OPINION
Australia has a strange obsession with wheelie bins.
Green bin. Yellow bin. Blue bin. Red bin.
And now…purple.
Because apparently the answer to our recycling problem isn’t getting people to recycle more. It’s giving them another giant plastic bin to squeeze onto already crowded blocks.
The City of Greater Geelong certainly doesn’t think that’s the answer.
The council has repeatedly rejected the Victorian Government’s plan to mandate a fourth, purple-lidded glass recycling bin for every household by July 1 next year, arguing it would slug ratepayers with an estimated $8.6m to roll out, plus another $5.4m every year to operate.
Honestly, I can see why they are pushing back.
It’s not because recycling is a bad idea. It’s because another wheelie bin feels like a solution looking for a problem.
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The Victorian Government’s plan to mandate a fourth, purple-lidded glass recycling bin for every household by July 1 next year. Picture: Mark Stewart
Our houses are getting smaller, our blocks are shrinking, and half of us are already playing Tetris trying to fit three bins down the side of the house.
Where exactly is this fourth one supposed to live?
The spare bedroom?
If the goal is to recycle more glass, surely there’s a smarter way than manufacturing millions more plastic bins that have to be delivered, maintained and collected every fortnight.
I’ve seen a better system. I grew up with it.
It’s called Pfand.
In Germany, bottles and cans aren’t rubbish. They’re money.
However, Geelong mayor Stretch Kontelj has backed community calls to abandon a compulsory purple bin proposed for Greater Geelong.
Buy a drink and you pay a small deposit. Bring the empty container back to the supermarket and a machine spits your money back out.
Depending on the container, that’s anywhere between about $0.10 and $0.40.
It’s brilliantly simple.
No special trip across town to a recycling depot.
No hunting for the nearest collection centre that’s only open during business hours.
You do it while you’re buying groceries – which, unless you’re surviving purely on Uber Eats, you’re probably doing anyway.
Australia’s Return and Earn scheme deserves credit. It’s a good start.
But let’s be honest. Ten cents isn’t exactly life-changing, and not every supermarket has a machine.
A better alternative would be the implementation of the German Pfand (deposit) system. Source: Facebook
If governments genuinely want people to change their behaviour, they need to make recycling worth people’s while.
Money talks. Especially right now.
Every politician in the country keeps telling us they’re tackling the cost-of-living crisis.
Well here’s one policy that could actually put a few extra dollars back into people’s pockets while helping the environment.
That’s a rare win-win.
As a kid, collecting bottles was my job.
I’d round them up around the house, load them into the car and race to the Pfand machine at the supermarket.
It would put money straight back into people’s pockets. Source: Facebook
Feeding each bottle into the machine was oddly satisfying, but watching the refund total climb was even better.
It taught me that rubbish wasn’t always rubbish. It had value.
Looking back, it also taught me my first lesson in money.
Imagine if Aussie kids grew up doing the same.
Instead of another screen to stare at while Mum and Dad shop, they’d be learning about recycling, responsibility and earning their own pocket money.
Not bad for a few empty bottles.
If governments really want Australians recycling more, stop making it another household chore and start making it worthwhile.
Forget the fourth bin.
Give us a reason to fill the boot instead.
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