Merri-bek's new 4-bin service is here

The way you use your bins at home has changed.

You need to sort your waste into 4 different bins:

  • Food and garden organics (light green lid) collected weekly
  • General rubbish (red or dark green lid) collected weekly
  • Mixed recycling (yellow lid) collected fortnightly/every 2 weeks
  • Glass recycling (purple lid) collected monthly/every 4 weeks.

You can now change the size of your bin. Upsize or downsize your food and garden organics, mixed recycling or glass recycling bin capacity.

Click or tap on the hot spots in the image below to explore the changes to your bins, including what can now go in each bin.

4 wheelie bins in a row with different coloured lids that are open. There are hands above each bin, about to place and item in. from left to right: a hand is about to place a jar into the purple lidded bin, next a hand is about to place a plastic bottle i


The Victorian Government is standardising household waste and recycling services across the state. All Victorian council kerbside services will move to a 4-bin system.

The 4-bin service will help reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill and improve the quality of recyclables in Victoria.

For more information on our new 4-bin service, visit our main website: merri-bek.vic.gov.au/bins

For information on how these changes might affect you, scroll down to explore our household personas.


Small acts make a big impact

It might seem like a small thing to sort your waste into 4 bins, but it makes a big impact when we all do it correctly.

Recycling well and reducing waste helps keep valuable resources out of landfill, so they can be turned into new things, like glass jars, mulch and compost.

general rubbish bin made up of 44% food and garden waste, 11% recycling

Food thrown into your general rubbish bin ends up in landfill, which creates greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. By putting food waste in the food and garden organics bin, we can almost halve the amount of waste sent to landfill.

The new 4-bin service can help us get closer to our goals of zero waste to landfill and zero carbon emissions.


How might the changes affect your household?

Explore how the changes to our waste service might affect you by clicking on the personas that best match your household below.
Mahmoud with his wife, kids and elderly parents

Mahmoud

has a large family

I live with my wife, 3 kids and my elderly parents. My wife is a stay at home carer and we often fill our bins.

Click here to read more about Mahmoud

max holding a child on his shoulder and a pram

Max

has young children in nappies

We have a 2-year old, and a newborn baby. We generate a lot of nappy waste.

Click here to read more about Max

Maddy with two housemates and a plant

Maddy

lives in a rental property with housemates

Between the 4 of us, our recycling and food and garden organics bins fill up quickly.

Click to read more about Maddy

Milo standing with his partner

Milo

lives in a small household

My partner and I don’t create that much waste with just the 2 of us at home.

Click here to read more about Milo

a woman reclines on a red couch reading a book

Melek

lives alone

I live alone and don't create much waste and recycling. I don't really need bigger bins.

Click here to read more about Melek

Mackenzie, her partner, two children and compost

Mackenzie

and her family are a low waste household

We actively try to avoid creating waste where possible and have our own compost bin for food scraps.

Click here to read more about Mackenzie

2 people standing next to mailbox that says 5A

Malina

lives in a townhouse

I live in a townhouse development with 5 other townhouses. How will I store 4 bins?

Click here to read more about Malina

Melissa walking out of her apartment building

Melissa

lives in a block of units

Our unit block has 15 units. We don’t have much room to store bins in our common area.

Click here to read more about Melissa

Mei running outside her apartment building

Mei

lives in a large apartment building

I live in a big apartment building with 25 apartments. We don't have enough space for all the bins.

Click here to read more about Mei

Mick standing and waving next to his big bin

Mick

is an older person on a pension

I’ve been living here for 40 years. I’m on a pension and need help moving the big bins.

Click here to read more about Mick

Mario sitting in his wheelchair

Mario

has a medical condition that creates extra waste

I live with a medical condition that creates extra waste. My general rubbish bin can quickly fill up.

Click here to read more about Mario

Martina placing a bag on a table next to a monitor

Martina

is a business owner

My business uses Council’s waste service. With more people shopping online, we have more packaging waste.

Click here to read more about Martina