A nappy collection service, bin size upgrades and changes to bin collections next week are among changes to Greater Shepparton’s waste management system.
Changes to kerbside bin collections start next week for the rest of Greater Shepparton after council rolled out stage one of the kerbside collection transition earlier this year to Kialla and Tatura.
The major change is that red-lid rubbish bins will no longer be collected weekly.
Instead, the green organic bins will be collected weekly, with rubbish and recycling alternating each week.
This transition encourages residents to use their green bins as much as possible and only place items in the red bin that can only go to general waste.
This change follows a waste audit conducted on council’s bins at the beginning of 2021, which found that between 60 and 70 per cent of waste placed in rubbish could go to organics or recycling instead.
While options to upgrade bin sizes are available, council is encouraging people to first review what changes they can make to their waste and recycling habits.
Council’s waste education team can help people through these changes via a question portal on the Shaping Greater Shepp website.
One of the concerns that has been raised within the community about the process is the disposal of medical waste and nappies.
For those with medical needs needing to dispose of their medical waste, council has offered a free upgrade to the red-lid bin.
It has also confirmed that final preparations have begun for the implementation of a nappy collection service and said it would also accept incontinence pads.
This service is an initiative that will repurpose nappies into a new product.
More information on how the service will be delivered and how to register for the service will be available in the coming weeks.
For those wanting to upgrade their 80-litre red bins, there is no administration fee to upgrade to 120 litres.
However, there will be an increased fee on the household’s rates notice.
If households want to upgrade to a 240-litre bin, they will need to pay both an increased fee on their rates notice and an administration fee of $62.
Council is also now introducing a 360-litre recycling bin to the kerbside bin service as an optional upsize for households.
To upgrade the current 240-litre bins to 360 litres, the same payments apply as to the 240-litre red-lid bin, except the administration fee is $37.
This service will be made available to both residential and rural properties.
Residents of rural properties can also apply to get a green organics bin by contacting council.
The purple glass bins are expected to be introduced from April 2024.
The upcoming kerbside bin collection changes have different transition dates depending on the household’s address.
Residents can find out when these changes occur for their zone by searching their address on the Greater Shepparton City Council website.
A 12-month calendar of bin collection dates can also be printed from the website.