Food scraps and garden clippings will become part of green waste collection for Baw Baw Shire residents from July next year, as part of the new Food and Garden Organics (FOGO) service.
The State Government's Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021 requires all councils to provide access to a standardised four stream household waste and recycling system, including a Food and Garden Organics service, by July 2027.
Currently, more than 53 per cent of waste found in the average red general rubbish bin is made up of food and garden organics, glass recycling or mixed recycling. That means more than half of what is placed in the average household general rubbish bin could be composted or recycled.
The move to place food scraps in the green FOGO bin aims to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill and reduce EPA landfill levy, waste disposal and transportation costs;
Create high quality compost and soil conditioner as part of a circular economy; and,
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and impact on the natural environment.
Once the service is introduced, residents will be able to use their green bin to dispose of food scraps and leftovers including meat, fish, raw and cooked bones as well as other items like dairy, egg, spoiled foods, citrus and onion that cannot be easily composted at home.
Households with a council kerbside waste service will be provided with a kitchen caddy and compostable liners to help make the collection of food scraps easier.
When FOGO is introduced, residents will be required to place food scraps in their green bin. Once the service is introduced the green FOGO bin will be collected every week, and the red general rubbish bin will be collected fortnightly.
More than 20 councils already collect general rubbish bins every two weeks. They're sending less to landfill because people put their food scraps in the FOGO bin every week.
Acknowledging some households may struggle with a fortnightly general rubbish service, council will continue to investigate further opportunities for waste diversion initiatives and supporting residents to reduce waste.
To support the introduction of FOGO services, council has partnered with other municipalities to secure a 15-year contract for the processing of green organic waste with local business PineGro Products, based in Morwell.
PineGro is developing a new industrial composting facility in can process and transform food and garden organics into valuable compost and soil conditioner that will return the nutrients back to the environment through use in parks, gardens and farms.
Residents will be kept up to date with changes to kerbside waste services as the move to the new FOGO service approaches.