Phillips
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More than half-a-decade after it was first proposed, Merri-bek will move to a fortnightly household rubbish service in the second half of 2027 after councillors approved the change this week.
The reduction from a weekly service will be accompanied by the roll-out of new bins almost twice the size of the current standard household bin.
Councillors voted in favour of the changes on Wednesday night despite a community campaign in opposition and four members of the council speaking against it.
It will be the final stage of changes to rubbish services over recent years following the introduction of a four-bin system and booked hard rubbish collections.
Council staff say the move is necessary to reduce the amount of household waste that goes to landfill and to encourage more recycling.
A move to fortnightly pickup was first proposed in 2021 as part of a suite of future changes.
In 2022, glass and other recycling waste were separated into two separate bins collected once a month on alternating fortnights.
Combined with food and garden waste being turned into compost, these changes have driven a small increase in the amount of rubbish being diverted from landfill.
It is estimated that moving to a fortnightly service will save $16 million and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill by 35,000 tonnes over 10 years.
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The new fortnightly service will be introduced between July and October next year. All households will be provided with a new 140 litre bin, which is almost double the standard 80 litre bin.
Food, organic and green waste (the bins with green lids) will continue to be collected weekly, while glass and paper and plastic recycling collections will continue on their alternating fortnightly basis.
There are some carve-outs from the policy including the continuation of weekly rubbish collection from large apartment buildings.
Households of more than six people will be able to apply for a free “upsize” of their bin, and the council will consider introducing incentives to reduce the amount of nappies going to landfill. There will also be concessions for pensioners.
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The changes follow a six-month trial of 3000 households in Brunswick, Brunswick West and Hadfield in the second half of last year.
According to the council, the trial resulted in the amount of food waste in green bins almost doubling, while waste sent to landfill fell by 19% or almost 3 kg per household.
A report to Wednesday night’s council meeting said landfill capacity in Melbourne was under extreme pressure and would be exhausted by 2040.
This has been accompanied by a ratcheting up of the state government’s waste levy that councils must pay for sending rubbish to landfill from about $60 a tonne a decade ago to $180 a tonne today.
Merri-Bek is opposed to incineration of non-recyclable rubbish on environmental grounds.
But the changes have been hotly opposed including through two online petitions which drew more than 3000 signatures.
Opposition to the changes centred on fears that a less frequent rubbish collection service would create unpleasant odours, more rubbish dumping and encourage vermin.
Concerns were also raised about the impracticality of a fortnightly service for large households or families with toddlers who needed to dispose of soiled nappies.
Pascoe Vale resident Pauline Carmichael told the council meeting that recent industrial bans on rubbish collection in the northern parts of Merri-bek, which left bins overflowing, showed the impact that a fortnightly service would have.
She said Victoria’s waste system was in flux and now was not the time to be cutting servvcies in Merri-bek.
Some other residents, including a representative of Climate Action Merri-bek, spoke in favovur of the change.
Bababi Djinanang ward Councillor Sue Bolton, who moved a resolution in favour of the change but with a range of concessions for households, said she had been convinced by the likelihood that Melbourne’s landfill capacity was running out.
Other councillors who supported the change also highlighted that it was necessary to encourage households to reduce the amount of their rubbish that went to landfill and a fortnightly service was one way to do this.
“It’s incumbent upon us to do everything we can to meet this crisis,’ said Brunswick West ward councillor Ella Svensson.
Mayor Nat Abboud said she was worried that “a ring of incinerators” would be built to dispose of waste if no action was taken to divert rubbish from landfill.
But councillors who opposed a fortnightly service said landfill reduction could not be the only consideration. They said rubbish collection was a key function of the council and should not be reduced.
“The overwhelming concern I hear [from residents] is not opposition to environmental reform but it is concern ttaha council is reducing its core service while asking residents to accept this is somehow an improvement,” said Deputy Mayor Helen Davidson.
Twenty-six other Victorian municipalities – including nine in metropolitan Melbourne – have already moved to fortnightly collections.
Merri-bek has set itself a goal of diverting 80% of all household waste from landfill by 2030.
Currently, about 52% is diverted from landfill, about the same amount as neighbouring Darebin but well behind the levels of more than 70% achieved by Manningham, Knox, Boroondara and Monash in the eastern suburbs.
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We’ve already moved to the larger red-lid general rubbish bins in our small block and some weeks the bins are almost too heavy to comfortably wheel out, largely because we have several cat households (i.e. lots of kitty litter). Council’s ageism and ableism is on display once more; it isn’t only babies that require nappies. In our block we have an elderly resident who is bedridden and who relies on them as well. But such nuances seem to be lost on Council despite my entreaties to Adam Pulford one morning while he was pamphleteering. Our small block likely wouldn’t qualify for the selective carveout that younger, shinier residents in more recently constructed, higher density blocks will be granted. My disenchantment with Council deepens with each tone-deaf decision. This one is particularly punitive.
What if we are happy with fortnightly collections with the size of bins we currently have. Can we opt out of having the larger bins delivered? My household is one of the 3000 that have already trialed fortnightly collections, but I recognise that it is easier for me as a single person houshold.
We all need to adapt for the future of our children and grandchildren