Victorian Governments 4-bin waste and recycling system

Published on 09 May 2025

Victorian Governments 4-bin waste and recycling system

The Victorian Government, under its Recycling and Circular Economy Act 2021 and aligned strategies, is mandating the rollout of a standardised 4-bin waste and recycling system for households by 2027 across all 79 Victorian councils. This transition aims to ensure that all households can access a standardised four-stream recycling system.

This system includes separate bins for:

Glass (purple lid)

Food Organics and Garden Organics (lime green lid)

Recyclables (yellow lid)

General rubbish (red lid)

The Victorian Government has allowed for limited flexibility in how the service model can be rolled out. Rural City of Wangaratta Councillors will review service options at the upcoming May council meeting. Detailed information and resources about these changes will be released once a service model is decided on. Residents can stay informed by visiting the Rural City of Wangaratta’s website and by following Council's social media channels.

The implementation supports statewide efforts to separate waste into food and garden organics, mixed recycling, glass recycling, and general rubbish. The introduction of the glass (purple lid) kerbside service aligns with these objectives by providing a convenient way to recycle a wider range of glass items beyond beverage containers. This approach aims to increase recycling rates and reduce landfill.

The glass (purple lid) bin is specifically for clean, empty glass jars (e.g., sauce and jam) and bottles (e.g., wine, beer, oil, cordial). It's important to exclude loose lids, corks, drinking glasses, crystal glass, mirrors, windows, contaminated bottles, broken crockery, bakeware, and perfume bottles to ensure effective glass recycling.

“Having a separate bin just for glass makes a big difference. It helps keep things like paper, cardboard, and plastic cleaner for recycling. Even one broken jar can turn a bin of recyclable product into landfill, and it means we can give old glass a new life — whether that’s turning it into new bottles and jars or using it in things like road base and construction materials.” Marcus Goonan Director Community & Infrastructure

Additional Information

Find out more about the new glass bins here: wangaratta.vic.gov.au/PurpleBin