Food and garden bins are coming to all households soon

Hume City Council is filling the gaps to provide every household in Hume with a food and garden (green) bin this year. 

From July 2024, the food and garden bin will be included in Council’s standard kerbside waste service, along with garbage and recycling bins. This will allow all residents to recycle their food scraps and garden clippings in their green bin, rather than send them to landfill. 

Hume's food and garden bin first launched in 2014, and nearly half of Hume households have opted in to the service since then.  

New bins will be delivered to the remaining households between April and June this year, with collection commencing from 1 July. 

For households that already have a green bin, nothing is changing – you can keep using your food and garden bin as normal. 

Bin days and collection frequencies will remain the same. Garbage will still be collected weekly, and the green bins will be collected every two weeks, alternating with recycling. 

By weight, food waste makes up 40% of the contents of the average garbage bin in Hume. When food and other organic material breaks down in landfill it creates methane, a harmful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. 

This change is part of Council’s commitment to reducing waste in Hume under our Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy. Providing all households with a green bin allows us to work together to reduce the amount of organic material going to landfill, lessen the effects of climate change and help care for our environment. 

It also brings us in line with the Victorian Government’s Recycling Victoria Policy, which requires all councils to provide residents with a food and garden service by 2030.

Follow us on Facebook or Instagram for updates over the next few months, or find out more at hume.vic.gov.au/green-bin-faqs.