Reporting On Our Waste

All rubbish bins across the municipality that were out during the two-weeks the audit was undertaken in April this year.

• an audit of residential bins to identify how many are overflowing
• an audit of street litter bins to identify any dumping or change of volumes
• an audit of dumped rubbish reports to identify if there has been an increase
• review of customer feedback and calls throughout the six months
• a measurement of the amount of organic/recycling waste being diverted from landfill

We’re pleased to report that there has been no noticeable increase in the amount of illegal dumping or increase in street litter bins across the municipality since the introduction of the new changes. 

During the audit of the residential bins, contractors checked to see how many bins were not fully closed, whether that were slightly ajar or fully open with contents strewn around the bin.

The results showed that 1 in every 115 bins presented was overfilled. Of the 65,675 bins collected:

• 417 had lids slightly ajar – (0.63%)
• 569 were overfull – (0.87%)

This shows a total of 1.5% of all rubbish bins being collected could be considered overfilled.

The results have shown that there has been a 40% reduction in the amount of waste sent to landfill. Diversion of materials away from landfill since the October service changes has increased from 46% to 73%.

This means that more than 3,127 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions have been avoided thanks to the efforts of our community.

Further, an additional 9,037 tonnes of organic material have been composted into usable products.

No, if this was the case there would still be and abundance of waste sitting somewhere to be collected.

All Council’s calculations are based on weight. Trucks are weighed at disposal sites and collection contracts are formulated around weight, not volume.

It’s important to not contaminate your bin and put the right item in the right bin.

No – All collection streams are collected separately and go to the appropriate facility:

• FOGO – to BioGro and organic composting facility
  • The material is sorted, contaminants removed and processed using a hot composting method that helps kill any bacteria and seeds.
  • Contamination audits undertaken in May 2024 at BioGro showed a 0.49% contamination rate, which is very low.  
• Recycling – to Visy Recycling
  • The material is sorted and sent to different recycling markets
  • Contamiated or non-compliant material is sent to landfill
• Rubbish – to the Veolia landfill in Hallam

Yarra Ranges registers 1,825 new births on average annually. In 2021 there were 9,298 children aged 0-4 (ABS) likely to use nappies in Yarra Ranges.

Council is exploring the possibility of increasing the size of bins available and needs to work with the contractors on this. Currently, residents are able to order an additional bin and would need to pay for this service. An extra rubbish bin which costs $135 per year.