Geelong council has refused to commit to the permanent addition of a purple glass recycling bin to its waste collection service.
Councillors voted against the introduction of the state government’s mandated residential glass collection service from 1 July 2027 at last night’s council meeting.
Council instead unanimously supported an alternate motion to proceed with a provisional, contract-based kerbside glass collection service while advocating for expansion of the flourishing Container Deposit Scheme (CDS).
Chair of the environment and circular economy portfolio councillor Elise Wilkinson called on the Victorian government to “provide greater flexibility in the design and delivery of glass collection services”.
“The community is really on board (with the CDS); it’s providing resources to clubs, to individuals, to community organisations in the City of Greater Geelong, and an expansion of this just seems like a no-brainer,” she said.
“The mandatory implementation of kerbside glass as a collection service…(will) increase costs and inefficiency, duplication of all of our existing programs.
“The expense for the roll-out of yet another rubbish bin on the side of the road, particularly for those people living in smaller apartments and townhouses, seems incredibly inefficient.”
The Victorian government’s mandated system intends to standardise household waste and recycling services statewide to address the volatility in the recycling markets and reduce waste and landfill.
Its proposed four-stream system, which councils must introduce by 1 July 2027, would see every Victorian household sort its waste into separate bins for glass, food and garden organics (FOGO), mixed recycling and general rubbish.
Many councils around the state have pushed back on the plan, advocating for delays due to costs or planning staggered rollouts.
Councillor Emma Sinclair commended the motion to join the growing ranks of dissenting municipalities.
“I also support the City of Greater Geelong continuing its advocacy, alongside the 30 other councils, to call on the Victorian government to review the purple-bin rollout,” she said.
“When this (idea) was introduced it might have been a little more logical, but that was prior to the introduction of the CDS, which we’ve seen has been incredibly successful.
“It puts money back into our local community rather than introducing new bins, which is an incredible burden on ratepayers in a cost-of-living crisis.”
