Willoughby City Council has received a $198,000 State Government grant to help drive down food waste in Northern Sydney.
The grant will be used to provide free support to 300 businesses with the aim to reduce food waste to landfill by 40 per cent over the next two years.
It is a part of the Better Business Partnership (BBP) – a sustainability program funded by North Sydney, Ku-ring-gai and Willoughby City councils – which secured a Business Food Waste Partnership grant from the NSW Environment Protection Authority in July 2024.
Tanya Taylor, Willoughby City Mayor, said the funding would educate businesses about the importance of separating food waste from general waste, and help these businesses identify solutions to deliver this outcome.
“This has the potential to save businesses money, given that food waste is categorised as ‘wet waste’ which is heavier and therefore costs businesses more in contracted waste fees,” she said.
“Given that businesses generally organise their own trade waste collections separate to the council collection services, it will also reduce the significant greenhouse gas emissions which result from food ending up in landfill.
“Rotting food and organic waste creates methane gas which is 30 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.”
For more information, https://bbp.org.au/food-waste/
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