Four-stream waste and recycling system coming soon

Published on 22 February 2021

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A new four-stream waste and recycling system will be rolled out in the Central Goldfields Shire this year.

Last week the State Government announced additional funding to support regional and rural councils to deliver the new system that will see household waste separated into: rubbish, recycling, glass and green waste.

The roll-out of the new four-stream waste and recycling system in the Central Goldfields Shire involves:

Part 1: Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO)

The FOGO system involves residents and businesses (with a green bin) placing their food waste in the same bin as their garden organics waste.

Council will commence a FOGO collection opt-in trial over the upcoming month to test this new system.

This waste will continue to go to Council’s compositing facility at the Carisbrook Transfer Station where it is made available to residents who are signed up to the composting service.

Residents and small business owners who sign up to the FOGO service will receive a 240litre green bin that is collected on the first and third Friday of every month.

Council is currently encouraging small businesses to sign up to a trial of the service. Those who sign up during February, 2021 will pay the pro-rata charge of $30.50. The annual fee will be $73.20 after 30 June, 2021 for those who choose to continue.

Small businesses who wish to get involved in the FOGO trial are encouraged to contact Council’s waste team on waste.management@cgoldshire.vic.gov.au

FOGO will continue as an opt-in service for residents across the municipality. There will be no change to residents currently signed up for the opt-in service.

Part 2: Glass drop-off points

Glass drop off points will be installed across the municipality by the end of March 2021. Drop-off points will be located at the Carisbrook, Dunolly and Talbot Transfer Stations with two locations to also be provided in Maryborough.

Collection of general waste bins (red) and recycling bins (yellow) remain unchanged.


Central Goldfields Shire Mayor Cr Chris Meddows-Taylor said that whilst the changes would take a little time for our community to adapt to, the new system will have a significant impact on our environment.

“Essentially it will mean that as a community – and as a State – we can all make a real difference in increasing the quality of recycled material and reducing the amount of waste going to landfill.

“Council’s waste team have been preparing for this change for a number of months now. With lots of work going on behind the scenes we’ll be in a position to roll-out an education program to residents to better understand the changes to waste services across the municipality.

“With the extra funding announced by the State Government this week, we’ll be able to upgrade our recycling transfer stations and be in a position to establish our drop-off points for separated glass to help us transition to the new four stream system.

“The reform of household recycling across the state is a key initiative of the State Government’s Recycling Victoria – A New Economy as well as Council’s Waste Management Strategy which was adopted by Council in 2020.”

Central Goldfields Shire Strategic Waste Officer Lori Paez said Council had already received significant interest from the local business community for the trial FOGO program.

“Earlier this month we invited local businesses to sign up for the trial FOGO program and the response has been steady – it’s wonderful that our local community are so eager to play a part in reducing our waste to landfill.

“The trial will allow us to test the process so that when we roll out the FOGO system across the municipality we can ensure low contamination rates.

“In all of the conversations we had in the lead up to the development of the 2020-2030 Waste Management Strategy - reducing waste to landfill was the most important – it was clear our community really wanted to contribute to making a difference and this new system will be the first step towards this.

“We look forward to working with the community as we roll-out these changes later in the year.”

Goldfields Sustainability Group Secretary Barry Parsons said the Group is supportive of Council being on the front foot with regards to Waste Management across the municipality.

“We are excited to see the transition to four streams to reduce waste to landfill over the next 10 years and into the future”. 

 

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