Residents save over 1,200 tonnes of organic material from landfill as Council celebrates FOGO anniversary

Meander Valley Council is celebrating its first anniversary of the expansion of food and garden organics (FOGO) collection services.

Mayor Wayne Johnston said that in the year since the program had expanded from Blackstone Heights to include Prospect Vale, Travellers Rest and Hadspen, the initiative had effectively diverted 1,234 tonnes of organics from ending up in landfill.

“Compared with other collection services like recycling and general waste, the amount diverted by the FOGO program stands at an impressive 43 per cent by weight of materials collected,” Mayor Johnston said.

Recycling accounted for 622 tonnes or 21 per cent diversion, while general waste sent to landfill amounted to 1049 tonnes.

In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, diverting organic waste from landfill plays a crucial role in mitigating the production of leachate, a harmful liquid that poses a threat to ground and surface water quality.

Mayor Johnston expressed his appreciation for the active participation of these residents and their outstanding efforts in maintaining low contamination rates in their FOGO bins.

“With contamination rates consistently below one per cent, it is evident that almost everyone is using their FOGO bins the right way, which is why the expansion of the program has been so successful.”

Approximately 59 per cent of Meander Valley's residents are currently benefiting from the FOGO collection service, which is part of a phased in approach towards expanding service provision to other areas in the future.

“We remain committed to investigating further opportunities to expand waste, recycling and FOGO collection services and are investing in major improvements to Meander Valley’s waste facilities, including installation of a weighbridge later this year.

We are working to help the community reduce the amount of waste going to landfill but every household has an important role to play and the statistics show just how much can be achieved when we all work together,” Mayor Johnston said.

When diversion streams of FOGO and recycling are combined Meander Valley is currently diverting a remarkable 64 per cent of waste from landfill, which surpasses current state targets.