Council to retire Big Belly bins as new “smart” fleet rolls out

The City of Melbourne will begin replacing its ageing Big Belly bins with 500 new smart compacting bins from August 15, following renewed criticism over overflowing rubbish across the CBD and Southbank.

The rollout was revealed at the August 4 Future Melbourne Committee meeting after Southbank Residents Association president Tony Penna again raised concerns about the council’s inability to keep bins from overflowing.

Mr Penna presented councillors with recent photographs of bins spilling onto footpaths in Swanston St and Queensbridge Square, describing the problem as a persistent blight on the city.

“It’s not the first time that I’ve come in here to raise this issue of overflowing bins,” he said.

Mr Penna said the answer was straightforward: increase collection frequencies.

“We know the Big Belly bins don’t work,” he said. “Why is it so difficult for council to put a solution in to address this?”

The solar-powered Big Belly compactors were first introduced at Queensbridge Square in 2016 at a reported cost of $6000 each. They were promoted as being capable of holding seven times the waste of a standard bin and automatically alerting contractors when nearing capacity.

However, the technology has repeatedly failed to meet expectations, with residents reporting maintenance problems, unreliable alerts and continuing overflow.

Acting City of Melbourne chief executive Rick Kwasek confirmed the existing bins had reached the end of their life and would soon be replaced.

“The rollout of the new bins will commence in about two weeks,” Mr Kwasek said.

“There will be 500 new bins across the city, all being compacted bins with technology that allows us to identify bins when they reach capacity.”

He said the system was intended to notify collection crews before residents needed to report a problem.

The council is also examining additional out-of-cycle collections and rapid-response services, particularly during weekends, major events and other periods that produce unusually high levels of waste.

However, Mr Penna remained cautious, noting that similar promises were made when the Big Belly bins were introduced. “I was in this forum when they were spruiking the Big Belly bins,” he said. “I heard exactly the same then.”

City safety, cleaning and infrastructure portfolio lead Cr Rafael Camillo acknowledged the council’s performance had fallen short.

“I just need to apologise to you because I kindly agree with you,” Cr Camillo told Mr Penna. “I think we can do better.”

Cr Phil Le Liu also expressed frustration and called for greater emphasis on changing public behaviour, pointing to cities in Japan and Singapore where people are expected to carry their rubbish until they can dispose of it appropriately.

He suggested messages could be placed on bins encouraging people not to pile waste above full receptacles, as well as examining different collection times and partnerships with community organisations.

“I hear this every single year, every single time,” Cr Le Liu said.

The new bins will now face the same test as their predecessors: whether improved technology is matched by sufficiently responsive collection services. •