Council is seeking information on how residents manage their household food and garden waste as a first step in finding alternative ways to keep organics out of landfill.
About 60% of material placed in kerbside general waste bins across the region is organic. This is currently recovered through the Advanced Resource Recovery Facility (AARF), and converted to compost for use in agriculture, which contributes to the overall domestic recovery rate of 63%.
With the AARF contract expiring in 2026, and Queensland Government requirements to halve the volume of organic material going to landfill by 2030, Council’s Resource Recovery 2040 (RR2040) project is looking for new ways to manage this waste.
Cairns Councillor Brett Moller, who is vice president of the Local Authority Waste Management Action Committee, said while garden waste is part and parcel of living in the Tropics, food waste is an issue all residents could tackle.
“It’s estimated that every Australian household throws out 4kg of food each week,” he said.
“This is costly, not only for people wanting to manage their household budgets, but for councils that need to subsequently deal with the mountain of organic waste that is generated. Minimising food waste is therefore important for both your back pocket and Council’s budget.”
Cr Moller said the Queensland Government was also investigating options for a total ban of organics from landfill, which underscored the need for Councils to better understand and manage organic waste.
“We know, however, that completely eliminating organic waste is not possible, so we need a plan that best utilises this resource as our region grows,” Cr Moller said.
“We have been talking with industry stakeholders about the processing component, but it’s now time to turn our attention to household collection.
“And as a first step, we are asking residents about their attitudes towards organics recycling and how they currently manage their food and garden waste. Once we have identified possible collection options, we will be asking residents which they prefer.”
RR2040 is a holistic project to meet Queensland and Australian Government landfill diversion rates, and will look at: organics, increasing recovery of recyclables and reducing items going to landfill.
