Amid ideas to transform what the Macedon Ranges Shire described as "our neglected and out-dated system", councils have offered a Victorian parliamentary inquiry at times frank assessments on whether Australia was prepared for China's ban.

"China has been signalling its intent for some years, and the other countries to which we are now exporting our waste are doing the same. So no, the problem has not been dealt with," Mount Alexander Shire's submission stated.

It is "unclear" what actions the federal government took to respond to China's decision, the Macedon Ranges Shire's submission stated.

"However, it was evident that any action taken was not effective," it said.

Mount Alexander Shire told the inquiry that little dialogue on state plans to manage the ban's after-effects had been passed directly on to councils. Most had come through regional waste and resource recovery boards.

Several councils noted their appreciation of financial assistance from governments when China's ban began, including Mount Alexander, though it said funds had been limited.

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Bendigo's ratepayers had shouldered "considerable" financial impacts, their council told the inquiry.

"Earlier communication would have allowed better budget planning, informed contract negotiation and earlier implementation of community education strategies," the City of Greater Bendigo's submission stated.

"CoGB now incurs costs for the disposal of this (recycled) material and has to pass on these costs to ratepayers. This has been an increased cost of $25 per property for the 2018/19 financial year, with potential further increases in the future."

Perhaps one of the greatest frustrations local governments have had is that state and federal governments have the most power to transform the waste and recovery sector, the Municipal Association of Victoria noted in its submission.

Councils from Bendigo, Campaspe, Mount Alexander and the Macedon Ranges called for a raft of changes, including:

Victoria should also start a container deposit scheme, the Mount Alexander Shire argued.

The state is the only one on the mainland that lacks one, its submission noted.

The scheme could be based on NSW's scheme, which in its first year increased recycling rates from 32 per cent to 52 per cent, according to a 2018 report from the Boomerang Alliance cited by the council.

The Mount Alexander Shire acknowledged the scheme would need to learn lessons from other states' scheme shortcomings.

However, the Macedon Ranges submission noted a container deposit scheme was only one way to deal with recycling.

"Container deposit schemes have achieved some success in the states that have implemented them however need (sic) to be considered in conjunction with other initiatives including greater source separation of recyclables at the kerbside and exploring reduced and other forms of packaging," that shire's submission stated.

Bendigo's council would support a container deposit scheme, as well as "real incentives to reduce single use plastics".

A "veil of secrecy" covers the state's few large Victorian operators despite recycling's status as an essential service, The Mount Alexander Shire's submission stated.

"The state must improve transparency and accountability within the industry.

Access to robust and credible data on market conditions, and costs and revenue within the recycling sector is essential to achieve best value for the community," the council stated.

The Campaspe Shire used part of its wide-ranging submission to argue that the federal government should ban or regulate plastics that are hard to recycle.

Plastic tomato punnets, meat trays and other clear plastics are hard to recycle because they cannot be remade as many times as tin, aluminium and glass, the shire argued.

Markets for those plastics are highly volatile so they can be hard to sell and much of it ended up in landfill, the Campaspe Shire stated.

Mount Alexander's shire noted single-use plastics are important for food retailers and that a "considered approach" is needed.

It would prefer reducing the amount-of single use plastics where possible.

That could include making sure takeaway coffee cups and other goods are not mixed with recyclables, and making sure more plastics can be composted or otherwise treated, the council stated.

Last July the Victorian government banned electrical waste from landfills.

That reform has highlighted the need for money from the state government to finance community education, Bendigo's council argued in its submission.

"Local government will be bearing the operational costs to implement these changes," the submission stated.

The council would also like more education and strategies to stop recyclables going to landfill.

"A significant issue for the City of Greater Bendigo landfill is commercial waste which comes to the landfill unsorted from businesses within and external to the municipality, resulting in unacceptable levels of recycling not being recovered," its submission stated.

More state government money is needed from the Sustainability Fund for the sorting and processing of recyclables, Mount Alexander and the Macedon Ranges's submission said.

Bendigo's council wants more help for regional councils cutting down on the amount of waste sent to landfills.

The council has had "little support" so far from the state to research technology needed to replace Eaglehawk's landfill.

The facility will likely be full in the 2021/22 financial year and "it is clear that significant investment will be required for any alternative waste treatment infrastructure" the council wrote.

The fund could also be used to fund councils' pilot programs and support communities that want to better manage their waste, like Elmore, which has placed a self-imposed ban on plastic bags, Bendigo's council said.

The state government could also encourage more ideas like the Bendigo Sustainability Group's boomerang bags and Repair Cafe programs.

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