Kerbside services in Victoria

Total waste generation 2008-09

• Kerbside collection services for garbage, recyclables and green organics generated 1.9 million tonnes of waste in Victoria, an increase of 37,195 tonnes or 2.0% from the previous financial year. More than half of the increase is directly attributed to the gains achieved through the increased recovery of green organics with an additional 20,124 tonnes collected

• The statewide average diversion rate for recyclables and green organics has increased from 42% in 2007-08 to 43% in 2008-09. The diversion rate has increased every year since 2000-01 and has improved by 17 percentage points.

       Diversion rate, Victoria 2000-01 to 2008-09

Garbage

• A little over1 million tonnes of garbage was collected through kerbside services in 2008-09.
• Victorian households have steadily reduced their garbage generation. In 2008-09 households generated 472 kg annually, 4 kg less than the previous year.
• The total tonnage collected has increased by 1.7% or 17,456 tonnes over the past year.
• Local governments using smaller garbage bins generated less waste and had greater diversion rates for recycling than those using larger garbage bins. This has been the trend consistently since the benchmark survey of 2000-01.

       Garbage yield by collection system, Victoria 2008-09

     
Recycling

• More than 607,000 tonnes of recyclables were collected from kerbside, representing a 1.6% decrease from the previous year. Although the tonnes collected have decreased slightly, 13,028 more tonnes were reprocessed for recycling in 2008-09 compared with 2007-08 indicating that households are recycling better and reducing the amount of contaminants in recycling bins.
• The cost of providing a kerbside recyclables collection service at $120 per tonne is still less expensive than the cost of providing a kerbside garbage collection and disposal service at $142. These figures indicate that recycling waste material is economically viable for collectors of recyclables compared to the more expensive option of disposing of garbage to landfill.
• Collections averaged 283 kg per household per year representing a decrease of 8 kg over 2007-08. This represents 113 kg of recyclables generated by every person in Victoria, slightly less than the previous year with 116 kg per person. In real terms, given the additional amount of waste material recycled (compared to collected) households did marginally better than the previous year (104 kg vs. 103 kg per household annually).
• 77 of the 79 local governments (97%) now use a best practice commingled system for recyclables instead of a crate for containers and tied bundle for paper, which was the predominant system prior to 2002-03.
• By weight paper/cardboard accounted for 62.8%, miscellaneous containers (glass containers, steel and aluminium cans) 29.4% and plastic containers 7.8% of recycled materials from kerbside (excluding green waste).

Green organics

• Of the 79 local governments, 51 different green organics collection services were offered across 45 councils. Of these, 22 were regular council provided collection (i.e. weekly, fortnightly or monthly) while 19 local governments also provided an optional user pays fortnightly collection.
• 270,774 tonnes of green organics were collected from kerbside services, an increase of 20,124 tonnes, or 8.0% compared to 2007-08.
• On average, 170 kg of green organics was collected per household (51 kg per person).
• A fortnightly service (either regular or user pays options) was the most common (73%); yielding on average 252 kg per household annually for a regular council service and 290 kg per household for a fortnightly user pays system.

Top | Last updated 18/10/2010