THE City of Greater Bendigo has conceded a local green waste collection business will almost certainly be forced to close once the council starts its own organic waste collection program.
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Epsom-based business Greenaway Bins collects up to 25 tonnes of green waste per week from homes in the region, after it was established seven years ago with council assistance.
But a council decision to roll out its own organic and green waste collection program would likely make the business’ services redundant.
Upset Greenaway customers quickly started an online petition calling on the council to give the business a “fair go” and wanting to be able to choose how they manage their own waste.
The petition had gathered more than 300 signatures up until Sunday afternoon, with some complaining about the lack of a tender process.
City of Greater Bendigo mayor Peter Cox said it was inevitable that the council would start its own green waste collection as it seeks to transition away from relying on landfills.
“It’s disappointing that a private business will have to cease because of it,” he said.
“Council would want to help Greenaway, I understand they are talking to our waste manager so there’s a smooth changeover from the business to council doing that service.
“We want to work with them to try and get that transition from when they stop to when we start.”
The business will meet with council staff this week to discuss how it can be assisted once the green waste collection starts up.
Greenaway Bins owner Anthony Janssen said he would wait and see how talks with council go before making future plans.
The City of Greater Bendigo announced its plan earlier this month to start collecting residents’ garden refuse, kitchen scraps and unused meat.
The trial will be rolled out to 2800 homes in two collection areas, including parts of Kennington, Strathdale, East Bendigo, White Hills and North Bendigo.
From September, the council garbage collectors will collect waste from new green bins fortnightly. General rubbish collection will also be reduced to fortnightly.
Other councils across Victoria contract out their waste collection services, but Cr Cox said reports on the issue showed that the City of Greater Bendigo was best placed to provide the service itself.
“They are two completely different services at the moment, they only provide green waste pick-up and not organic waste,” he said.
“We will basically be in competition with other.”
Cr Cox also doubted whether Greenaway Bins would have the capacity to handle a dramatic increase in waste products to be processed.
Greenaway Bins issues residents with their own green bins for fortnightly collection for $110 per year, but food byproducts are not collected.
On the petition supporting the business, signatories described their positive interactions with Greenaway and their dismay at its likely closure.
Karen Morrissey said she was “disgusted” with how the business had been treated.
“They started this business and should be fairly treated and compensated,” she said.
On its Facebook page, Greenaway Bins described it is “deeply disappointed” with the outcome and will contact customers in the trial areas in the coming week.
The business also described its work over the last seven years in building its customer base and improving its services.
The City of Greater Bendigo plans to roll out the service to the remainder of the council area once the trial period has ended.
At the announcement, organics project officer Bridgette McDougall said the trial period would allow the council to identify any problems with the green waste collection program.
