Green bins putting food and garden waste to good use
Published on 31 August 2020
From today (31 August 2020), residents throughout the City of Maribyrnong are able to use their existing green waste bin to recycle all types of food waste, as well as their garden waste.
Expanding the green waste service to include food waste recycling is the first key phase of Council’s Food and Garden waste program. The next phase of the program will see 21,000 detached residential dwellings across the municipality receive a food and garden waste bin in 2021.
Removing food and garden waste from landfill is the single most effective way that our community can reduce their carbon emissions from waste quickly, as almost half (48%) of the material in the typical household landfill bin is currently made up of food and garden waste. By collecting and recycling this material, we can dramatically reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill, and instead create nutrient rich compost to help farms and gardens grow. So today’s food and garden waste can grow tomorrow’s fruit and vegetables.
Residents throughout the City have shown support for the new Food and Garden waste service, with community consultation revealing that the most popular idea for Council’s Towards Zero Waste Strategy was the introduction of food waste into the green bin.
Regular fortnightly collections of green bins will continue and residents who would like to be part of the program ahead of the community roll out in 2021 can register for a food and garden waste bin here.
For residents who already compost their food waste at home, the food and garden waste service will provide a great solution for things like meat, seafood, dairy, citrus, onions and breads, which can cause problems in small scale compost bins. All of these food types can be recycled in the food and garden waste bin.
Council are pleased to be rolling out this new service for residents, but it is important to remember that is always best to try and reduce food waste first, before finding ways to recycle it. Council offers a range of waste reduction programs, including Food Know How and the Compost Community, which help community members to reduce and recycle their food waste. You can read about these programs here.
For further information and updates, please visit www.maribyrnong.vic.gov.au/foodwaste
Message from the Mayor, Cr Sarah Carter
“Our community is environmentally conscious and supportive of ways in which we are able to reduce our carbon footprint. We are proud to support this initiative and we look forward to our entire community working together to reduce food waste going to landfill.”
Maribyrnong News
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