The State Government has proposed a Service Standard that requires all councils to provide a four-bin waste and recycling service by 1 July 2027.

Planning for this change has commenced and as outlined at the Councillor Briefing, four options have been assessed to implement the required service standards.

The Kerbside Transition Plan options for Whitehorse are outlined below:

Option 1 (officer preferred)

• Indicative annual cost per property $307
• Change to fortnightly Garbage (red-lid bin) collection (mix of 80-litre and 120-litre bins using existing bins).
• Add mandatory FOGO (bright green-lid bin) collection and change to weekly collection (mix of 140-litre and 240-litre bins using existing bins).
• No change to fortnightly Commingled Recycling (yellow-lid bin) collection (240-litre bins using existing bins).
• Add 4-week Glass Recycling (purple-lid bin) collection (80-litre and 120-litre bins using new bin).

This option has been modelled as the lowest ongoing cost as it provides the highest diversion from landfill. Landfilling and future advanced waste processing are the highest disposal cost options, with FOGO, commingled and glass recycling offering the lowest processing costs. This will form the Waste Service Charge.

Option 2

• Indicative annual cost per property $312
• Fortnightly 120-litre Garbage, weekly FOGO, fortnightly Commingled Recycling, add 4-week Glass Recycling

Option 3

• Indicative annual cost per property $317
• Current service (weekly Garbage, fortnightly FOGO, fortnightly Commingled Recycling), add 4-week Glass Recycling

Option 4

• Indicative annual cost per property $342
• Weekly Garbage, weekly FOGO, fortnightly Commingled Recycling, add 4-week Glass Recycling

Community consultation is now required to further inform the decision on the final bin service model.