Four bin frequently asked questions

The Victorian Government's Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021 aims to improve how kerbside waste services are provided across the state by making them more uniform. According to the Act, all councils must implement a four-bin system by 2027. Since Council's waste collection contract is set to renew in mid-2025, this is a good time to start the four-bin collection service.

The four-bin service will add two new bins: a separate glass recycling bin with a purple lid and a separate food and garden organics recycling bin with a green lid. This means that glass bottles and jars should no longer be placed in the mixed recycling bin with a yellow lid, and food and garden organics should no longer go in the general rubbish bin with a red lid.

Details of the changes to your kerbside collection service from 30 June are outlined in the table below.

The four-bin collection service starts on 30 June 2025. You should not put your purple-lidded or green-lidded bins out for collection before then but may choose to begin to fill these bins in the week leading up to the commencement date.

Council is working with a new contractor to finalise the bin collection schedule. The day of the week that bins are collected won't change for any locations. For example, if your bin is currently collected on a Wednesday, it will continue to be collected on a Wednesday even after the new bins are added.

The green-lidded organics bin will be collected every week. General rubbish and mixed recycling will be collected on alternating weeks, and glass will be collected once every four weeks. The schedule will look like this:

• Week 1: Food and Garden Organics (green), General Rubbish (red)
• Week 2: Food and Garden Organics (green), Mixed Recycling (yellow)
• Week 3: Food and Garden Organics (green), General Rubbish (red)
• Week 4: Food and Garden Organics (green), Mixed Recycling (yellow), Glass Recycling (purple)

It's important to check Council's website in the weeks before the new service starts to find out the exact schedule for your location. You can see your bin collection schedule in several ways:

• Council will update the "Your Local Area" tool, allowing you to type in your address and see your next bin collections.
• Council will provide an updated bin collection calendar on our website for the whole Shire
• Council is developing a mobile phone app to help remind you which bins to put out each week

In Victoria, it's becoming more common to have a weekly collection for food and garden organics and a fortnightly collection for general rubbish, especially with the introduction of food waste recycling.

A 2021 audit of kerbside bins in Murrindindi Shire found that over 60% of the waste (by weight) in a typical rubbish bin was food and garden organics. By diverting this waste to the dedicated food and garden organics bin, the reliance on the general rubbish bin is reduced. Most households that separate their food and garden organics will have enough space in their general rubbish bin with a fortnightly collection.

For households that produce more general rubbish than usual, additional services can be provided for a fee. Exemptions apply for households with people in nappies or households that need to dispose of medical waste.

For properties in township areas, the minimum service required is a four-bin system. Adding the food and garden organics and glass recycling services won't cost extra compared to the current two-bin service. The proposed charge for the four-bin service in the Council's draft Budget for 2025-26 is $560.

For properties where the three-bin service is the minimum required, including rural properties on the collection route and commercial properties that choose to use the service, the proposed annual charge in the Council's draft Budget for 2025-26 is $410. This is essentially the four-bin charge minus the cost of providing the food and garden organics service.

The four-bin service is available to all commercial properties, but it's not mandatory for them to use Council's collection service. Commercial properties can choose to opt out of all Council collection services and have the related charges removed from their rates.

If commercial properties decide to use Council's collection service, the minimum service available is the three-bin system, which includes bins for general rubbish, mixed recycling, and glass recycling. Beyond this minimum, businesses can add any combination of bins to meet their needs, with relevant charges applying for the services they choose.

The kerbside collection service is mandatory for all residential properties on the collection route. In township areas, the minimum service required is a four-bin system, which includes bins for general rubbish, mixed recycling, food and garden organics, and glass recycling. In rural areas along the collection route, where the truck passes by the driveway, the minimum required service is a three-bin system, which includes bins for general rubbish, mixed recycling, and glass recycling.

The State Government requires that if it is reasonably practicable to provide a kerbside service, then councils must provide the service to that household. Properties beyond the collection route would need to be assessed to determine if the service is feasible.

Properties in rural areas don't have to use the food and garden organics collection service, but they can choose to if they want. The three-bin collection service (without the green-lidded bin) costs less than the four-bin collection service (with the green-lidded bin). The difference in cost, which is $150, is for providing the green-lidded bin collection.

The State Government requires that if it is reasonably practical to provide a kerbside service, then councils must provide the service to that house. If the truck passes by the driveway of a property, Council considers it practical to provide the service. The Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021 includes significant penalties for councils that do not implement the services described by the State.

For households that need to dispose of nappies or incontinence products, the standard fortnightly 120-litre bin service can be replaced with an additional 120-litre bin at no extra cost. This can be done at the resident's request, as long as they provide suitable documentation to support their request. Council will keep a record of properties receiving the extra service and will review the need for it every year.

The four-bin collection service allows for a lot more waste disposal compared to the current two-bin service. By properly sorting waste into the different bins, most households will have enough space to manage their leftover waste with the fortnightly collection. If you still produce more waste or recycling than the four-bin service can handle, you can request an additional bin from Council for any waste stream. Extra charges will apply for these additional rubbish, recycling, or organics services.

Exemptions apply for households with people in nappies.

Residents with a chronic illness, disability, or medical needs that cause extra waste can get an additional standard rubbish or recycling bin at no extra cost. This extra bin is only for regular household waste like packaging and incontinence aids. It is not for medical or clinical waste such as sharps, large amounts of blood or urine, human tissue, or items from patients with contagious diseases - these should never go in Council's kerbside bins. This service is not available to businesses, businesses operating in residential properties, or non-residential properties.

Residents can apply for additional bin services from Council. A medical certificate or letter from a registered medical practitioner explaining the need will be requested once you apply. The Medical Exemption will be valid for up to two years, aligned with the financial year. A new medical certificate or letter will be required to continue the service for another two years. If a renewal letter is not provided within eight weeks of a request from the Council, the bin will be removed.