The Queensland Organics Strategy and Action Plan 2022-2032 has been unveiled, which challenges Queenslanders to have a better relationship with their food and to slash what they throw in their rubbish bins.
The Organics Action Plan provides a roadmap for how Queensland plans to avoid generating organic waste, reduce the impacts of organic waste on the environment and communities, transition to a circular economy and build economic and market opportunity for the organics recycling industry.
Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon said the strategy was the result of an extensive consultation process over the past year which included a survey, written submissions, workshops and information sessions.
“This is not only having an increasing cost on our household budgets – estimated at $2,200 a year – but on our environment as unwanted food and garden waste dumped in landfill produces damaging methane gas,” Scanlon said.
“By 2030, we want to halve the amount of food waste generated, divert 80 per cent of the organic material going to landfill, and achieve a 70 per cent recycling rate for organics.”
This follows the launch of the Queensland Government’s three-week ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’ challenge, which aims to raise awareness of the need to reduce food waste by educating participants about practical solutions to reduce food waste.
“Materials will be made available for councils, students, teachers and households across the state to kick start our efforts to reduce food waste,” Scanlon said.
The Queensland Government has committed a $2.1 billion waste package over the next ten years which includes the $1.1 billion Recycling and Jobs Fund to support increased household recycling, help build new resource recovery infrastructure, and create more jobs in more industries.
$11 million in grants have also been committed through the Food Waste for Healthy Soils Program to support new and improved organic waste recycling infrastructure.
To learn more about the week ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’ challenge, click here. For more information regarding the strategy, click here.