City of Greater Shepparton councillors voted in February to join the scheme, despite not having settled on proposed changes to the city’s waste streams, including the possible introduction of a glass-only bin and less frequent collection of general waste.
A transition plan to introduce a new glass bin and realign collection times for general and green waste was rejected when it came to council in November last year.
Councillors instead voted to request a revised plan for the current three-bin system, to be presented to the March council meeting, as well as a separate options paper on the merits of a glass bin.
The tender covers long-term contracts for the collection, transport and processing/disposal of commingled recycling, glass, food organics and garden organics and general waste.
The collaborative procurement, part of the Resource Recovery Collective – Hume, is one of the largest of its kind in regional Victoria with each participant stipulating its unique requirements.
North East Waste and Resource Recovery Group executive officer Kristy Kay said councils and alpine resorts across the Hume region had a successful history of working together to procure recycling services.
“They have demonstrated a clear commitment to achieving improved performance of their waste and recycling systems, and this partnership is an exciting opportunity to extend on that work to achieve strong environmental, economic and community-focused outcomes,” she said.
“Collaborative waste management procurements offer significant volumes of recyclables to the market, achieving economies of scale for councils and alpine resorts, and providing more certainty for industry – which is likely to attract greater levels of investment in infrastructure.”
Greater Shepparton City Council’s participation is expected to generate significant savings compared to tendering separately.
