Over the next three years, the way both you and Council deal with household waste will change fundamentally. You will be required to sort your household waste into four bins to reduce land fill and help direct everything that can be recycled to recovery.
Council also voted to continue with a range of ‘cohort’ advisory committees rather than adopt a ‘thematic’ structure that mirrored the strategic themes in the council plan. The decision will see the establishment of a Disability Advisory Committee, plus the reinstatement of LGBTIQA+ Advisory, Multicultural Advisory, Older Persons Advisory and Youth Advisory committees.
Meanwhile, on the Have Your Say website seeks your feedback on plans to further cut services for older people. On the chopping block are delivered meals and supported social activities, but there’s on-going commitment to other social supports.
Four bins by 2027
Councils will be required to provide four bins in the future to reduce the volume of landfill and increase recycling by reducing contamination by July 2027 according to State mandate. There will colour coded bins for each service: red for general rubbish, yellow for mixed recycling (paper, plastic, metal), lime green for food and garden organics (FOGO), and purple for glass recycling.
This change is at the heart of the new strategy which seeks to get households to get really good at sorting waste into the correct bin. Implemented over the next two years, general waste bins will move to fortnightly collection, and you will be expected to sort recycling across three other bins.
Council will boost education, communication and auditing to assure you that your efforts are not wasted. But it’s going to be a challenge.
Current waste audits show that more than half of red bins could be recycled in some way.
The current yellow bins contain significant amounts of glass. This will be deemed as contamination when the fourth bin is in place (1 July 2027).
Green bins have been found to have around 7% contamination with mixed recycling and general waste.
E-waste and dumped rubbish challenges
E-waste is any item with a plug, battery or power cord. Some of these hazardous items when found in kerbside bins as they are a fire risk. This includes vapes which can cause fires in trucks or recycling facility when they get crushed. Council offers e-waste recycling at the RRC and introduced vape recycling in 2024.
Dumped rubbish on streets remains a problem awaiting a solution. Council is seeking to promote booked hard rubbish collections and employee an officer to pursue enforcement. Meanwhile, nature strips are used as dumping grounds on a frequent basis.
Devil in the detail
As reported previously the current annual cost of FOGO contamination was estimated at $800K pa. And Council was told that the change to red lid bins will chew up $2M alone, you can expect a few more costly surprises. You can also expect to pay more for household collections as this table shows.
‘Old school’ committees get re-instated
Events like the Seniors Festival and youth festivals have long been driven by cohort committees including the Older Persons Advisory and Youth Advisory committees. LGBTIQA+ Advisory and Multicultural Advisory committees have also helped council include underrepresented groups in decisions.
Council has let these committees expire but will now reinstate them and recruit a new generation of participants. They will also create a new Disability Advisory Committee.
Councillors voted down a shift to ‘thematic’ committees, including the following array of committees: healthy and connected community advisory committee; environmentally sustainable city advisory committee; safe and liveable city advisory committee; and vibrant and thriving community advisory committee.
Seeking to blend the two options, a motion from Cr Jay to establish a Community Safety Committee failed to get a seconder and was not considered. Cr Halliday spoke supporting the thematic committees. In the vote, all councillors except Jay and Halliday supported the decision.
Aged care exodus continues?
Council is seeking feedback on more changes to services for older people. Their online survey closes Sunday 7 December 2025.
Council is steeping away from providing services to the aged on behalf of the Commonwealth. This follows the hand back of in-home ages services such as home-help in 2024. The next move is ending delivered meals and Commonwealth funded social support activities (such as group meals and activities).
According to the Council’s website: ‘While Council is proposing to step back from delivering Commonwealth-funded aged care services, these services will not disappear. Instead, responsibility for them would return to the Commonwealth Government, who would appoint other qualified providers to continue supporting our community.’
Council say they will continue to offer the following programs to strengthen social connections and improve wellbeing for older people in the community.
This would include:
A larger Linking Neighbours program; including social activities such as coffee mornings and regular outings.
Continued Community Connector services; to help older people and their families in Port Phillip understand what supports are available within the broader aged care system.
Continued Hop On Hop Off bus service; to help older people and those with access needs get to popular destinations in Port Phillip.
A dedicated Positive Ageing Team at Council; to develop and implement programs that support older people in Port Phillip.
Do you have questions or concerns?
TWiSK understands that the Aged Care system is going through big changes. We fear that such massive change leaves some people behind, mostly older people with limited options.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out (confidentially if need be) to Greg Day 0418 345 829. We’ll endeavour to take your questions to Council.
Whistle-blowers can mail documents in confidence to Greg Day, 31 Alma Road, St Kilda 3182.
