Last Thursday state environment minister Albert Jacob announced the success of the ‘Better Bins’ pilot program, which employs three bins rather than the usual two: one for waste, one for recycling, and one for green waste and compost.
"The difference in recycling rates shows use of a third bin for green waste clearly produced better results," Mr Jacob said.
The announcement followed the release of the Waste Authority’s Local Government Waste and Recycling Census for 2014-15 figures.
Mr Jacob said local councils who adopted the three bin system recovered 42 per cent of waste from all three bins compared with those councils with two bins, which recovered only 22 per cent.
"When it's easier for households to recycle green waste, such as garden clippings, recovering other waste products improved as well,” he said.
Despite the state government’s offer of $15.4 million to local councils to roll out Better Bins, the City of Mandurah was not convinced.
“The City of Mandurah has considered the three bin waste management option and found the state government offer appealing, but impractical and costly for residents,” City of Mandurah chief Mark Newman said.
“Although the state government offer to provide some funding, the City doesn’t believe that the potential benefits outweigh the additional operating cost that would be worn by our ratepayers.”
Mr Newman said there were many aspects to consider regarding the implementation of a third, green waste only bin including transportation, processing, process site zoning requirements, and more.
