Melbourne council praised for wheelie bin awards initiative
A Melbourne resident has praised a city council after receiving a "nice little award" on his wheelie bin.
A photo posted on Twitter by Chris Woods shows recyclable paper tags hanging from two of his bins reading: "Well done! Thank you for using your recycling bin correctly!"
"Sure Fitzroy was just voted by someone or other as Australia's coolest suburb but that was BEFORE Brunswick handed out these nice little awards for using our bins correctly," Chris Woods captioned the image.
And he's not the only local praising the awards initiative.
"Fashioning these into a makeshift sash and wearing it proudly across my chest like I’m the mayor of Brunswick bin night," one person replied to his tweet.
Merri-bek Council, previously known as Moreland City Council, has confirmed to Yahoo News Australia that the "random bin inspection" program has been running since 2009 — though altered slightly over time — with the aim of enthusiastically nudging people to put the right items in the right bins.
By using the FOGO lime bin for food and garden organics only, and the yellow bin for loose container recyclables only, residents are reducing the impact of recycling contamination, which Yahoo understands is 30 per cent in Merri-bek — 10 per cent higher than the state average.
At the moment, residents receive feedback through the "traffic light" system.
Those who are recycling correctly will get a green tag. Residents who have one or more contaminates will get a yellow "we need your help" tag.
Lastly, bins containing items that "do not belong" will receive a red "warning" tag urging those responsible to do better.
Millions of Aussies set for major bin change
Late last month, the Victorian Government announced all residents will be given a brand new purple wheelie bin for glass recyclables.
As part of a $515 million reform, the new rubbish bin will sit alongside its red, green and yellow counterparts outside every home in the state by 2030.
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"Victoria’s move to standardise the bin system will help consumers make better decisions at the bin and reduce contamination too," Australian Council of Recycling CEO Suzanne Toumbourou previously told Yahoo News Australia.
Seven councils have already distributed the purple bin and introduced the four-bin system.
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