The Queensland Government has committed $9.6 million to support the City of Moreton Bay Council to roll out a garden organics collection service across the city.
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.
“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,” said Mayor, Peter Flannery.
“FOGO is a resource recovery project with the potential to bring our region’s recycling rate from 45% to over 60% by adding a new lime green lidded bin for organic material made up of food and garden waste.
“The introduction of the GO service for Garden Organics across approximately 116,000 households is an important first step in the lead up to full FOGO.”
The Council has announced a staged approach to the introduction of organics collection:
- Stage 1 involves starting a conditional opt-out Garden Organics (GO) service in early December 2024;
- Stage 2 involves the inclusion of food waste in the collection. The start of this service is conditional upon a suitable FOGO processing facility of sufficient capacity being available to process all FOGO materials collected in the City.
Mayor Flannery says 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.
“Council currently produces electricity from landfill gases at its three landfill sites to power up to 7,000 homes in our region,” 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.
“This is another way council is living our mantra of ‘Going Green As We Grow’.”
Queensland Minister for the Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Leanne Linard said the government was committed to halving the amount of food waste generated by 2030.
“Where organic waste is generated, we have set ourselves the goal of diverting 80 percent of it away from landfill. We are also committed to achieving a minimum organics recycling rate of 70%,” 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 Miles Government has committed $151 million to help councils across Queensland, including the City of Moreton Bay, to implement FOGO waste collection services.”
