Wollongong residents have shown great form in their use of food organics disposal, with a contamination rate of just 1 per cent in the FOGO collection, the city council said.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With more than 36,000 tonnes of green waste being collected in 2021, Wollongong City Council estimated at least 4,700 tonnes of this was food waste that would otherwise have gone to landfill - and this was a conservative figure.
"This figure is calculated by using a combination of measurements including: bin audit information (February 2021), the reduction in average tonnes of waste in the red-lidded bins, and the increase of average tonnes of waste collected in the green-lidded bins," a council spokesperson said.
More environment: Single-use plastics get the flick at Illawarra hospital
About 78,690 households have received a FOGO (food organics, garden organics) bin and Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said this work showed the support from the community for the program.
"Council relies completely on residents taking up FOGO and doing the right thing to make this work," he said.
"What we've witnessed over the past year is an overwhelming enthusiasm and positivity towards FOGO from most residents."
The council spokesman said there were various ways to estimate the quantity.
"The most accurate way to measure the food component is via a bin compositional audit which looks at a representative number of residents' bins to figure out their waste behaviour," the spokesman said.
"Council's last bin audit was in February 2021, and we conduct audits every two years.
"We also collect kerbside collection figures for red-lidded general waste bins. Over the same period of time (1 Dec 2020 to 30 Nov 2021), Wollongong saw a total of 38,550 tonnes of general waste (red-lidded bins) enter landfill. In comparison, we collected 42,731 tonnes the previous year prior to FOGO being introduced.
"This is a noticeable improvement that can be safely attributed to the roll-out of the food organics component of FOGO."
Next up is a trial for more multi-unit dwellings (MUD).
"Last year council was awarded funding from the NSW Government to roll-out a FOGO MUDs trial - a trial of the FOGO service for multi-unit dwellings," the spokesperson said.
"The purpose of this trial is to determine how we can improve FOGO for residents living in multi-unit dwellings. This twelve-month trial is still in the early stages and targets approximately 1,500 residents."
Sign up for breaking news emails below: