Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson has promised red bins will be collected every week if the Liberal-National Coalition wins the next state election (due in November).
Dozens of Victorian councils have shifted to fortnightly red bin collection in recent years to cut costs and push households to use their recycling and organics bins more.
Wilson has made the promise in a series of social media posts over the past week.
Here’s what you need to know.
Background
In most of Victoria, household waste is separated into four bins:
Food & garden organic products
Glass recycling
Plastic, metal & paper recycling
Unrecyclable household waste
On average, organic matter, food and garden waste makes up at least half of the average Victorian household’s waste, much of which ends up in the red bin.
At least 30 councils have switched red bin collection from weekly to fortnightly, arguing it’s cheaper and encourages people to sort their rubbish properly, diverting waste from landfill.
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The Coalition argues fortnightly collections are inconvenient for “larger families, households with young children, apartment residents, and people managing nappies and incontinence products”.
Wilson has promised that, under a Coalition Government, every Victorian household would get weekly red bin collection.
The Coalition also promised to limit councils raising waste collection charges, and separately, to review both the landfill levy (the per-tonne fee councils pay to dump rubbish) and the bottle and can refund program.
Response
The Victorian Government has questioned how the Coalition would fund the promised expansion of bin collection services.
Environment Minister Jaclyn Symes told TDA the Government would “continue to listen to councils and work with them on practical changes to improve bin and recycling services for their communities”.
A spokesperson for the Liberal Party told TDA: “If councils can find millions of dollars for executive salaries and other spending, they can prioritise weekly rubbish collection.”
What’s next?
A petition to reinstate weekly general waste collections in Baw Baw Shire in the state’s east has received more than 6,000 signatures.
The council has not publicly responded.
Victoria heads to a state election in November 2026.
The Liberal-National Coalition would first need to win Government at that election, then bring a bill to Parliament to legislate their proposed changes to the current bin collection system.
