A GREEN waste bin will be at least another year away – and how many more bins Glenelg Shire residents will get is still to be decided.

While the state government recently flagged the roll out of the four-bin system, adding a purple bin for glass, to rubbish, general recycling and food and organics, Glenelg Shire is still stuck with only the first two bins.

A green waste bin was floated in 2019 and actually initially flagged in the council budget for 2020-21.

However with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, the council that year decided to revert to a zero rate rise, meaning initiatives such as the green waste bin were scrapped.

There was no reference to the bins in this year’s budget either.

A council spokeswoman said the “roll out of the bins is not scheduled until next financial year”.

As to the extra bins that are rolling out statewide – six councils, including Moyne and Warrnambool, already have four bins – that was also unclear.

“Council is determining that currently with DELWP through contract preparation as part of the transition,” the spokeswoman said.

“There are a number of components, including the rollout of the Container Deposit Scheme, that the State Government intends to implement that need to be considered before council commits to a glass bin.

“As it is a financial commitment, council obviously needs to understand all options.”

The push for an organics collection service was the headline recommendation in the council’s 2019 waste management strategy, which looked ahead to the region’s needs in the next five years.

There had been feasibility studies and composting trials undertaken in the past to see if there was an economic way to process organic waste but “currently, studies have been unable to support a kerbside collection service” the strategy says – though most of the garden waste it received it had been able to send to a certified composter.

A 2018 audit showed about 52 per cent of the content of the waste (burgundy lid) bins was potentially recoverable organic material and more than 25 per cent was recyclable.

Both figures were slightly higher than a similar audit four years previously.

The 2018 audit showed that the amount of contaminated recycling had also increased, by about 10 per cent.

The shire’s waste management strategy states Glenelg Shire diverts about 33 per cent of its waste from landfill, well below the 46 per cent figure for similar councils and the 44 per cent statewide average.

At least two-thirds of councils statewide in 2019 had some sort of organics collection service and in December 2018 more than 90 per cent of respondents to a council poll said they were interested in one here.

“The establishment of an organics kerbside service is one of the main priorities,” the strategy states.

Such a service could also help with the problem of weeds and invasive plants spreading around the region due to the illegal dumping of garden waste.

“There will (also) be a strong emphasis around developing community awareness of waste avoidance and the issues associated with littering and illegal dumping,” the strategy states.

The council would also look at opportunities to establish markets for “transfer station products”.