The City of Yarra in Melbourne will trial a fourth kerbside glass bin in 1300 households from next month.

Starting in June, the council will offer Abbotsford residents garbage collection, recycling collection, food and garden waste collection and glass collection, with the trial expected to last for 12 months.

According to the City of Yarra glass currently placed in the kerbside recycling bin is creating contamination. Broken glass damages the quality of the other materials, including plastics, paper, cardboard, steel and aluminium.

By removing glass from the other recycling the council hopes it will be better quality and more valuable to processors. This will help diversify the market for recyclable materials and help develop domestic markets for recycled products.

A separate stream of glass will create a sustainable supply of quality glass for reuse, such as for the manufacture of asphalt. The higher quality commingled recycling can be recycled back into the domestic processing market, rather than exported.

The council said the lack of available landfill space in Victoria, particularly in metropolitan Melbourne is adding further pressure to the waste and recycling industry.

Taking food waste out of the waste (rubbish) bin will dramatically reduce the amount of material going to landfill.

“Our long-term ambition is to move our community towards producing zero waste – first through waste avoidance and secondly through using waste as a resource,” the council said.

The trial follows the City of Yarra’s food and garden waste collection trial it started last year in parts of Abbotsford.

Since the launch of the food and garden waste collection residents have diverted from landfill approximately 40 per cent of the contents of their kerbside garbage bins by weight.

Following the trial period, the council will consider expanding the service throughout Yarra.

Supports of the initiative include the state government, Sustainability Victoria, RMIT University, Australian Paper Recovery (APR), Four Seasons Waste and Alex Fraser Group.

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