January 7th, 2024Hepburn Shire to start new food and organics collection

The Hepburn Shire Council will introduce a weekly kerbside collection of food and garden organics for township residents this year, in a bid to help divert thousands of tonnes of organic material from landfill.

The roll-out of this service is part of the council’s sustainable Hepburn strategy and the kerbside collection for townships will include: 

• Lime green-lidded food and garden organics bins – collected weekly 
• Red-lidded landfill (general rubbish) bins – collected fortnightly 
• Yellow-lidded recycling – collected fortnightly (no change). 

As of May 2023, almost half of Australia’s councils offered a food and garden organics service, including Macedon Ranges Shire, City of Greater Bendigo, Melton City Council, Central Goldfields, Campaspe, Southern Grampians and more. 

The state government requires all Victorian Councils to introduce a food and garden organics service by 2030. 

The Hepburn shire’s new waste collection regime is expected to make a big impact to reduce waste to landfill.

More than half of the material currently placed in the red-lidded general waste landfill bin is understood to be food waste that would be suitable for the new lime green-lidded bin.

Reducing waste to landfill is forecast to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and minimise future waste costs associated with using landfill.

The council is creating short videos to explain the new food and garden organics kerbside collection with township residents to receive a lime-green lidded bin and kitchen caddy this year.