Bin tagging can improve household disposal behaviours, with direct feedback to users leading to improved quality of separated recyclables and organics in kerbside collections.
The Waste Authority has funded bin tagging in a successful partnership with the Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) since 2014. During this time the Waste Authority has provided more than $900,000 for bin tagging activities.
Along with other behaviour change initiatives, in 2022‒23 the program helped reduce contamination by up to 26 per cent in recycling bins and by 12 per cent in garden organics (GO) and food organics and garden organics (FOGO) bins in participating council areas.
This WasteSorted bin tagging program funds WALGA to train local governments and regional councils to carry out bin tagging activities and to fund operational costs of bin tagging. The program also supports data collection to better understand community waste behaviours.
Since 2020, 50,000 households have been involved in the WasteSorted bin tagging program.
The WasteSorted bin tagging grant has also funded the development of a bin tagging app that is now freely available for all Western Australian local governments and regional councils to streamline the bin tagging process.
Bin tagging participants
Local governments that have participated in the WasteSorted bin tagging program are:
- the cities of Albany, Armadale, Bayswater, Bunbury, Canning Cockburn, East Fremantle, Fremantle, Greater Geraldton, Kalamunda, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Melville, Stirling, Subiaco and Vincent
- the shires of Denmark, East Pilbara, Northam, Peppermint Grove and Plantagenet
- the towns of Bassendean, Claremont, Cottesloe and Mosman Park.
Regional councils that have participated in the program are listed below and, in some cases, have delivered projects in partnership with local governments listed above:
- Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council
- Resource Recovery Group
- South Coast Alliance
- Western Metropolitan Regional Council.
How to apply
Applications are received through an annual expression of interest process for local governments and regional councils.
The 2023‒24 expression of interest closed on 26 September 2023.
Further information can be found here.