Council & Business
29 August, 2025
Feedback sought on waste collection
The 2025 Waste and Recycling Survey is seeking residents’ feedback on Pyrenees Shire Council’s waste collection service.
The comprehensive survey asks a wide range of questions including satisfaction with collection frequency and reliability, transfer station use, how full bins are on collection days, recycling information needs and a new Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) service.
Pyrenees Shire CEO Jim Nolan said waste and recycling collection is one of council’s most valued services, and it is important to ensure it is meeting the community’s needs.
“Our latest Community Satisfaction Survey highlighted that waste services is a very high priority for our residents,” Mr Nolan said.
“With the upcoming introduction of FOGO, and an increasing need to reduce our waste to landfill, we want to review our service and make sure it is operating as efficiently as possible.
“I would encourage residents to fill out the survey so we can provide the best and most cost-effective waste and recycling service.”
By July 2027, council must provide a four-bin kerbside collection system, adding an extra FOGO bin to the current landfill, recycling and glass bins under Victorian Government regulations.
Food organics include fruits, vegetables, food scraps, bones, meat, dairy products, grains, breads, pasta and rice. Garden organics consist of garden clippings, dried leaves, weed and grass.
One option under consideration for a four-bin kerbside collection service is:
• Landfill — 240 litre bins collected every three weeks (changed from weekly 120 litre bins in Avoca and Beaufort and fortnightly 240 litre bins in other areas)
• Recycling — 240 litre bins collected fortnightly (no change)
• Glass — 120 litre bins collected every eight weeks (changed from four weeks)
• FOGO — 240 litre bins collected fortnightly (new service which includes changing the four-weekly green waste collections in Avoca and Beaufort)
This four-bin kerbside system option will limit an increase on the yearly waste and recycling charge included on council’s rate notices.
This is opposed to a $150-$200 first year increase to only add the FOGO bins.
Other factors considered in a four-bin kerbside system — highlighted by data collected from bin collection trucks and kerbside bin audits on the current service — include:
• On average, around 30-40 percent of a landfill bin is FOGO material
• On average, landfill bins are only 65 percent full
• Only 25 percent of glass bins are put out for collection on their collection days
• On average, glass bins are below 30 percent full
• The Container Deposit Scheme has greatly reduced glass containers in the glass bin
• The average household has a contamination rate of 23 percent in its recycling
“This data shows us that we can make some effective changes to our waste collection, and we want our community to help us work out the best possible way to provide this valuable service,” Mr Nolan said.
The survey can be conducted at pyrenees.vic.gov.au/Residents/Engage, with any residents who fill out the survey to go in the running for six $50 gift vouchers.