Mackenzie with her partner, two children and a compost bin

If Mackenzie doesn't already have a food and garden organics bin, a 120 litre light green-lidded bin will be delivered to her home in June 2023. This bin will be collected weekly from 1 July 2023.

A kitchen caddy to collect food scraps will also be delivered to her home from July 2023.

This bin used to be called the green waste bin.

In March-April 2023, Mackenzie's family received a bigger 240 litre mixed recycling bin. This bin will be collected every 2 weeks from July 2023. The 240 litre mixed recycling bin offers the same amount of recycling space as 120 litres per week.

A new 120 litre glass recycling bin will be delivered to Mackenzie's home by mid-June 2023. This bin will be collected every 4 weeks (monthly) from 1 July 2023. Putting her family's glass bottles and jars in this bin will free up space in their mixed recycling bin.

There will be no change to Mackenzie's general rubbish bin. Her family will keep their current bin and it will continue to be collected every week.

The 4-bin waste service will be the standard service for households in Merri-bek. Mackenzie can't opt-out of having a food and organics bin.

We encourage Mackenzie's family to keep composting or worm farming their food waste. The food and garden organics bin can work alongside their home compost or worm farm.

They can also place food and garden waste that can cause problems in a home compost system in their food and garden organics bin. Items include meat, seafood, dairy, citrus, onions, processed carbohydrates and garden weeds.

Mackenzie's family can also use the food and garden organics bin for food and garden waste when their compost, Bokashi bin or worm farm is resting or full.

As a ratepayer, Mackenzie pays the waste charge based on the size of each of their bins. As a household that doesn't have that much waste, Mackenzie can choose to have smaller bins where available.

From August 2023, Mackenzie can request smaller 120 litre mixed recycling and food and garden organics bins. This means her family can try out the standard sized bins and new collection frequencies.

If they choose to get smaller bins they will pay a lower waste charge because smaller bins cost less.