MILDURA Council says the first week of the green bin service was relatively smooth, claiming reports of bins not being emptied were “isolated instances”.
However Councillor for Environment and Farming Sustainability Anthony Cirillo said much uncertainty still remained about their use and need.
“There’s been a lot of confusion and a little bit of angst towards the introduction of it,” Cr Cirillo said.
“People are feeling there hasn’t been enough information around which days are for which bins, but I’m sure will get sorted out as we go along.”
He said many residents had indicated it would make more sense for the (red) household rubbish bin to continue to be collected each week rather than the new fortnightly model.
“In my opinion it’s going to be a major obstacle going forward,” Cr Cirillo said.
“People are saying the cycles should be the other way around; the red bin should be emptied weekly and the other two bins (yellow and green) fortnightly.”
During the first collection of the new bins last Monday, council said more than more than 100 tonne of organic material had been picked up.
“The introduction of the new three-bin service has generally gone very smoothly with more than 131 tonnes of organic waste collected through kerbside green bins between Monday and Wednesday,” a council spokesperson said.
“This represents a significant amount of waste diverted from landfill.”
While a number of residents reported their green bins were left unemptied, particularly in the Lemon Avenue area, council said it was not a widespread issue.
“As with any significant change in services, such as the new three-bin service, which takes in more than 26,000 properties, we were always expecting minor issues in the first few days,” the spokesperson said.
“There have been isolated instances of green bins not being collected.
Cr Cirillo said it would now be a matter of waiting to see whether the new system was required and worthwhile.
“The proof will be in the pudding in due course about whether this was necessary at all,” he said.
“It will be interesting to see if the amount of tonnes collected via the green bin is going to stack up as per the modelling.
“From the perspective of a lot of residents, especially in the rural areas, they’re saying they still do not need it and they still do not want it.”
Residents can check when each of their bins will be collected at council’s website, on the Loddon Mallee Waste Info app or by calling council on 5018 8100.
