Hume council’s move to a more flexible waste voucher system has been an overwhelming success in its first year, with residents redeeming nearly 95,000 waste vouchers for free services in the 2024-2025 period.
Council said the system makes it easier for locals to dispose of unwanted items responsibly, with waste vouchers being used for hard waste collections to visits to council’s resource recovery centres in Campbellfield and Sunbury.
The change has replaced the old ‘tip pass’ system which required residents to present their rates notice at the gate, often locking renters out of the service all together.
Every household in the Hume municipality now automatically receives waste vouchers each year, which can be used flexibly for either a hard waste or bundled branch collection, or a tip to a resource recovery centre.
Hume has experienced an 80 per cent surge in voucher redemptions at its resource recovery centres, a jump of 5000 collections for hard rubbish bookings, and about one third of hard waste being diverted from landfill through recycling of mattresses, fridges, scrap metal, e-waste and green waste.
The number of waste entitlements used was up by more than 50 per cent in just one year by use of the new system.
By continuing to use their waste vouchers, residents can help keep Hume’s streets clean and free from illegal dumping.
Mayor Jarrod Bell praised the new system.
“These results set the foundation for a cleaner, greener Hume well into the future,” he said.
“Our waste voucher system has made it simpler for every household to dispose of unwanted items responsibly. That means cleaner streets, less illegal dumping, and more materials recovered for recycling.
“We’ve seen thousands more visits to our Resource Recovery Centres, more hard waste collected, and significantly more items kept out of landfill.
