Bendigo council has discovered a need in its community, repurposing FOGO waste into compost.
To demonstrate the value of organic waste services, Greater Bendigo City Council has given away recycled compost since 2020.
The compost is a local product made from the contents of household food organics garden organics (FOGO) bins collected in the municipality.
Once residents empty their FOGO waste scraps into their lime green bins, they are transported to processer Biomix in Stanhope. Here it is processed and mixed with material from other councils, ready for use when Bendigo City Council needs it.
Amelia Rungkat, Resource Recovery Education Officer, Bendigo City Council, says the council wanted to give residents access to a valuable resource while educating about FOGO recycling.
“For the most part, people understand recycling when it comes to paper, plastic, cardboard and glass,” she says.
“However, being a newer recycling method, the awareness around FOGO recycling isn’t as high.
“The compost giveaway is a good way to show people what they’re contributing to by using the FOGO service.”
In recent years the FOGO bin has become a new addition to households across many states, in line with the National Waste Policy Action Plan to reduce organics to landfill by half by 2030.
The rollout of FOGO kerbside collections to convert food scraps and garden waste into compost for use in parks, gardens and agricultural settings is a key element to the action plan.
Amelia says implementing this compost program across Greater Bendigo is not only about providing a free service, but also about educating the community and making circular economy principles more tangible.
“The residents are now aware of the process for putting their food scraps and garden clippings into the organics bin which is then turned into recycled compost,” she says.
“We can use the compost in our gardens, at home and in the community to grow more food, but it also incentivises correct waste sorting at the household level.
“We are less likely to contaminate the organic service with non-organic material if we know that we’re going to be using that compost that it creates.”
Amelia says the compost can be distributed in and around a home garden as a soil conditioner and a potting mix additive to increase nutrient levels and as a lawn amendment to increase the health of lawn.
“You can even use it as mulch, which helps to preserve water content, smother weeds and regulate soil temperature.”
At the core of the project is the diversion of organic materials from landfill.
Amelia says it’s critical to keep organic materials out of landfill where they can rot and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
“By recovering those resources, we’re able to reduce the negative impacts of landfill and on the environment. It’s a great service to offer in ensuring we reduce organic waste going into landfill.”
In the past 12 months the council has given away about 150 tonnes of recycled compost. And Amelia says demand is growing.
“We usually advertise when registrations open for each community event on social media around midday, only a few hours later we have to close them because they are full.
“When the program commenced it was intended to be an annual event. However, because of the large demand we have been able to run it more frequently.
“Bendigo council has hosted four events in the past 12 months, and we have another one planned for early 2025.”
About 400 residents have registered to attend pickup days in the past 12 months. Other end users include community groups and schools.
Amelia says feedback has been positive and has encouraged the council to expand the program in the future.
“Anecdotally, we get a lot of positive feedback from the community about the program itself,” she says.
“We also get good feedback about the quality of the compost, which is really good to hear.”
When it comes to quality, Amelia says the council monitors contamination in the organic stream, and it is consistently below one per cent on average.
“That is a pretty good indicator of the success of the program,” she says.
“However, the program is currently only being used by a portion of the community. If you know that you’re going to be using that material, you’re less likely to contaminate your organics bin with non-organic material.”
Reaching a broader section of the community is among the council’s goals as it looks to scale up the program in the next 12 months.
At the last event the council offered residents pre-bagged compost as well as trailer loads.
“We are now exploring other ways to increase the capacity of the program and maximise the number of recipients.”
For more information, visit: https://www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/