Cobram and district community rubbishes bin proposal as council stands firm

The plan is part of the Victorian Government’s four-bin system, which aims to follow the Federal Government’s National Waste Action Plan and the Victorian Government’s Circular Economy Act 2021.

The strategies aim to divert 80 per cent of waste from landfill by 2030.

Though introducing a glass bin was met with mixed reactions, it was the plan to collect the red rubbish bin fortnightly, rather than weekly, that earned the community’s ire.

The following are just some of the Facebook comments left on the Courier's page:

Tracey Strawhorn: Personally, we do not need these extra bins. Lucky to have five jam jars a year glass-wise, and we are on land, so recycle our green waste. How about letting those who need/want them to put their hands up. Bet it’s not worth the garbos’ effort.

Sallie Robinson: That will be lovely. Most general waste bins will be overflowing with lids that won’t close, inviting wildlife to raid them on bin night.

Krystin Mynard: We live out of town and only have access to a landfill bin and a recycling bin. As a family of six, we fill the landfill bin each week and the recycling in a week and a half (roughly). The excess recycling (which is picked up fortnightly) ends up in the landfill bin. It would make more sense for us to have both bins collected weekly. Imagine a landfill bin after a fortnight of sitting outside in the sun. Yuk.

Responding to queries by the Courier regarding the reason behind the change in kerbside pickup frequency, a council spokesperson said due to state and federal government ‘80 per cent’ plans, council needed to up its diversion rate by 25 per cent in the next six years.

“Recent kerbside bin audits have shown that Moira residents have the potential to recover over 60 per cent of items found in landfill bins,” the spokesperson said.

“The potentially recoverable materials in the kerbside landfill bin are largely food waste, cardboard, glass, textiles, soft plastics, electronic waste and hazardous materials such as batteries. Of these recoverable materials, 51 per cent were organics.”

The council also stated that the reason behind a glass-only bin was to ensure that the items could be recycled, noting that shattered glass containers were unsalvagable and contaminated the rest of the recycling.

The spokesperson said residents wanting larger red bins could get them, but barring special considerations, including medical reasons, the bigger bins would be at an additional cost.

“Households without special considerations must pay more for a larger or additional landfill bin,” the spokesperson said.

“Council will be considering how and if alternative bin sizes would be suitable to the community.”

It was also emphasised that to prevent offensive smells, food waste such as meat, bones, fish, chicken and animal droppings (including from dogs) should be wrapped up in the council-supplied compost bags before being disposed of in organics bins.

The spokesperson said the change in bin collection was understandably a big one for households and urged residents to consider carefully how they disposed of their waste.

“Through better sorting of waste, we can better manage the financial and environmental costs of our actions,” the spokesperson said.

“Transitioning away from a weekly landfill service has demonstrated to be a driver in encouraging behavioural change to reduce food waste and recyclables in landfill bins.”

Public consultation around kerbside collection is still open.