State Government of Victoria

Environment Protection Authority

Waste

2013–14 local government kerbside recycling services report


What you can recycle

For information on what you can recycle via your kerbside recycling bin, see the Get It Right on Bin Night website.

2013–14 report on local government kerbside recycling services

Each year, EPA reports on the performance of local government kerbside recycling services in Victoria.

This is done under clause 16 of the Waste Management Policy (Used Packaging Materials).

This information is also reported by other states and territories under the National Environment Protection (Used Packaging Materials) Measure.

Victoria’s reports are based on information that Sustainability Victoria collects from Victorian local governments.

In the 2013–14 report there were:

  • number of councils reporting – 79 of 79
  • percentage of total councils – 100%

Kerbside recycling services provided*

Container type** and collection frequency Metro***  Non-metro Total no.
120 L commingled weekly 4 2 6
240 L (containers) fortnightly & tied bundle (paper) monthly 0 2 2
240 L commingled fortnightly 26 44 70
240 L commingled weekly 1 0 1
Total 31 48 79

* Some councils offer more than one type of kerbside recycling service. This table shows the predominant/default service.

** 2013–14 was the first year there were no council crate systems for kerbside recycling in Victoria.

*** Mornington Peninsula is now included in metro figures; previously it was non-metro.

  • Other type of recycling service – 32 councils reported drop-off services.
  • Total premises/households – 2,611,885
    • residential – 2,361,190
    • non-residential – 250,695

Households/premises serviced by recycling collection Kerbside Drop-off
Residential 2,264,999 738,679
Non-residential 93,779 66,044
Total 2,358,778 804,723

Annual fee charged for recycling service*

  • Residential
    • $120.50 (average)
    • $82.50 (median)
  • Non-residential
    • $125.20 (average)
    • $84.75 (median)

* Not all councils provided information on this fee.

Annual per-premises cost to council to provide service

  • Residential* – $28.90
  • Non-residential – N/A

* Includes residential and non-residential properties serviced

  • Proportion of households with access to recycling service – 96%
  • Average participation rate – 88%

Amounts of materials collected and recovered or disposed of (in tonnes)

Table 1: Amounts of materials collected at the kerbside, sent for secondary use/energy recovery and contamination (waste) disposed of to landfill (in tonnes, 2013–14)

Item Collected Recycled Residual
Total packaging paper 99,241 94,950 4,291
Total non-packaging paper 255,124 238,644 16,480
Total glass 173,052 161,962 11,089
Total plastics 45,859 42,957 2,901
Total aluminium 6,395 5,988 407
Total steel 15,635 14,735 900
Total 595,215 559,103 36,112

Table 2: Amounts of materials dropped off, sent for secondary use/energy recovery and contamination (waste) disposed of to landfill (in tonnes, 2013–14)

Item Collected Recycled Residual
Total packaging paper 6,759 6,724 35
Total non-packaging paper 4,542 4,453 90
Total glass 2,298 2,234 63
Total plastics 987 970 18
Total aluminium 484 482 3
Total steel 1,772 1,768 4
Total 16,842 16,629 214

Previous reporting

For annual reporting periods prior to 2011–12, this information was published in the National Environment Protection Council’s (NEPC’s) annual reports. They are available at the NEPC’s website.

Page last updated on 13 Jan 2020