Have your say on our recycling and waste collections

Would you like to see a new purple-lid kerbside bin for glass or do you prefer the Pass on Glass drop-off system? 

Are you likely to place your food waste in the green waste bin as part of a new combined food organics and garden organics (FOGO) kerbside collection? 

Are your bins a good size and how often would you like to see your waste and recycling collected? 

These are some of the questions that the City of Ballarat is asking our community to help us shape the future of our kerbside waste and recycling collections. 

Under the Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021, all Victorian councils must introduce a FOGO collection for all households by 2030 and a separate glass recycling collection by 2027. 

In line with the changes, the City of Ballarat is now reviewing its kerbside collections and would like to first hear feedback from our community.  

The community’s feedback will help guide future decision-making and planning on kerbside services as part of our Draft Kerbside Transition Plan. 

The draft plan will take into consideration the range of services you would like to see, while also considering the frequency, convenience and cost effectiveness of kerbside collections. 

City of Ballarat Mayor, Councillor Des Hudson said how we sort our waste and recycling affects almost every single person in the municipality. 

“Almost everyone places waste and recyclables into a bin at some point each and every day,” Cr Hudson said. 

“I encourage residents to get involved and have your say about the future of our kerbside collections. 

“The City of Ballarat is committed to improving our waste and recycling to reduce the amount of recyclable waste that goes to landfill.” 

Residents can pick-up a survey at City of Ballarat sites, including Customer Service and at Ballarat Libraries, or can complete the survey online via the City of Ballarat's mySay page.

The survey closes Sunday 18 December 2022. 

The Draft Kerbside Transition Plan will go before Council for consideration early next year. 

If endorsed, the draft plan will then go out for additional community consultation before the final Kerbside Transition Plan is presented to Council. 

Once adopted, the City of Ballarat will prepare a timeline for the introduction of the four waste and recycling stream collection service which includes glass, mixed recyclables and FOGO. 

Food organics and garden organics (FOGO) 

A FOGO collection will be introduced under the state-wide changes. 

More than 24,000 tonnes of waste were sent to landfill in the 2021-2022 financial year from 49,103 homes. On average, food organics makes up about 42 per cent of waste going to landfill. 

Keeping food waste, including fruit and vegetable scraps, meat, bones, seafood and eggshells, out of landfill is one of the most simple and effective things we can do for the environment. 

Just like garden waste in landfill, food waste creates methane as it breaks down which contributes to global warming. 

Repurposing food waste with garden waste will divert food waste from landfill and help the environment. Food and green waste can be transformed into compost – which means it is being recycled into something new that can be used. 

Glass collections 

The City of Ballarat moved to separate glass from mixed recycling in 2019, introducing a Pass on Glass system. 

Under this system, residents stopped adding glass to their yellow-lid recycling bins, instead taking their glass to drop-off sites. 

The system to separate glass has received a high up-take from our community – with 3,860 tonnes of glass jars and bottles recycled by local companies since its inception.  

On average, glass now makes up just three per cent of household waste going to landfill. 

The City of Ballarat is keen to hear residents’ preferences for retaining the existing Pass on Glass model or moving to the introduction of a purple-lid bin for glass kerbside collection.