City commits to waste management upgrades

THE City of Greater Geelong is gearing up for significant improvements in waste management as part of its proposed 2024-25 budget, which includes major upgrades to waste facilities and the introduction of new kerbside bin services aimed at reducing landfill.

The budget allocates $16.7 million to upgrade existing waste facilities, preparing for the integration of food and garden waste collection, known as the Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) service, by 2027-28.

Geelong mayor Trent Sullivan said the budget marked a critical step towards the city’s circular economy goals.

“Waste management is one of the fundamental roles of councils and our strategy is to treat waste as a resource by collecting and re-using as much of it as we can.

“By doing this, we’ll have far less waste ending up in landfill.”

The initiative will allow food waste to be processed alongside garden waste, creating compost used in local parks, farms, and gardens.

In addition, $8.6 million is set aside for 2026-27 to implement a glass-only kerbside collection service.

Residents will receive purple-lidded bins dedicated to glass, aligning with state government legislation that requires all Victorian councils to adopt FOGO by 2030 and glass-only collection by 2027.

The new system will standardise four-bin waste collection across the state, including bins for household rubbish, mixed recyclables, FOGO, and glass.

The city also plans to invest $300,000 in the 2024-25 budget to continue planning for a new Resource Recovery Centre and Waste Recycling Hub, with $4 million allocated in both 2025-26 and 2026-27 for its construction. The existing Geelong Resource Recovery Centre in North Geelong will undergo a major upgrade to enhance site safety.

Cr Sullivan said the environment would benefit from the development.

“The decision to invest so heavily in waste facilities upgrades in this budget will pave the way for some major changes in the way we collect and manage waste, which will result in better outcomes for the environment.”