Knox residents will soon be able to put food scraps in their green waste bins. The new service will start rolling out from mid-April. Look out for a letter telling you what you need to do.

If you already have a green waste bin we will come and change the lid and deliver a kitchen caddy and a year’s supply of compostable liners. If you don’t already have a bin we will deliver one along with your caddy and liners.

The food and garden bin collection will remain fortnightly until July, when it will be emptied weekly and the household rubbish bin will be collected fortnightly.

There is clear evidence that weekly collection of the food and garden bin together with fortnightly collection of the rubbish bin is most successful in diverting food waste from landfill. More information here.

BioGro, where your Green Waste is processed and recycled 

Susan Laukens

We know Knox Council delivers hundreds of services to the community each year and waste management is a service that affects us all.

As part of the State Government Recycling Victoria reform, waste collection, bin lid colour changes are coming to Knox.

With the introduction from 1 July of Food and Organic waste service in Knox it was a timely opportunity for me to visit BioGro Organic Waste production plant in Dandenong, to see how our current Green waste and (from 1 July) food waste will be processed.

My first impression was how earthy the smell was, not putrid or completely offensive. 

Staff explained the composting process from street collection to end product, the compost, The microbes are the champions of the process but we owe a massive shout out to the staff who remove the unwanted, non-organic material that unfortunately ends up in the green waste bin. Some of the household waste that was found in the green waste was old dog bedding, plastic bags, gardening tools, metal, garden hoses and dog poo bags. Contamination of the green waste is a huge issue that we all have a responsibility to reduce. 

We can all help by making sure that only green waste goes in its bin. And from 1 July food waste goes into the appropriate bin.

Council will be conducting an extensive education program about the roll out of the new waste services. Together we can keep the contamination rate down by putting the right stuff into the right bin.

Susan Laukens is Knox Councillor for Friberg Ward