We're trialling a new way to reduce waste
We are collecting general rubbish bins every 2 weeks in parts of Hadfield, Brunswick and Brunswick West. The trial started in July 2025.
We're working together with households and businesses in the trial areas to 'transform the norm'. By putting even more food scraps into food and garden organics (FOGO) bins instead of rubbish bins, we are reducing costs and creating more compost to help grow the food we eat.
Participant Hub
Are you in one of our trial areas? Click the button below to find out more
Why we're doing it
It's costing more to send waste to landfill, so reducing waste going to landfill is more important than ever before. This trial aims to help keep landfill and collection costs (which make up the waste charge paid by ratepayers) low for the future.
More than 25 Victorian councils already collect rubbish bins every 2 weeks. They're sending less to landfill because people put their food scraps in the food and garden organics (FOGO) bin every week.
We've noticed a lot of food scraps still being put in rubbish bins - about a third of what's in there is food waste.
That's like throwing out 5 meals every week!
It costs more to send food waste to landfill than it does to turn it into compost.
Watch the video below to find out how your food and garden waste is turned into compost and used by farms and gardens to help grow the food we eat.
How we got here
We've been rolling out changes to our kerbside waste service in stages since 2022.
In July 2023, we started our 4-bin waste service. This change was part of the State Government's Recycling Victoria Policy and we heard feedback from our community during consultation on our waste service.
Along with a new purple bin for glass bottles and jars, we also made changes to hard waste collections and our waste charge. This trial to collect rubbish bin every 2 weeks is the next step to help reduce waste in Merri-bek.
Click here to learn more about the introduction of our 4-bin waste service.
What happens next
The trial started in July 2025. We have been working with households and businesses in the trial areas to adjust to fortnightly rubbish collections.
An evaluation of the trial after the first 6 months has been completed. Download a summary of the trial outcomes.
We are consulting the community in March and April 2026 on the proposed change to fortnightly rubbish collections. Visit our community engagement page for more information.
The results of the trial and community feedback, alongside financial and environmental modelling and the experience of other councils, will help Council decide whether or not to transition our general rubbish service to fortnightly collections to all of Merri-bek. This decision will be made by Council in June 2026.
