As the bin tagging initiative is being rolled out extensively across Australia, one Perth council has chosen a different approach to the controversial scheme.
The program, designed to “help residents build confidence with correct waste sorting” through a “non-intrusive check of the top of your kerbside bins on collection day”, has copped backlash for rating locals on their rubbish using smiley or sad faces.
While feedback on proper waste disposal is provided , residents have expressed the “shame” associated with the tags.
“I felt sadness for my neighbours who got red tags. I saw their faces. Some laughed it off, while others, I could see the humiliation,” one Chirnside Park, Melbourne resident told Yahoo News Australia.
“Our whole street was embarrassed about it,” another resident added.
The Town of Victoria Park council is attempting to do things differently by providing residents with a financial incentive.
“No fines, no penalties, just a chance to win weekly $50 vouchers and a $200 grand prize,” council shared online this week.
However, even with the incentive, the scheme received backlash from residents.
“This is a joke, isn’t it. We’re really going to have people coming around and looking in our bins and dealing out smiley stickers or not,” one said. “[It] feels like being back in kindy.”
Some compared it to a “big brother” type of surveillance, while others believed it was a “great initiative”.
“Poor separation of our waste materials leads to increased costs, not to mention defeats the whole purpose of having different bins,” one explained.
Councils have said that correct sorting makes a “big difference”, with contamination rates going down by 60 per cent, while recycling rates have gone up by 25 per cent.
“This helps make the most of our FOGO and recycling systems, supports a circular economy and reduces landfill”.
Image: City of Victoria Park
