Ballarat's waste pickup will change in 2025 despite survey

When deciding the best pathway for the upcoming changes to Victoria's bin system, including a four bin system, respondents told council they wanted a low cost outcome, theoretically using less landfill which will save ratepayers money in the long-term.

Councillors passed the recommendation put together by council staff - despite a final vote by chair - which means by 2025, Ballarat households will have their household waste bins collected fortnightly, food and green organics bin collected weekly, recycling collected fortnightly and glass collected monthly.

The drastic changes for a four-bin system was announced in August 2022 in an effort to recycle more efficiently and divert tonnes of waste from landfill.

Victorians would have a purple-lidded glass recycle bin, yellow-lidded bin for other recyclables like cardboard, plastic and metal, a red-lidded for household waste, and green-lidded bin for food organics and garden organics (FOGO).

When the four bin system was announced, it was revealed the bin sizes and collection frequency will vary depending on local circumstances, and would be decided by local councils.

The City of Ballarat has not been able to recycle glass since September 2019.

In 2019, the council signed a 12-month contract with Australian Paper Recovery, which cannot process glass in the recycling they collect.

To combat this, council organised free drop-off zones for glass containers, but glass could not be put in kerbside recycling.

Overall, from the survey, 45 per cent wanted fortnightly FOGO collection and weekly household waste collection, but only 40 per cent wanted fortnightly waste collection.

Most people were happy to have glass collected monthly (67 per cent), over keeping the current Pass on Glass system, at 21 per cent.

Most people were either 'supportive' or 'passionate' about recycling and the environment, at 95 per cent.

The majority of respondents, 60 per cent, for Sort Our Waste were women, however the ages of respondents varied with the highest being between 35-49, at 28 per cent.

There were two household types that were most common in the survey were couples and couples with children.

Couples with children were more likely to prefer to have weekly household waste collection - most likely due to nappy use.

When it came down to the direction people wanted council to take, 61 per cent wanted to maximise recycling and environmental benefits.

The breakdown of people's household waste found 29 per cent of people had a full household bin each week, and 13 per cent had an overfull bin.

When it came to mixed recyclables, 42 per cent of households had a full bin every fortnight, and 20 percent had an overfull bin.

Some 77 per cent said they would be likely to use a FOGO kerbside bin and 19 per cent said they already recycle food organics at home. Almost 86 per cent of respondents have a kerbside garden waste service.

Ballarat had more than 117,000 residents as of 2022, meaning 4.9 per cent of people responded.

At their meeting on Wednesday, October 25, councillors were split over the recommendation.

Some councillors said it wasn't what the community wanted and it wasn't the right pathway.

After the meeting, City of Ballarat mayor Des Hudson said the change was needed.

"We need to look holistically - this is about a legacy we leave for future generations and at the moment, that 24,000 tonne of waste is going to our current landfill," he said.

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