$11.25M funding for new Perth organic projects

Three new organic recycling infrastructure projects in Perth, Western Australia, are expected to divert about 275,000 tonnes of the state’s food organic and garden organic (FOGO) waste from landfill annually and convert it into compost.

The new facilities will be located to the north, east and south of Perth and will receive $11.25 million in co-funding from state and federal governments.

Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council will receive $2 million to build a new FOGO processing plant, north-east of Midland, at the Red Hill Waste Management Facility, which processes organic waste from five councils. The total $18 million project is initially set to process 60,000 tonnes of organic waste each year, scaled up over time to eventually process 100,000 tonnes of organics waste.

C-Wise Holdings Pty Ltd, will receive $5.75 million to build a new organic carbon recycling facility in East Keralup, near Mandurah. The $28.61 million facility is expected to process 100,000 tonnes of organic waste each year.

Joint funding of $3.5 million will expand the existing Go Organics facility at Boonanarring, north of Gingin. The $7.42 million project will support the rollout of FOGO north of Perth and process 75,000 tonnes of organic waste each year.

Reece Whitby, Western Australian Minister for the Environment and Climate Action said the three projects will support WA’s move toward a circular economy.

“These three major infrastructure projects will not only assist WA farmers with a reliable source of high-quality compost, but they will also support 146 construction jobs and 98 ongoing positions,” Whitby said.

“Our government has a target for all local governments in the Perth and Peel regions to adopt FOGO by 2025. We’ve committed $20 million to support councils in the rollout.

“Local governments and regional councils have embraced FOGO. Sixteen WA councils have rolled out the service and a further 11 have garden organics systems servicing more than 560,000 households.”

Tanya Plibersek, Federal Minister for the Environment and Water, said the three projects are a step toward a circular economy in Australia.

“The increased composting capability in Western Australia will help us reach our national target of halving the amount of organic waste sent to landfill by 2030.

“We’re not only reducing landfill waste and greenhouse gas emissions, but we are making Western Australian soils more productive.”

The facilities are expected to be complete by June 2025.

For more information, visit: www.minister.dcceew.gov.au