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Recycling and Waste Disposal

Temporary changes to recycling and waste disposal

As you may be aware, one of Victoria’s key recycling centres has been temporarily closed to undertake clean-up works required by the EPA. As a result they can no longer accept recyclable materials from 20 Victorian Councils. Unfortunately this means that many local councils, including Kingston, will be forced to send recycling to landfill for the next few days.

We are working with the state government and other councils to ensure recycling is returned to full service as soon as possible. So please keep sorting your recycling and put your bins out as usual. We will keep you updated via FB and our website.

Frequently Asked Questions

What has happened

EPA Victoria this week ordered one of Victoria’s key recycling companies (SKM) to stop accepting new recycling material until they undertake clean-up works at two of their sites.

How long will clean-up works take?

It is hoped the recycling facilities will re-open later this week, however that is subject to an EPA inspection and approval that the clean-up works have been completed.

How does this affect Kingston?

All recycling material collected from the yellow bins outside Kingston homes is currently taken to SKM facilities which have been closed.

Who else is impacted?

20 Victorian Councils are impacted – which includes about 50% of all recycling material collected each week across Melbourne.

What happens now?

Council is working closely with the Victorian Government, other councils and our waste collection contractors to find an urgent solution to the problem.

What should I do with my recycling?

Please keep using your yellow bin for your recycling as usual and put your yellow bin out for collection on your usual collection day.

Where will my recycling material be sent?

Unfortunately for the next few days Kingston will be forced to send recyclable materials to landfill.

This is disappointing and we are working closely with the Victorian Government and other councils to have the problem fixed as soon as possible.

When will we know more?

All impacted Councils are meeting daily this week to be kept fully informed of progress on the clean-up works.

We will advise once we have a confirmed timeline when recyclable materials will once again be accepted for collection.

The City of Kingston is committed to waste minimisation, which is why Kingston residents have access to a choice of kerbside waste services that include a weekly garbage collection, fortnightly recycling, optional green waste collection, an on-call tree branch collection service, an annual hard waste collection and a 'booked' hard waste collection service. In addition, the streets of Kingston are regularly swept, using street sweepers to remove litter, leaves and ensure clear access and safety.

Kingston’s annual waste production (tonnes) 2012 - 2016

	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Garbage	28,696	28,032	29,169	29,653	29,967
Recycling	15,419	15,469	15,468	15,233	15,053
Garden Waste	14,917	13,992	14,447	13,169	14,023
Total (tonnes)	59,032	57,493	59,084	58,055	59,043

Recycling

In 2016, 15,053 tonnes of recyclable material was collected from kerbside recycling bins in Kingston. This is equivalent to collecting roughly 251 kg of recycling per household in 2016. Recycling not only reduces our reliance on landfill but it also saves natural resources such as energy and water. It's important that we also close the loop and, as consumers, buy materials made from our recycling such as packaging, clothing, carpet, glass tiles, cement, cutlery, worm farms, fridges and furniture. This helps to ensure there's a sustainable market for our recyclable packaging waste.

By recycling this amount of waste Kingston residents saved:

8,481 tonnes of CO2 emissions - the equivalent of 2,484 cars permanently removed from the road
109,808 gigajoules of energy - the equivalent of 30,417,771 days of watching a large TV
158 megalitres of water - the equivalent of 63 olympic sized swimming pools

Garden Waste

In 2016, Kingston residents helped recover 14,023 tonnes of garden waste which would have otherwise been sent to landfill. This is equivalent to collecting approximately 234 kg of garden waste per household in 2016. Garden waste collected through Council's kerbside service is turned into compost which is used in schools, community gardens, parks and farms. It's important to make sure only garden waste is placed in these bins so the compost is of a high enough quality to be used within the community. Plastic bags and pots contaminate the compost and the food that's grown from it.

Waste to landfill

In 2016, a total of 29,967 tonnes of waste was collected from kerbside garbage bins in Kingston which ended up in landfill. You can do your bit to help Council reach its goal of achieving zero waste to landfill by:

Using a compost bin, worm farm or Bokashi bucket to compost food scraps
Using containers to store and carry food instead of plastic wrap
Refusing plastics bags when shopping and bring your own reuseable bag
Maximising your recycling by looking for recyclables in every room of the house
Avoiding food waste by cooking with leftovers, using a shopping list and storing food correctly
Collecting soft/fllexible plastics and taking them back to your local supermarket for recycling

If you have a waste-related enquiry, please call Council's Customer Care Team on 1300 653 356

Street Sweeping

Check the Street-Sweeping-Areas.pdf to see which area you live in, then you can see from the Street-Sweeping-Schedule when the next scheduled sweeping of your area will commence.