Tell Council how you use your bins

Published on 01 May 2023

Hepburn Shire Council wants to know how you use your bins - do you recycle carefully? How full are your bins? What do you do with food scraps? Do you visit transfer stations? The answers to these questions and more will help Council to determine what information residents are looking for and identify options to make improvements to resource recovery and waste management in the Shire.

Cr Brian Hood, Mayor of Hepburn Shire, encourages everyone in the Shire to complete Council’s survey on waste.

“The survey takes residents through their attitudes and habits in relation to recycling, organics and rubbish disposal,” said Cr Brian Hood.

“It’s important that we hear from a broad range of community members to understand how they are using local services from kerbside collections through to transfer stations,” he said.

Changes introduced by the Victorian Government means local governments across the state will need to reshape waste collection in coming years. The Circular Economy Act outlines the requirements for Victorian households to have access to separate streams for glass, food organics and garden organics (FOGO), mixed recyclables and household rubbish by 2030.

“We know from community engagement on our Council Plan and Sustainable Hepburn strategy that our community is passionate about the environment and dealing with waste in a responsible way. This survey will help us to understand the gaps in knowledge and how we can support residents towards a low-waste lifestyle,” he said.

The survey is available at https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/waste-survey and will be open until Friday 9 June.

Council has operated a pilot project to trial weekly kerbside collection of Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) in Clunes since 2021.

“This trial has been a great success. We’ve diverted 200 tonnes of organic material from landfill and residents have seen up to a 40% reduction in waste in their general rubbish bin,” said Cr Hood.

The FOGO is composted locally at the Creswick Transfer Station in specially designed containers. As part of the trial the compost is regularly tested to ensure it meets Australian standards with the view to make the compost available to the community.

“We are extending the trial collection of FOGO in Clunes while Council considers the plan to roll out FOGO collection to townships as part of the kerbside collection shire-wide, which we are expecting to be within the next 12 months,” said Cr Hood.

Council is seeking innovative ways to support residents on their low-waste journey and is continuing to promote a culture of resource recovery. The results of the survey will help to shape waste services and education programs in the future.