Figures published in the 2018 annual report showed the number of collections missed at 9.34 per 10,000 in 2018, up from 6.99 the previous year.

The council cited route changes and expanding city limits as the main reasons for the increase.

While the council was unable to update The Courier on the current rate of missed bin collections for this year, it did say there were currently around 60 missed bins per week - and that most of them are picked up the same day.

City of Ballarat’s director of infrastructure and environment Terry Demeo said: “With any change over in staff no matter what job it is, there is some risk of a variation to business.”

He said that while new drivers are fully inducted and aware of the collection routes in Ballarat, the city had a lot of new estates added to existing driver routes - and that more would be expected with Ballarat’s growth.

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The missed bin collection figures include both kerbside garbage and recycling. They register the number of residents who haven’t put their bins out, streets that are blocked-off, bins behind cars or under power-lines, contaminated bins, as well as overfilled bins and bins that have been missed.

However, a missed bin that goes unreported by a resident and is not seen by the driver is not included in the statistics.

According to the City, there were no specific parts of the city more affected than others

“Missed bin locations occur all around the city and can vary depending on the works going on, or the activities occurring, not always driver error,” Mr Demeo said.  

“Council always endeavours to improve business service outcomes but it relies on the residents to place bins out the night before, space them correctly and free of obstacles like trees or vehicles.”

He said council was working with crews to identify inaccessible locations, and looking at audit data to identify areas where contaminated or over-filled bins were an issue.

When compared to other councils, Ballarat had a considerably higher rate of missed bin collections - according to a Know Your Council report, similar councils averaged at 5.54 missed bins per council, while the overall rate for councils in Victoria stood at 5.05 missed bins per 10,000.

Geelong had the next highest rate of missed bins last year according to the Know Your Council website, with an average of 9.29 bins missed per 10,000.

A council spokesperson said any resident who had an issue with their bin should contact the City of Ballarat Customer Service department on 5320 5500.