Orange bin trial

ABOUT 1500 Lara households will trial a new orange bin initiative to turn food waste into compost, with plans to eventually introduce the program across Geelong and reduce waste to landfill by a third.

The weekly household food waste collection trial will start in November, with households involved in the trial already notified and set to receive their new 60-litre orange lid food waste bin, a kitchen benchtop caddy and compostable caddy liners late next month.

The City of Greater Geelong says there has been strong local support for the introduction of a food waste collection service, with more than 82 per cent of respondents to the City of Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy 2020-30 survey stating they would support the service if it was introduced.

The state government has mandated that all local councils must implement a food waste collection service before 2030 and the 12-month trial will be evaluated in late 2022, before the service is gradually introduced to further areas in 2023.

Greater Geelong is expected to have a municipal-wide food waste collection service by early 2024.

Deputy Mayor Trent Sullivan said the trial was a key step towards meeting the council’s sustainability target of diverting all household waste from landfill by 2030-31.

“We are excited by the multiple benefits that will come from increasing the recovery of food waste,” Cr Sullivan said.

Circular Economy portfolio chair Cr Belinda Moloney said the initiative would help the environment and create a valuable resource.

“Instead of taking up valuable landfill space and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, the food waste can be processed into compost to be used in our parks or by farmers to grow more food,” Cr Moloney said.

“The targeted trial will give us great insight into how we can deliver an innovative full-scale food waste collection service right across Greater Geelong.”

Windermere Ward councillor and Lara resident Kylie Grzybek said she was confident her local community would embrace the trial.

“The Lara community is doing us all a great service, but I think they’ll also be glad to be the first in our region to experience this new collection,” Cr Grzybek said.

“We thank them for their participation and look forward to their feedback as the trial progresses.”

Fellow Windermere Ward councillor Anthony Aitken said participants would be fully supported throughout the trial, with community information sessions to answer any questions.

“We understand this will be a change, but it’s a positive change in terms of the way we manage waste, so we want to work with the community to make it a success.”

Food waste accounts for 34 per cent of the material in the average Geelong household’s rubbish bin and is one of the main causes of greenhouse gas emissions.

The roll out of the trial follows the City’s purchase of two in-vessel composting units, with one supported by a $250,000 grant from Sustainability Victoria.

The units will allow council to process up to 2000 tonnes of food waste each year, significantly reducing the amount of food waste being sent to landfill.