By Laura Michell
A three-month food waste recycling trial will be held in Whittlesea in an attempt to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
From October, a number of households that participate in the council’s garden waste bin program will be provided with caddies and compostable caddy bin liners, allowing them to recycle their food waste.
The organic waste will be collected with garden waste and processed by SUEZ’s green waste processing facility in Cooper Street, where Whittlesea’s garden waste is currently taken.
A report to the council’s August 6 meeting stated that an audit of garbage bins collected by the council found that more than 40 per cent of the weight of the waste material collected was food or garden waste.
The report stated that recycling organic waste would reduce Whittlesea’s total annual greenhouse gas emissions by 41,529 tonnes a year – the equivalent of 9000 cars.
Cr Emilia Lisa Sterjova said the trial was a great opportunity for Whittlesea.
“Anyone who has watched the news will have seen that councils are sending their recycling waste to landfill and we have no idea what to do,” she said. “Waste going to landfill is destroying our environment.
“We are looking at what else we can do. If we can eliminate any possibility of these [food] scraps going to landfill, then why wouldn’t we?”.
Cr Sam Alessi said a number of councils were already running food waste recycling programs and were achieving “fantastic results”.
If the trial is successful, the council will introduce the service from February or March to all residents who participate in the garden waste bin program.
Council officers estimate that a Whittlesea-wide food waste program will increase the cost of garden waste bins from $77 a year to $97.
