Council
31 January, 2024
Organic bins set for kerbsides
The City of Moreton Bay has received $9.6 million to invest into a garden organics collection service.
The funding will support the delivery of more than 116,000 lime-green lidded organics kerbside bins to households across the Moreton Bay region, as well as harmonisation for some existing bins, as part of a nation-wide push to make bin lid colours consistent. These new bins are also to be made of recycled plastic.
Mayor Peter Flannery said being able to provide these organic bins has the potential to increase the region’s recycling rate by 25 percent and is the first step to a full food organics and garden organics (FOGO) waste collection.
“For a long time, locals have been calling for green bins to separate and manage their green waste, so I’m thrilled to be able to make this a reality for them,” he said.
“This additional bin service is in line with our commitment to investing in sustainability and our local lifestyle, as our city’s population booms.”
The introduction of organics collection will fold out in two stages: Stage 1 involves starting a conditional opt-out Garden Organics (GO) service in early December 2024, while stage 2 involves the inclusion of food waste in the collection.
The start of this service is conditional on having a FOGO processing facility of sufficient capacity to process all materials collected.
Implementing organics collection is a vital step in propelling Queensland towards state and national resource recovery targets and will substantially reduce waste going to landfill, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create jobs.
Minister for the Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Leanne Linard, said the goal of FOGO collection service is to divert 80 percent of FOGO waste away from landfill and recycle at least 70 percent.
“Most garden and food waste currently ends up in landfill, where it emits methane gas and leaves significant organic resources waste,” she said.
“Organic waste can be turned into high value compost, mulch, and soil products that can be used for a range of things, like tree planting, soil improvement, and revegetation projects.
“Through recycling, organic waste is put to good use, with the important nutrients and resources able to be reused and put back into the environment as compost.”
The funding was granted by the Miles Government as part of a $151 million commitment to help councils across Queensland implement FOGO waste collection services (GROW FOGO SEQ - The Growing the Recovery of Organic Waste via Food Organic Garden Organic South East Queensland).
This initiative is part of the Miles Government’s $1.1 billion 10-year Recycling and Jobs Fund.
