A nation-wide 'Let's Go FOGO' campaign is being launched to urge 84% of local councils to provide Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) collection services for residents. Only 16% of councils around Australia offer kerbside food organics recycling bins and 87% of food waste went to landfill in 2016-17, according to The National Waste Report 2018.
BioBag World Australia Director Scott Morton says food waste costs Australia $20 billion a year and half of this comes from our homes.
Up to 50 percent of general household waste is food and garden organics, Mr Morton said. “The amount of greenhouse gases produced by food waste in Australian landfill each year is equivalent to the emissions of Australia’s steel and iron ore industries combined.”
"South Australia has the most councils offering residents FOGO bins, followed by New South Wales and Victoria. Tasmania and Western Australia are catching up, but Queensland is lagging far behind."
Councils that offer residents kerbside FOGO bins:
• 40% in South Australia • 26% in New South Wales • 24% in Victoria • 10% in Tasmania • 3% in Western Australia • 1% in Queensland • 0% in NT and ACT
“Organic waste contains valuable resources that can’t be recovered from landfill,” Scott said. “Recycling food waste is an opportunity for a better environmental outcome.
“Not only do food and garden organics generate the greenhouse gas methane as they decompose in landfill, but their nutrients remain locked in landfill and can’t be used again to grow plants and food.
"In landfill, organic waste also produces a liquid that can pollute groundwater, create odour, encourage pests and create unstable landforms."
Diverting food waste from landfill with a FOGO bin service has many benefits, Scott says.
“Recycling organic waste can reduce the costs of landfill disposal for local councils and provide nutrient rich fertiliser to replenish Australian soil, so farmers rely less on chemical fertilisers.
“Many councils are trialling or introducing FOGO collection services around the country but the numbers are still low. We need more councils to adopt FOGO now because it’s a viable economic and environmental solution.
“Composting FOGO waste is cheaper than sending it to landfill so rate payers benefit from extra funding for other community services.
“People can help move our local councils towards FOGO faster by telling their local Councillors they’re ready for a FOGO bin to collect their food waste,” Scott said.
New research in South Australia shows using compostable bags in kitchen caddies significantly increases diversion of food waste from landfill. BioBags are the only type of bags that can go into FOGO bins because they’re fully compostable.
