Macedon Ranges Shire Council was celebrated for its four-bin system at a waste and recycling awards night in Melbourne last month.
The Waste Innovation and Recycling Awards are an annual ceremony celebrating the ability of the waste and resource recovery industry to innovate and influence communities.
Council’s four-bin system, titled ‘Let’s get sorted’ won the category of Most Outstanding Waste and Resource Recovery Project, which is awarded to a project that delivers cost-effective and high-impact success in its targeted field.
Macedon Ranges Shire Council was one of the first Victorian councils to introduce a four-bin system in February 2020.
Council’s household kerbside service consists of four colour-coded bins: yellow for recycling, green for food and garden organics, red for general waste and purple for glass only.
Each bin includes infographics to help identify what waste goes where.
Mayor Jennifer Anderson was thrilled with the award and said council had worked hard to raise community awareness about reducing waste to landfill while providing the resources needed to support the goal.
“We have already seen a significant change in the way our residents are both considering the refuse, reduce, reuse and repair mentality,” she said.
“When they do need to dispose of items they have embraced the kerbside four-bin system to maximise recycling, significantly reducing the amount of material going to landfill.”
Council has also implemented a recycling system at Hanging Rock Reserve, a major tourist destination and event space for the Macedon Ranges, to encourage visitors to think about how they dispose of waste and help reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.
Within two years of the four-bin roll-out, council has achieved the highest diversion of resources from landfill of any council in Victoria since the system was introduced, with a 74 per cent diversion rate.
It was also one of the first councils in Australia to introduce a separate kerbside glass bin collection service. Since its implementation, more than 4689 tonnes of glass has been recycled.
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