A council in Western Australia has expanded its kerbside collection system to three bins after receiving a grant from the Better Bins program.
About 4,000 households in the Shire of Collie, 60 kilometres east of Bunbury, will have access to a third wheelie bin to recycle food and garden waste from this week. The council was able to introduce the new system thanks to a grant of $117,000 from the WA Government’s Better Bins program.
The first homes had their new lime-green lidded bins collected and emptied yesterday (4 April) as part of the shire’s weekly service.
Shire of Collie became the eighth local government in WA to access funding through the Better Bins program to implement a three-bin system, with the aim of boosting recycling rates and diverting more waste from landfill.
WA Environment Minister Albert Jacob urged other councils to apply for funding under the $20 million initiative to implement similar collection schemes.
“Separating waste helps support recycling by reducing the amount of non-recyclable materials in the recycling streams. Cleaner recycling streams are cheaper and easier to recycle and result in more valuable materials,” said Mr Jacob.
“Less than half of Western Australia’s waste stream is recycled, with materials worth millions of dollars being sent to landfill each year. That’s why programs like Better Bins are crucial.”
More information is available on the WA Waste Authority’s website.