In just two months, Boroondara residents have increased the amount of waste they divert from landfill from 49 per cent to almost 70 per cent.
The increase is the result of a new weekly FOGO kerbside collection service, which the Victorian council launched on 4 May.
“Residents are now diverting more than 200 tonnes of food waste from landfill per week by putting it into their lime-green FOGO bin,” a Boroondara City Council statement reads.
“The food waste is then hot composted and turned into soil conditioner for use in horticulture and agriculture to grow more food and protect soils.”
For the last 16 years, the amount of waste Boroondara has diverted from landfill has consistently measured around 50 per cent, with weekly recycling and fortnightly green waste collections.
“FOGO has enabled an extra 20 per cent to be diverted, and this percentage is only expected to increase as more residents adjust to the new system,” the statement reads.
Boroondara City Council has also released a landfill diversion line chart, which shows how the percentage of waste diverted from landfill has changed in the council since 1996.
In 1997, Boroondara introduced recycling crates.
“The chart shows that this led to diversion rates improving before plateauing around the 30 per cent mark where it remained for four years,” the statement reads.
In 2003/04 the council adopted commingled recycling and expanded its green waste service.
“Following this, the amount of waste diverted from landfill increased to around the 50 per cent mark where it stayed for 16 years,” the statement reads.
“In May 2020, we introduced FOGO and landfill diversion increased to 68 per cent.”
Image credit: Boroondara City Council.
Related stories:
- Waste 2020: the urban potential for FOGO
- Recycling Victoria: a new economy? Part three
- City of Boroondara’s flexible plastics program
