In a bid to reduce the growing strain on its landfill sites, Mount Alexander Shire Council has offered its residents compost bins at a discounted rate, a move which may be considered by the City of Greater Bendigo for smaller townships within the municipality.
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Mount Alexander Shire Council does not offer a kerbside organic collection, despite organic waste making up almost half of the waste disposed of in the locality.
It hopes the discounted rate of $20 for a 220 litre bin will divert waste from landfill and help the council hit its environmental targets.
Mount Alexander Shire Council manager healthy environments Ben Bowman said removing organic material from the waste stream will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfill.
City of Greater Bendigo manager waste services Brooke Pearce said city staff are currently assessing the needs of the remaining small townships and rural areas that are not in the current collection area.
“Feasibility and community engagement studies are currently taking place and will continue to do so in the future to determine the requirements of the ratepayers within these areas,” she said.
The City of Greater Bendigo introduced a fortnightly organic kerbside collection in September 2016, a decision which proved unpopular with a number of residents, including then council candidate Andrea Metcalf.
Many residents were unhappy at the additional $63 per year in rates they have to pay for the new service, but the city maintained it would be a cost saving initiative in the long run.
The price for a replacement organic bin jumped 20 per cent in the 2017/18 council budget, as did disposal fees at Eaglehawk Landfill up $5/tonne to $170/t.
There was also a 94 per cent jump in mattress disposal costs at the site.
Residents can apply for exemptions from organic kerbside collection if they can prove they already manage all organic material effectively on the property.
More than 3500 exemption requests have been received since the introduction of the organics kerbside collection – 2989 of which were granted by the city.
