The City of Adelaide in partnership with Green Industries SA and the Adelaide Economic Development Agency has launched Australia's largest green bin trial in a retail precinct.
For the first time, designated green organic bins for food scraps and compostable materials have been introduced to Rundle Mall to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill and recover more resources.
The new multi-bin systems were launched by Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor and Environment Minister Susan Close in Adelaide's premier shopping district today.
Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor believes this 12-month pilot program demonstrates how Council is taking significant steps to protect our environment.
"The City of Adelaide has a vision to be the first zero-waste city in Australia and initiatives like the green organics bin trial will go a long way to helping us achieve that goal," said the Lord Mayor.
"Adelaide is already the first South Australian Council to be entirely powered by renewable energy and now we are leading the nation with these new bin systems, designed to encourage the thousands of people who visit Rundle Mall every day to separate their waste.
"Council will be offering education programs for shoppers, as well as incentives for traders who provide compostable food and drink serving materials."
The City of Adelaide has committed $143,000 with additional funding of $72,000 from Green Industries.
Minister for Environment Susan Close says, "providing shoppers with simple systems to avoid waste while also capturing the valuable nutrients in food, organics and compostable packaging is essential to reduce our carbon footprint.
"If we make a better choice and use these new public place bins all of those valuable resources remain part of a South Australian circular economy where we reduce, reuse, recover and recycle resources at every opportunity.
"It's a powerful choice for people to use the green bin for all their food and organic waste. Every scrap of food, every piece of compostable packaging that we send to compost helps combat climate change.
"Clear signage on these bins in Rundle Mall will make sure we all know which bin to use for food waste, and that's the green bin."
Chair of the Adelaide Economic Development Agency, Nikki Govan, is pleased Australia's retail precinct of the year has been chosen for the trial.
"Thousands of people visit Rundle Mall every day to shop, eat and drink, so launching this community initiative in one of Adelaide's busiest spots is a great opportunity to test the concept and hopefully reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill," said Ms Govan.
"These new bin banks will be strategically placed along the Mall at key spots near food outlets, to maximise their effectiveness and reduce litter, while maintaining the flow of foot traffic."
The 12-month trial program will see six new multi-bin systems installed at specific locations along the entire stretch of Rundle Mall.
