At Tuesday night's meeting Campaspe Shire Council endorsed a decision to join the inter-council advocacy group, comprised of 31 Victorian councils, made up of regional and urban municipalities, to seek a delay in the implementation date for the glass-only kerbside bin service.
Campaspe Shire Mayor, Cr Daniel Mackrell said that whilst Council supports the need for less recycling contamination, that the shire faces challenges that make the kerbside glass service less compelling.
"Our municipality is geographically large, where the kerbside collection trucks have to traverse long distances to service a low population density.
"The most cost-effective option with the lowest emissions and road impact for Campaspe is the current fortnightly commingled recycling and no separate glass bin.
"Additionally, the facility that receives Campaspe Shire's commingled recycling also accepts material from three LGAs in NSW who are not required to have a separate glass bin which creates further contamination the co-mingled recycling stream," said the Mayor.
The Victorian Government mandates that all households have a kerbside glass-only bin service by July 1, 2027. The advocacy group seeks to delay the implementation of the kerbside glass service to assess the impacts of the Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) on glass tonnages, national standards for kerbside services, and the expansion of CDS to include wine and spirit bottles. The group also seeks to minimise the cost imposition on the community by working together with the State Government.
"We remain committed to advocating for waste services that provide flexibility and discretion to consider service efficiencies, ensuring that financial, operational, and environmental impacts are proportional to the benefits delivered for our municipality, especially during a cost-of-living crisis when every cent counts," added Cr Mackrell.
