Bendigo residents could be recycling their glass waste at different points around the region if a City of Greater Bendigo plan is accepted by the state government.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Council has proposed to introduce 20 glass disposal points across Greater Bendigo rather than introducing a fourth bin for homes.
A draft plan has been submitted to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.
Read more:
Council resource recovery and education manager Brooke Pearce said using 20 glass disposal points was a cheaper option for Bendigo ratepayers.
"This approach removes an additional cost of $3.2 million that would have had to be covered by ratepayers to purchase 47,000 new kerbside bins for the collection of glass," Ms Pearce said.
"The reason for this approach is because the state government is due to implement a container deposit scheme in 2023. Where container deposit schemes exist in other states, they have been shown to direct a large portion of glass and plastics from the kerbside collection system.
The City of Ballarat successfully introduced a disposal point program for glass diversion in May, 2020, which has diverted 70 per cent of glass from kerbside recycling to the disposal points."
Victorian councils are required to introduce measures that remove glass from recycling as part of the state government's Recycling Victoria Policy that was introduced in March last year.
"In October last year all 79 Victorian Councils were required to provide DELWP with a transition plan on how they would meet the requirements of the state's policy by 2024," Ms Pearce said.
"(Our) draft plan was submitted to DELWP that also served as a funding application to support the transition."
Ms Pearce said council is yet to receive approval from the state government for the glass disposal point transition plan.
"The rollout of a glass collection service will be supported by significant public communications so residents are aware of future changes," she said. "It is expected the glass disposal points will be available for use next year."
Council has also been encouraging residents to take part in a survey about waste collection as they transition to a circular economy in-line with the state government's Recycling Victoria policy.
The survey closes on October 22. To take part visit so to visit www.letstalkgreaterbendigo.com.au
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark bendigoadvertiser.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter @BgoAddy
- Follow us on Instagram @bendigoadvertiser
- Join us on Facebook
- Follow us on Google News