Canberrans are taking everyday action on climate change by reducing household waste with Belconnen's FOGO pilot suburbs leading the way.
"We know that waste going to landfill is one of the leading sources of emissions where garbage eventually turns into methane, a powerful greenhouse gas," said Minister for Transport and City Services Chris Steel.
"Our most recent waste audit findings show that Canberrans are going to great lengths to reduce the amount of garbage going to the tip, which reduces these types of emissions compared to a similar analysis conducted almost a decade ago.
"The audit shows that the FOGO pilot is working as intended to significantly reduce the amount of material going into landfill."
Food waste put in the household landfill bin reduced by around 7 per cent, however food waste still takes up around 27 per cent of bin capacity by weight.
This was in comparison to only 15.9 per cent in households that are participating in the Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) collection pilot.
The total weight of a household landfill bin picked up from the kerbside each week has decreased from 9.8kg to 8.2kg in single‑unit dwellings and 8.8kg to 7.2kg in multi‑unit dwellings, which means that Canberrans are proactively working to reduce the waste they produce.
"Our ACT container deposit scheme introduced in 2018 has also likely had some benefits to the amount of kerbside recycling occurring in Canberra households with more eligible items being recycled outside of weekday collections," said Minister Steel.
"The amount of garden waste that was found in household landfill bins also reduced, with more residents taking advantage of the fortnightly green waste collection service.
"The ACT Government is working towards the roll out a city-wide FOGO service, so that all Canberrans can benefit from the same success we're seeing in the Belconnen pilot area.
"Environmental approvals have already started for the new facility, which will have capacity to process more than 50,000 tonnes of food and garden organics each year, with food scraps turned into a valuable resource instead of going to landfill."
The 2022 audit assessed material collected from 350 single‑unit dwellings and 364 multi‑unit dwellings across the ACT and included a physical sort of more than six tonnes of material.
The audit findings showcase a positive result for the ACT community with an overall reduction in the generation of waste since 2014.
The purpose of the audit is to help inform the design of waste infrastructure and services in the ACT.
The data has helped to identify opportunities within the transfer stations for improved resource recovery, as well as measure the effectiveness of key initiatives such as the Container Deposit Scheme, the bulky waste collection service and the FOGO pilot.
The findings from this audit will contribute significantly to future work in reducing Canberra's waste materials as the ACT Government prepares to launch the ACT Circular Economy Strategy.
The ACT Government is confident the ACT Circular Economy Strategy will contribute to the improvement of our natural environment, stimulate opportunities for innovation, job creation and economic growth, and support the ACT's transition to becoming a net zero city.
"I encourage Canberrans to continue to choose to reuse and recycle and also brush-up on their knowledge of what can and cannot go in your landfill and recycling bins to help reduce contamination," said Minister Steel.
The final report of the waste audit and information on what can and cannot go in your household bins is available on the City Services website at www.cityservices.act.gov.au.
