Three bin system set to be expanded across WA as part of new waste strategy

City of Bunbury

Shire of Busselton 

Shire of Augusta-Margaret River

Shire of Collie

All properties within the Perth and Peel region will have three bins by 2025 after the state government announced their latest plans to manage waste in the future.

The Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030 will guide the state in becoming a sustainable, low-waste economy and help to preserve WA's natural environment.

A cornerstone of the strategy is a third kerbside bin for Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO).

Under the new system, such food scraps including meat, bones and dairy as well as garden vegetation will be separated from other waste categories and reused in a high quality compost creation, rather than going to landfill.

The FOGO bin can also accept cardboard, paper products and food stain paper products such as pizza boxes, which are a common contaminant in recycling bins. 

A number of regional local governments have already implemented the third bin, including the City of Bunbury, who were the first in WA to do so in 2013, and the Shires of Collie, Capel and Donnybrook-Balingup. 

The Shire of Harvey will implement the system in the coming months.

Despite the growing number of local governments taking up the initiative, the City of Busselton currently have no plans to introduce a three-bin system and will instead undertake a funded study to investigate the viability of adopting an anaerobic digestion waste recycling system.

Bunbury mayor Gary Brennan said after an initial adjustment period, residents were happy to contribute to waste management once they could see the benefits.

"The introduction of the third bin has had great success - since 2013 Bunbury residents have diverted on average 65 per cent of their waste from landfill by using the lime green FOGO and yellow lid recycling bins," he said.

"In 2011 and 2012, the City of Bunbury sent 13,700 tonnes of waste from rubbish bins to landfill.

"In 2016 and 2017, only 5980 tonnes of waste from rubbish bins was sent to landfill."

Mr Brennan said, with a little help from council, the FOGO three-bin system was an "efficient and realistic" way for residents to do their part for waste management.

"It is also essential to provide tools for residents to sort waste effectively in the kitchen - the city currently offers residents a free kitchen caddy and certified compostable bags to make it easy to collect food scraps in the kitchen and dispose of in the FOGO bin," he said.

"We carry out regular bin audits to find out what materials are being placed incorrectly in the recycling and FOGO bins. The data we collect is then used to develop targeted education programs.

"All these initiatives should drive the diversion rate higher than the current rate of 65 per cent. Waste education is the key for our city."

While the FOGO bins will be mandatory for the Perth and Peel metropolitan region, Conservation Council WA (CCWA) vice president Tim Barling praised the work of the south west councils voluntarily on board and encouraged neighbouring regions to join the effort.

"To divert a large proportion of the mass produced by households away from landfill as well as produce a sellable product is something that all councils should seriously consider," he said.

"Requiring people to better source separate their rubbish allows them to become more aware of the waste they produce and the associated environmental costs thus leading to positive behaviour change in waste reduction."

Mr Barling said diverting organic waste from landfill had a number of benefits including reducing methane and carbon emissions, saving money and supplying a high grade compost to local farmers.

"CCWA keenly supports the implementation of the full FOGO three-bin system," he said.

"With the heartbreaking stories of the amount of plastic in our oceans we see, the next steps for the state government is to again follow the path of many local governments, as well as retailers, and implement a state wide ban on balloon releases and single use plastics such as drinking straws, plastic cutlery and takeaway containers."

Premier Mark McGowan said the state government aimed to reduce waste generation by 20 per cent and increase recovery by 75 per cent by the end of the strategy in 2030.

"Western Australia has some of the highest rates of waste generation in the nation. This has to change," he said.

"By rolling out the three-bin system across all metropolitan local governments, we will ensure more value is recovered from household waste.

"Many WA households have welcomed the system with open arms and my government will work with local governments to build on that success.

"By reducing the waste we send to landfill, we can generate significant economic opportunities for Western Australians - recycling 10,000 tonnes of waste creates three times more jobs than sending the same amount of waste to landfill."

The initiative will build on the momentum from the introduction of the container deposit scheme in 2020 and the recent ban on lightweight plastic bags.

The strategy also includes plans to use more than 25,000 tonnes of recycled construction and demolition waste as road base under the Roads to Reuse program.

Environment minister Stephen Dawson said the strategy was a "vision" for WA individuals, households, industries and businesses to "do their bit".

"The time to act on waste is now and recognising that waste is a shared responsibility is the first step," he said.

"We know the community are very supportive of better waste and recycling practices. We need all Western Australians to generate less waste, recover more value and resources from waste and to protect the Western Australian environment by managing waste responsibly." For more information about the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030, visit the Waste Authority's website.