The Western Australia Government’s vision for a harmonised three-bin Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) service has celebrated a milestone after it was rolled out to more than 200,000 households.
FOGO has been rolled out across 18 local governments – with a further 13 committed to introducing the system.
Waste recovery through FOGO has increased from 11,000 tonnes in 2017, to more than 65,000 tonnes in 2022. Star performers during 2021-22 include the City of Albany, which reached an overall recycling rate of 65 per cent, and the City of Melville, at 66 per cent.
Per-household funding to local governments increased in 2023 as part of a $20 million commitment to support local governments through the ‘Better Bins Plus: Go FOGO’ program. Applications for that program have been open year-round since July.
In addition, $11.25 million of joint State and Commonwealth funding was awarded earlier this year to three facilities in metropolitan Perth, to bolster their processing capacity by 275,000 tonnes under the Food Waste for Healthy Soils scheme.
Environment Minister Reece Whitby said the recycling of organic waste from households is the most impactful step Western Australians can take towards meeting household waste targets and avoiding associated greenhouse gas emissions.
“We know households want FOGO, so I would encourage those councils yet to sign up, to get involved.”
For more information, visit: www.wa.gov.au
Related stories:
Go Organics takes on WA FOGO industry