New glass and organic waste collections will commence across the Surf Coast on February 1, 2021, following a seven-month delay due to COVID-19.
Residents will receive an extra kerbside wheelie bin with a purple lid for collecting glass during December and January, the Surf Coast Shire Council announced on Tuesday.
Rural properties will receive a green bin for food and garden organics.
Households will also receive a small kitchen caddy to collect organic scraps.
The shire had initially planned to start the new services on July 6, 2020 but postponed them due to COVID-19.
The organics service commenced as a pilot in Anglesea in 2018/2019 and has continued there since.
From next February all organic waste, including food and garden waste, will go into lime green-lidded organics bins and will no longer be accepted in the landfill bin.
Residents will be required to use their new purple-lidded bin for glass bottles and jars, which will no longer be accepted in the yellow-lidded recycling bin.
The yellow bin will continue to be used for paper and cardboard, rigid plastics, steel and aluminium cans.
Other household waste will continue to go into the landfill bin.
Landfill bin lids that are maroon or green will be changed to red in December and January during regular collection days.
The shire requested residents put their bins out the night before their regular collection day and leave them out for an extra day after to give contractors time to swap the bin lids.
A shire spokesperson said the introduction of a glass-only bin service would reduce broken glass contaminating other recyclable materials, with glass to be recycled separately and reused locally.
“Organic materials will be kept out of landfill and composted to be used at farms and in parks via the FOGO collection,” they said.
“Waste collection charges will not increase as a result of the change, with council acknowledging Victorian Government funding received through Sustainability Victoria.”
The changes are part of state government’s circular economy policy and 10-year plan to transform recycling across Victoria, in a bid to reduce waste and pollution.
