Michaela Meade
Fortnightly garbage bin collections will begin in Whittlesea in 2023-24, while a Hume councillor is hopeful his municipality will follow suit.
Whittlesea is planning to shift from weekly to fortnightly collections as part of its recently adopted Rethinking Waste Plan 2021-2030.
The council said the fortnightly collection were part of its plan to create a “low waste city and to “recover and recycle as much waste as possible”.
Last week, Hume councillor Naim Kurt told Star Weekly he wanted Hume to introduce fortnightly garbage collections in the future to help reduce the city’s waste.
Cr Kurt said Hume was one of Melbourne’s highest generators of waste.
“Having weekly garbage collections is unsustainable financially, so in the future we will eventually have to move to weekly recycling service and bi-weekly garbage service.”
Cr Kurt said hoped the council could educate residents on why the switch is necessary.
“We need better education about waste generation and to have the community make more informed choices when looking to dispose of waste,” he said.
It comes as western suburbs council Hobsons Bay voted on June 29 to revert to weekly collections after switching to fortnightly collections in February, 2020.
The vote divided councillors 4-2, with one councillor abstaining.
Hobsons Bay residents had complained to the council that their bins were smelly and overflowing as a result of the fortnightly collection.
But the council’s decision to revert to weekly collections was not supported by all in the community, with a group of residents protesting the change outside an emergency council meeting last Thursday.
The meeting was called by three councillors to consider a recession motion to reverse the June 29 decision. The motion failed.
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