Almost 200,000 more households will soon be able to recycle kitchen and garden waste using food organics and garden organics (FOGO) bin systems.
Eighteen local governments have been offered funding this year from the McGowan Government to support their transition from two bins to the better practice three-bin FOGO kerbside collection service. This includes funding support for nine local governments, which made an early move to FOGO kerbside services, to optimise their existing three-bin services.
Funding will be used to deliver further education to 100,000 households and to expand FOGO services to include multi-unit dwellings.
This announcement – made during National Recycling Week – means that more than 250,000 households in the Perth and Peel region will be able to recycle all their organic waste and see it returned to their communities as compost.
Many Western Australian households already have access to a three-bin system thanks to the previous Better Bins program. In most cases, the organics bin is for garden organic waste only.
The new, higher performing three-bin FOGO service, which enables households to recycle both garden waste and kitchen waste, consists of a red-lidded bin for general waste, a yellow-lidded bin for co-mingled recycling, and a lime-green lidded bin for food organics and garden organics.
The system can achieve recovery rates of more than 65 per cent and make the single biggest contribution to achieving the waste strategy material recovery targets for municipal solid waste.
FOGO also delivers other environmental benefits such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Compost derived from FOGO products can help soil quality and can be used locally, reducing the environmental and economic cost of transporting materials over long distances.
As stated by Environment Minister Stephen Dawson:
“The Better Bins Plus: Go FOGO scheme is a real game changer; these services make a significant contribution to reducing waste in Western Australia and local governments that have introduced FOGO can increase recovery rates to more than 65 per cent.
“Recycling supports around three times the number of jobs compared to waste disposal, and – as identified by a pilot scheme run by the City of Melville – higher recovery rates associated with FOGO can also reduce local government waste management costs.
“The McGowan Government is committed to working with those local governments who have made the transition to the new three-bin system and are leading the way in waste management practices and deserve recognition for doing so.
“I encourage other local governments and their communities to get behind this program, apply for funding for FOGO services and support WA’s transition to more consistent and better performing waste management services.”
