Food waste recycling service a huge success
Kingston residents have sent more than 3000 extra tonnes of food and garden waste for composting since the introduction of the Food Organics and Garden Organics service in June 2020.
Kingston Mayor Steve Staikos thanked the community for an outstanding effort that had helped reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.
"It's been incredible to see so many households across Kingston support the new food recycling service," Cr Staikos said. "Instead of sending unused food to rot in landfill, we are instead creating valuable compost for re-use."
Since the food recycling service was introduced in June 2020, more than 1000 additional Kingston homes signed up for a 'green lid' bin to recycle their garden and food waste.
"Even in the midst of the pandemic, when we were all at home and ordering lots of parcels and take-out, Kingston was one of few Councils to actually reduce waste sent to landfill," Cr Staikos said.
Importantly, Kingston has also recorded very low contamination rates with audits finding only 1.8% of items incorrectly put in the 'green lid' bin when they should have been in the 'red lid' waste bin or the 'yellow lid' recycling bin.
"I am extremely proud of our community who have demonstrated that by working together and making small changes to our daily habits we can make a big difference for our environment," Cr Staikos said.
It is estimated that Australians throw out $8-$10 billion worth of food, or around four million tonnes, every year. If sent to landfill this generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas 21 times worse than carbon dioxide.
"By diverting so much kerbside food waste from landfill, we are reducing methane, making our landfills last longer and producing valuable compost we can use on our public parks and sporting fields."
Council has resolved to maintain the existing kerbside waste bin collection frequencies until 30 June 2023. Options to maximise the diversion of waste from landfill will be considered by Council in 2022 for implementation after this date.
