Standardising household recycling across Victoria

A 4-bin waste and recycling system for better recycling

More and better recycling

We're standardising household waste and recycling services across the state. This is for more and better recycling, and less waste and landfill.

All households are getting access to services for four waste and recycling streams, including:

  • glass
  • food organics and garden organics
  • mixed recyclables
  • household rubbish.

Consistent separation of household waste and recycling will increase recycling. It will also increase the quality of recycled material produced for reuse.

Separating materials at the source allows us to get the most value from our resources.

Victorian householders currently send four million tonnes to landfill each year. This new system will significantly reduce this unsustainable amount of waste.

A four-stream waste and recycling system

All Victorian households are getting access to services for four waste and recycling streams. This includes separate streams for glass, food organics and garden organics (FOGO), mixed recyclables and household rubbish.

A staged transition to the new system has begun.

Councils and alpine resorts are considering local community needs. When and where materials are collected for recycling will vary in each local government area.

For areas with kerbside collection services, and where possible, households will move to a four-bin system. Each bin will have a colour-coded lid, which will be the same across the state:

  • purple for glass
  • lime green for FOGO
  • yellow for mixed recyclables
  • red for household rubbish.

Bin sizes and collection frequency will vary, depending on local circumstances.

The way that households access these services will also vary. Councils and alpine resorts will determine what is best for their communities, consistent with service standards. Some will use drop-off points, and/or kerbside bins.

We are working closely with councils and alpine resorts across Victoria. Funding is available to support the transition to the new system. This includes support to assist planning and implementation processes. It will also provide support for the roll-out of new bins, for the delivery of critical infrastructure, and for drop-off point upgrades.

Service Standard

A service standard will be developed under the Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021 (the Circular Economy Act) to specify the quality and performance expected of councils and alpine resorts when providing the new four-stream household waste and recycling service.

This standard will ensure consistency of service for communities across the state, supporting improved household recycling and reduced contamination, moving Victoria towards a circular economy.

Consultation

Consultation on how the new household waste and recycling service will work is open from 29 September – 26 October 2022 on Engage Victoria at Setting the standard for better recycling at home.

All Victorians are invited to have their say on the proposed policy and options to inform the first standard of service that councils and alpine resorts will need to meet in delivering the new household waste and recycling service.

The standard will outline how the four-stream services (household rubbish, mixed recycling, glass recycling, and food organics and garden organics) are to be delivered, including service arrangements and standard lists of accepted and not accepted materials for each stream. It will provide detail on the obligation on councils and alpine resorts to deliver the four streams under the Circular Economy Act.

This consultation builds on the Standardising recycling at home across Victoria consultation on draft standard bin contents lists which closed in early 2022.

Standard lists will make it easier for everyone to put items in the right bin (or equivalent) wherever they are in Victoria and enable consistent sorting of waste and recycling at home. This will mean we get more value from our precious resources and significantly reduce landfill.

These standard lists have been updated and released for information only along with the discussion paper on the proposed standards for the household waste and recycling system.

Also released with the discussion paper is a service standards framework explaining the legislative requirements and the staged approach for developing service standards under the Circular Economy Act that will occur over time.

To find out more or make a submission on the service standards discussion paper, visit Engage Victoria at Setting the standard for better recycling at home. Submissions close at 11:59pm on Wednesday 26 October 2022.

Next Steps

Input from Victorians will inform the development of the draft service standard, corresponding regulations and a Regulatory Impact Statement, which will be subject to formal public consultation in early 2023.

There will be a further opportunity to provide feedback at this time.

Updated