Recycling food waste success

Early results are in, showing Council’s recently introduced food and green waste service is being embraced across Bayside.

Collecting household food waste and putting it into the green waste bin was rolled-out across the municipality in July. Nearly 80% of households using Council waste services are now on board with food and green waste recycling.

Since that time, waste volumes from the food and green waste bin have increased by 25 per cent (305 tonnes) from the same time last year, and landfill volumes have decreased by 7.9 per cent (272 tonnes). That’s the equivalent of nearly 2,000 household rubbish bins of waste transformed into compost rather than rotting in landfill.

Common questions

Early results and feedback from the community on the new food and green waste recycling service is overwhelming positive with some common concerns:

Requests for weekly collections rather than fortnightly

Changes to the frequency of the food and green waste service will not be considered until 2021 when current collection contracts expire. The community would be consulted on any proposed change to collections.

More compostable bags

Only compostable bags made of corn starch and featuring the AS4736 logo can be used. These are available from local supermarkets, hardware stores, online or from the Council Corporate Centre.

Smelly bins

To avoid a smelly food and green waste bin

Put food waste in a compostable bag or wrapped in newspaper. Try alternating layers of food waste and garden waste like lawn clippings or dry leaves. Wrap up food waste like prawn shells, seafood and uncooked meat scraps and store them in the freezer until closer to collection day. Store your bins in a shady, flat and well-ventilated area Rinse your bins from time-to-time, and always keep the lid closed. Sprinkle some bicarb soda in the bin to neutralize smells

Reduce food waste at Christmas

Christmas largely focuses on three things – family, friends and food.

This year, be conscious of the amount of food you are buying and preparing and try not to over-cater – even though Bayside has a fabulous new food recycling service. The key to minimising all waste is to start by only purchasing what you really need and then when you do have waste, recycle.

Tips

Ask guests to bring a specific plate to share and avoid double-ups so less goes to waste. Store leftovers as soon as the meal is over so they can be consumed later. Checking use-by dates – a lot of food is thrown out prematurely. Before you go shopping, check what is already in the fridge and pantry. If hosting a larger event that is likely to have leftover food, get in touch with organisations like OzHarvest who can redirect this food.

Household habits

Resident: Joanna

Lives in: Sandringham

Household make-up: Two adults and two children aged 2 and 7

Joanna has fully embraced Council’s new food waste service and has a fool-proof system that is easy to follow.

“I don’t use a kitchen caddy or compostable bags because I didn’t want a anything else sitting on the bench and prefer to use newspaper.” she said.

“When prepping food, I lay out newspaper and put our food scraps in there, roll it up and put it in my own bin at the back door.”

Waste in all Joanna’s Council-collected bins continues to reduce as the family disposes general, food and green waste correctly, consumes only what they need, and plans to introduce a compost or worm farm soon.

Resident: Charlie McCullough

Lives in: Black Rock

Household make-up: Two adults and two children aged 12 and 15

Every week Charlie is surprised by how empty his general waste bin is.

An early adopter of Council’s Food and Green Waste service, having taken part in the trial, Charlie’s whole family is well versed in how it all works.

“By having the caddy easy to access in the kitchen, our food waste going into the general bin has significantly reduced by at least half,” he said.

“The kids are on board because we talked up how good it is for the environment when the trial commenced, so it is second nature to all of us to put our food scraps in the caddy.

“The only challenge is, where to put the caddy – a pretty small price to pay for a great waste reduction service!”

Resident: Helene Redding

Lives in: Black Rock

Household make-up: Single occupant

Helene’s general waste bin is so rarely used, she mostly puts it out for collection to keep it clean and hygienic.

Council’s new food waste service has captured the small amount of scraps that couldn’t go in her worm farm like onion, bones, citrus, avocado and corn cobs, which means next to zero waste from her Black Rock home goes to landfill.

“I love my kitchen caddy, and now have five recycling bins in my kitchen,” she said.

“Soft plastics go to the supermarket collection points; bottle tops go to an organisation that turns them into 3D prostheses for third world countries; and my food scraps now avoid landfill all together.”