Goya Dmytryshchak
Hobsons Bay’s ‘Recycling 2.0’ four-bin system will remain for at least a year following a review, despite a much higher than predicted contamination rate.
In February, the council rolled out a four-bin system, comprising new food and garden waste and glass bins in addition to existing garbage and recycling bins.
Last week’s council meeting heard that about 35 per cent of waste was being disposed of in the food organics and garden organics (FOGO) bins.
A report to the council stated that garbage volumes had reduced by 2500 tonnes (37 per cent) over four months but a key area for improvement was the high comingled recycling contamination level.
“Contamination has been much higher than predicted with comingled recyclables,” it states.
Visual inspections of trucks from mid-February to mid-March found contamination levels of 35 to 50 per cent.
“As a result, the majority of comingled recyclables collected in February, March and April, 2020, were rejected to landfill,” the report stated.
The combined comingled recycling and glass collection increased by 347 tonnes (15 per cent), although this volume would be less if adjusted for contamination.
FOGO increased by 3571 tonnes (185 per cent).
Household garbage collection averaged 86 litres per fortnight compared with the previous 69 litres per week in 2019.
Sustainable Communities director Penelope Winslade told the meeting that other councils had also found high levels of contamination.
“It’s not a discrete problem to Hobsons Bay, and other councils that have introduced the four-bin system are finding, as they start to really do deep dives in their contamination, very high levels of contamination,” she said.
The report stated that COVID-19 had substantially impacted household waste volumes, with more people at home generating waste for their kerbside bins.
“Council has responded to this challenge by offering a weekly Saturday garbage drop-off for two months, and by rolling out a free 240 litre garbage bin upsizing program for eligible households,” it stated.
“A wide a range of community views have been expressed about the program.
“This includes a petition with over 1100 signatures calling for the reinstatement of weekly garbage collection, as well more than triple the normal volume of compliments provided to council’s customer service on the program, and over 350 residents volunteering to champion the program in the community.”
The review recommends further actions to address comingled contamination and to retain the current system for at least 12 months.
