Hundreds join the campaign for weekly red bin collection

At the time of writing, over 400 people have backed a petition calling for the South Gippsland Shire Council to restore weekly red-bin collections.

The petition was started by Karen Dickens-de Geus on Friday, September 11, after general-waste collections for properties receiving council’s kerbside service changed from weekly to fortnightly on July 1.

The petition has attracted 401 signatures so far and counting.

Ms Dickens-de Geus wrote in the petition that residents were struggling with waste accumulation between collections, with overflowing bins making some residents concerned about hygiene and pests.

“Our request is simple and reasonable: reinstate weekly general waste collections,” the petition reads.

It argues that while the introduction of weekly food organics and garden organics collections was positive, FOGO couldn’t replace general waste capacity because many household items were ineligible for the green bin.

But Council says its early figures show the new system is sharply reducing landfill.

Between July 1 and September 1, kerbside waste sent to landfill fell by almost 37 per cent compared with the same period last year.

That equated to 277 tonnes.

Council said Victorian bin audits consistently found about half the contents of an average general waste bin consisted of food and garden material, while another 15 per cent could be recycled.

It said those findings, along with the Gippsland Collaborative Resource Recovery Business Case completed in 2018, informed the decision to make the collection of red bins fortnightly instead of weekly.

But the change has still prompted some households to seek more capacity.

Since July 1, Council has received 126 requests to replace the 120-litre general waste bin with a 240-litre bin, and another 19 households requested an additional 120-litre bin.

Council also recorded 26 complaints about kerbside collections during that period.

While Council said the standard service was adequate for “most” properties, households unable to manage with a 120-litre red bin must pay more to get additional capacity.

Upsizing to a 240-litre red bin increases the annual charge from $428.20 to $590.20.

Council said calculating the cost of reinstating weekly red bins is “complex”, but said that it would create “material, financial, contractual and operational impacts”.

Despite moving red bin collection to fortnightly, the standard annual household charge increased slightly from a combined $427.80 in 2025-26 to $428.20 this financial year.

Council attributed the increased charge to the introduction of FOGO, along with the collection, processing costs and the rollout of bins and kitchen caddies.

“Without the change to fortnightly general waste collection, the Waste Charge would have been considerably higher,” Council said.

Ms Dickens-de Geus was contacted for further comment.

You can find the petition here.