Mornington Peninsula Shire’s new waste strategy remains on the drawing board

4 April 2020

Councils across Victoria are changing the way they dispose of kerbside household waste. The most significant initiative is separating organic kitchen waste from other non-recyclable household waste.

While councils in metropolitan and rural areas are adopting new separation methods, the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council (MPSC) continues to examine options and consult, and re-consult, with ratepayers.

Currently, MPSC conducts a weekly kerbside collection service for household rubbish and a fortnightly service for recyclables. Household rubbish is a mix of waste that cannot be recycled, including kitchen organic waste, which all ends up in landfill.

Before MPSC can make any progress in reducing landfill, in accordance with its ‘Zero Waste’ policy, it must start separating organic waste from non-recyclable household waste, a process that starts on the kitchen bench.

For more than a decade this strategy has been operating in NSW. Since moving across the border into Victoria, the food scrap caddy idea has been introduced by a number of rural and suburban councils.

The kitchen caddy being introduced by councils

Lined with compostable bag, a kitchen caddy is filled with food scraps from meal preparations and leftovers. One the caddy is full, the bag is tossed into a specific organics wheelie bin and ready for collection.

The contents of the new organics collection bin can only include Food Organic Garden Organics (FOGO), which is then processed for Victorian agriculture and horticulture use.

Some Victorian councils have made the FOGO service universal across their municipality at no extra cost to the ratepayer, while others offer an opt-in program with a ‘user-pay’ charge.

A 4-bin system adopted by some councils

Other councils are going further by introducing a 4-bin system that includes organic waste, landfill, glass and then all other recyclable waste in the fourth bin.

But the 4-bin system is not without its problems. One being the amount of space householders need to store the four bins, particularly in dense residential areas.

So what progress has MPSC made in its strategy to reduce landfill and improve its methods of organic recycling?

For the moment, council’s key problem is its inability to procure a waste treatment facility for municipal organic waste, FOGO.

Having a purpose-built processing plant, Advanced Waste Technology (AWT), sited on the Peninsula would save having to transport organic waste to another region that provides such a facility.

Whether it is financed by MPSC in partnership with State Government, or the private sector, the situation has to be addressed if the Shire is ever going to progress towards ‘Zero Waste’.