The following information is provided on waste reduction and recycling from the Council kerbside collection service.

Note that all measurements are by weight, not volume.

2022/23 Summary

In 2022/23 the overall amount of waste that was diverted away from landfill was 56.31%. This is up approximately 5% from the previous year. This is predominately due to the introduction of the food and garden organics (FOGO) service where food waste has been removed from the garbage bins and is now being processed for compost and mulch.

In comparison to previous years:

• Since introducing the FOGO service, there has been an increase of 2,625 tonnes (or around 17%) compared to 2021/22.
• The amount of FOGO material continues to be consistent with previous season trends, with a spike in the spring season.
• Comingled recycling has continued its downward trend, down around 500 tonnes (3%) compared to 2021/22.
• The amount of comingled recycling material continues to be consistent with previous season trends, with higher amounts in December and January.
• The amount of garbage material sent to landfill is down 3,265 tonnes (around 12%) since 2021/22.

To benchmark Whitehorse City Council’s waste and recycling performance with other councils, check out Recycling Victoria Data Hub. 

Additional data on waste and recycling performance is available from the State Government, for further information visit the Know Your Council Comparison Dashboard (coming soon).

A breakdown of the amount of waste and recycling collected, recycling composition and contract performance can be found below.

Presentation of Data 

Monthly Garbage (Tonnes)

Monthly Co-mingled Recycling (Tonnes)

Co-mingled recycling - composition and how it is processed

Council’s co-mingled recycling material is taken to the Visy Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Springvale or Heidelberg, where it is sorted into material groups including paper and cardboard, glass, plastics, aluminium and steel. By weight, paper, cardboard and glass make up over 80% of the materials recovered from the kerbside recycling bin. For further information on what happens to recyclable materials, visit What Happens to Your Waste and Recycling.

Monthly Food and Garden Organics (FOGO) (Tonnes)

Total Annual Tonnes per Stream

Percentage of waste that is diverted from landfill

Contract Performance Review - Hard Waste

Cleanaway commenced as Council’s hard waste service provider in July 2022. Throughout the 2022/23 financial year, the hard waste service received more bookings than expected, particularly between January and April 2023. During this time the contractor experienced labour shortages and this resulted in a number of collections not being completed on time and extended booking periods. This has now been corrected.