Baw Baw Shire Council is introducing a Special Consideration Program (SCP) to support members of our community with the new collection schedule for the red general rubbish bin.
In July, Council introduced the Food Organics Garden Organics program, and under this new program, residents are now required to place their food scraps in the green lid bin alongside their garden clippings.
The introduction of this program also saw a change in frequency for collection of the green FOGO bin to weekly and the red general rubbish bin to fortnightly, and the SCP is here to provide support, following this big change.
The eligibility categories for the SCP are for households that create additional waste from the following:
- Medical condition and/or disability
- Two (or more) children under 4 years of age, in nappies
- Large family, experiencing financial hardship.
If you fall into one of the above categories, the SCP will provide an additional 120L general rubbish bin for free. Alternatively, you can request an upgrade to a 240L, if you would prefer to have only one red general rubbish bin.
Baw Baw Shire Mayor Cr Kate Wilson said the Council had listened to community feedback, took it on board and reviewed where it could better support the community to manage this change. The SCP seeks to assist families that would not be able to manage their waste appropriately, in the absence of weekly collections.
“While the FOGO program is here to stay, we understand that for many of our local families, fortnightly collections of the 120L red general rubbish bin doesn’t provide enough capacity, so we’ve introduced a program to help manage this,” Cr Wilson said.
“The FOGO program is a critical program and is mandated by the State Government via its new standardised household waste and recycling system. It seeks to divert more waste away from landfill and create better recycling outcomes across Victoria.
“The amount of waste we currently send to landfill is unsustainable, so we’re trying to strike a balance between moving towards a circular economy and reducing landfill waste, while still providing solutions for our residents with additional waste circumstances.”
According to waste audits undertaken by Baw Baw Shire, more than half of the waste found in Baw Baw’s average red general rubbish bin is made up of food scraps (39%), garden organics (4%) glass recycling (1%) or mixed recycling (9%).
Council undertook audits in September 2023 and in June 2026 and will undertake another one this financial year, in mid-2027.
With landfill levies continuing to increase, diverting even 25% of waste away from landfill is estimated to save the community more than $1.15 million each year, helping to keep future waste costs down.
Over the past eight years, while the Victorian Government’s EPA Landfill Levy has increased by almost 170%, from $65.90 to $177.19 per tonne, while the waste charge paid by residents has increased by 51%, which adds significant pressure to Council budgets.
In addition to the SCP, Council wants to remind residents that from July 2026, there is also now free recycling for soft plastics, textiles, and polystyrene at Council’s four transfer stations including Lardner, Erica, Trafalgar and Neerim South.
