Let’s get food waste out of landfill

It is time for the Mount Gambier community to refocus on waste management and continue to play their role in a sustainable future.

And if there is one area where we can improve it is disposing of food waste.

City of Mount Gambier environmental sustainability officer Aaron Izzard said 35 per cent of landfill was food waste and that stat could easily be improved.

“There are still hundreds of tonnes going into landfill instead of potting mix,” he said.

There is a one off charge of $85 for a green bin but ensuring food and garden waste, which still makes up 10 percent of landfill, are repurposed and not sent to landfill is critical.

Council still provides kitchen caddies and compostable bags if you are yet to join the green waste revolution.

“Basically anything that was alive can go in your green bin,” Mr Izzard said. “It also includes coffee grinds, tea bags, bones, hair, egg shells.”

It pays to note that the smell we associate with landfill is exclusively due to food waste.

While removing food waste from landfill is the number one ticket item, not putting plastic bags in recycling is another key issue.

“Don’t put your recyclables in a plastic bag and don’t put them loose in recycling – our recycling systems are not designed to deal with that,” Mr Izzard said.

He also recommends putting all your plastic bags tied up inside one bag as a means to limit their environmental impact with loose bags susceptible to windy conditions that sees them often blow away when dumped in landfill.

Mr Izzard also reminded passionate recyclers to rinse containers before placing them in the blue bin.

“They don’t have to be sparkling clean but give them a rinse first.”

Recycling in Mount Gambier also doesn’t include lids so these need to be removed before placing jars and bottles into the recycling bin.

The good news with the plastic lids is Tenison Woods College Recology Project takes those and creates a variety of objects including coffee cup holders and furniture.

There are bins in the Civic centre to drop off your plastic lids and if you want to be super helpful for the Tenison Woods College program there is an online City of Mount Gambier video to show you how to sort them.

“Unfortunately everywhere is different for recycling so check out our website and socials to get all the information you need about not just recycling but all waste management,” Mr Izzard said.

Downloading My Local Services app is also a great tool for all council services.

“It provides bin pick up notifications, lets you know if a truck has broken down as well as a lot of other useful information including community events and facilities,” Mr Izzard said.

The awareness raising of sustainable waste management in our schools is also helping filter that education into households.

“Schools that have someone who is passionate about recycling have a really strong focus on teaching kids about what they can do,” Mr Izzard said and he also spends a lot of time in schools presenting to staff and students.

“I talk to them about the waste transfer station, reuse market and landfill,” he said.

The Reuse Market is open twice a month and is always on the look out for donations.

“So if you are cleaning up at home, we can take anything in good, working condition and you can drop at transfer station for free,” Mr Izzard said.

The Waste Transfer Station is located at 5 Eucalypt Drive, Mount Gambier and is open Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 12noon and weekends from 2-5pm.