Parties divided over purple-lid glass bins ahead of Victorian election

Councils call on Victorian government to scrap mandatory kerbside glass recycling In short: Some councils are calling on the Victorian government to reconsider a mandate requiring purple-lid glass-recycling bins to be rolled out to all homes by July 2027. Local government leaders say a statewide mandate is not appropriate, as waste collection requirements vary drastically from council to council. What's next? The state opposition has vowed to scrap the program if elected in November, and dozens of councils are refusing to participate in the compulsory program, fearing it could be a waste of money. There is growing pushback against the Victorian government's glass-recycling bin mandate, with some councils rallying against a requirement for the purple-lid bins to be rolled out to all homes by the middle of next year. First announced in 2020, the scheme was part of an overhaul of the state's waste and recycling system, with the aim of reducing glass contamination in mixed recycling and diverting more material from landfill. The purple-lidded glass-recycling bins have already been rolled out in more than half of Victoria's local government areas, but others have refused to participate in the scheme. The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) argues local authorities are best placed to decide how waste is collected and recycled in their communities. "A one-size-fits-all, mandated solution is not the correct way to approach local government waste services," MAV president Jennifer Anderson said. "Rubbish really is a council service and therefore the council needs to work out in terms of distances, roads and contractors — it's very complex." State government data shows 42 out of 79 Victorian councils have already introduced a separate glass-recycling bin to the waste collection schedule. Hobsons Bay City Council, in Melbourne's south-west, was an early adopter, with collections every four weeks. The council said the program had provided excellent environmental outcomes, collecting more than 1,400 tonnes of glass in the past financial year. "Larger pieces are sent to a local factory to be remade into new bottles and jars and smaller pieces are ground down so that they can be used as a sand replacement for road base," a spokesperson said. "Only 3 per cent of contents are contaminated, which provides an excellent environmental outcome." Geelong mayor Stretch Kontelj said his council supported recycling, but he believed the purple bin scheme was not viable for the regional city. He said the rollout would initially cost the council $8.6 million, with $5.4 million required to maintain the extra collections each year thereafter. "These costs have to be borne somewhere, and I'm very conscious that households are already dealing with significant cost-of-living pressures, and this would just add to it," he said. "There are some councils that have introduced the fourth bin. Good luck to them. But it shouldn't be mandatory." Purple bins not the only solution Shattered glass in mixed recycling — the waste that goes in the existing yellow-lid bins — causes major problems for recycling companies, according to RMIT Centre for Urban Research senior research fellow Bhavna Middha. However, Dr Middha said concerns regarding cost, space in household yards and additional trucks on the road meant a separate bin may not be the best option for every council. Ms Anderson from the MAV said councils wanted to support their residents to recycle, but implementing a universal approach would not work. "Those principles of what we want to achieve are the same. It's just how you go about it, and unintended consequences of legislation that may not fit all 79 councils," she said. The MAV said roughly 40 councils had determined the purple bin roll-out was not appropriate for their communities, and instead called for the expansion of the state's container deposit scheme to accept a broader range of glass containers. Dr Middha agreed there was an opportunity to expand the existing program. "There is that gap there, things like jam bottles, pickle bottles, all of these that are not categorised as beverage containers fall back into the recycling bin," she said. "If the government and the recycling companies can get creative, it's absolutely expandable." The state government has said it will work with councils to finalise rules for household waste and recycling services ahead of the July 2027 deadline for rolling out the purple bins. The Liberal-National opposition has pledged to remove the mandate and instead enforce a weekly general waste bin collection — instead of fortnightly in some areas — if it is elected to government. "It is a big concern, again, a state government trying to mandate what a council should do without having discussions," Ms Anderson said in response to the opposition's proposal. The Victorian Greens said the party fully supported a four-bin waste system, but was calling on the government to work with councils to find the best solution for local contexts. One Nation MP Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell told the ABC her party did not support any form of bin mandate, believing councils were best placed to make waste disposal decisions for their communities. Dr Middha said a shared bin program in place in the City of Port Phillip offered a potential solution. "If there are, say, a few houses and apartments in one street, at the end of the street they could have a shared glass bin," she said. "This kind of shared infrastructure is what we need, rather than burdening households and councils with extra infrastructure."