Blue Mountains City Council has launched a new project to reduce the amount of food waste going to landfill from local businesses.
In partnership with End Food Waste Australia (EFWA), the project brings together Council and businesses, including cafes, restaurants and hotels, and childcare and aged care facilities, to significantly reduce food waste.
To take part, businesses need to simply register for the program online and use the ‘Bin Trim’ app to measure their own food waste.
Mayor, Mark Greenhill said the initiative was a “win-win”, noting that food waste is a significant cost for food businesses and there are big savings to be made by participating with this project.
“In addition to the financial savings businesses can make, there are also substantial environmental and community benefits,” Mayor Greenhill said.
“One quarter of all food waste in the Blue Mountains is generated by businesses, so this program is vital to our continued efforts to reduce the amount of waste, and in particular food, going to local landfill.
“We are working toward introducing the FOGO system for residents and this business-focused program is a wonderful counterpart to that work.
“The initial project is focussing on businesses within the Katoomba precinct, and what we learn from this will be used to help us roll out a program for food businesses across the Blue Mountains.
“The Blaxland Resource Recovery and Waste Management Facility is the only and last local landfill, and while the team there have worked hard to extend its lifespan, we need to continue reducing the amount of waste that goes into it. This project will reduce waste going to landfill from businesses, help to extend that lifespan and reduce the harmful gasses produced by food waste in landfill.”
EFWA is a leading organisation for improving the Australian food system’s productivity, resilience and sustainability.
The NSW Environment Protection Authority has mandated that the amount of food waste going to landfill must be halved by 2030. Businesses will lead the way with this mandate, and future financial penalties will apply to food businesses that do not separate food waste.
Find out more and register: yoursay.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/businessfoodwaste.
