Skips to return as residents embrace organic waste disposal

Published on 06 October 2025

Green waste skips will return to three Colac Otway Shire towns this spring, following a doubling of use last year.

Each November, Colac Otway Shire Council places community skip bins in Forrest, Kennett River and Wye River for residents to dispose of green waste from their gardens.

Residents disposed of 29 tonnes of green waste in the bins last year, almost double the 15.8 tonnes collected in 2023-24.

Council also provides extra kerbside collections in bigger towns such as Colac and Apollo Bay in late spring, and a free drop-off of a 6x4 trailer load of green waste during November at the Alvie and Apollo Bay Resource Recovery Centres (available to all shire residents).

The programs aim to help reduce fire fuels on properties while diverting organics from landfill.

Dora Novak, Manager Sustainable Environments, said the skips would be available again this year in the lead-up to summer.

“It’s wonderful to see that people are diverting more and more organic waste from landfill,” Ms Novak said.

“We’re aiming to halve the volume of organic material going to landfill by 2030.

“Council is proud to be working with the community to reduce fire risk, tackle weeds and keep our communities looking tidy.

“Now is the time to start getting ready for summer by reducing fuel loads, ahead of the skips appearing at Forrest, Wye River and Kennett River,” she said.

“For people living in areas with kerbside green waste collections, we will have three extra organics collections throughout October-November to help the community prepare for the fire danger period.”

Ms Novak said fire season could arrive quickly.

“While the district might currently look green, moisture levels are still low, and vegetation can dry out quickly in warm and windy days during spring and summer,” she said.

“One of the best ways to reduce fire risk is to get rid of the fuels close to homes before summer – keep bushes trimmed, grass clipped and avoid leaving piles of leaves and other waste on the ground.”

Ms Novak said keeping green waste out of general waste bins helped cut costs and benefited the environment.

“Our green waste is mulched and composted rather than taking up space in landfills, where it costs Council through landfill levies,” she said.