Best practice guide for waste management in multi-unit developments

Across Victoria there has been a steady increase in the number of multi-unit developments (MUDs), particularly in many of Melbourne's inner urban and middle suburban areas.

As the number of MUDs continues to increase with Victoria's growing population, it is important that the principles of best practice waste management are incorporated into all new developments to address issues like space and access, and to increase resource recovery, which is currently not achieving the success of kerbside collections to single dwelling households.

In response, Sustainability Victoria has developed the Best Practice Guide for Waste Management in Multi-unit Developments with help from the Metropolitan Waste Management Group and input from councils. The guide will assist council staff, architects, residential developers and building managers incorporate best practice in the design, establishment, operation and ongoing management of waste services in MUDs. It outlines essential points to be considered when designing a waste management system for medium or high-density residential, mixed-use and integrated housing developments.

The guide has been provided below in its entirety and also by individual chapter as many points are common to all chapters and are thus repeated. So if you are working on a certain type of development, you only need to download the appropriate chapter, and Chapter 2, which has requirements applicable to development regardless of type. You might also need the appendices. Note that Appendix A is being updated with data for Victoria and that there is a separate checklist to ensure that all issues are addressed.