Townsville City Council FOGO trial already showing sings of success

The first two weeks of a food and organic waste trial has been a smashing success with more than 20 tonnes diverted from landfill.

THE first two weeks of a food and organic waste trial has been a smashing success with more than 20 tonnes diverted from landfill.

Townsville City Council has been trialling the Food Organics and Garden Organics trial since the start of the month as part of a wider effort to reduce the amount of waste going into landfill.

While there is a waste levy charged on residential waste, the state government covers the cost for councils.

However, concerns this payment could be reconsidered has led to councils looking at new ways to save material from landfill.

Water and Waste Committee chairman Russ Cook said the initial results of the program was a good indicator the community was keen to reduce waste.

“We began FOGO in the first week of October and in the first two weeks we’ve had a presentation rate of around 60 per cent from eligible households with 20,400 kilograms of material collected,” Cr Cook said.

“It’s encouraging to see the community jumping on board with almost all bins being presented showing minimal contamination, we’re hoping that this will continue and that we’ll see an uptick in the households using the bins.”

Townsville City Council bin checks earlier this year found an average of 18.4 per cent of waste in kerbside bins was food organics, while 27.2 per cent was garden organics.

Cr Cook said residents in the trial areas of Idalia, Heatley, Vincent and Burdell needed to double check what could go in the line-green lidded bin to make sure the trucks weren’t diverted to landfill.

“Plastics, food packaging, and other general waste can contaminate the FOGO loads and mean that the whole truck goes to landfill instead of being mulched and reused,” Cr Cook said.

“While we continue to track these results, Council is now asking the community to provide feedback on what they would like to see rolled out across the board.”

The FOGO trial, which received $220,000 from the Queensland government, has been implemented across 1500 properties.

Cr Cook said the trial would provide crucial information for the council to adapt its waste management services.

He said the survey available on council’s website and the trial were important because of the need to transition to more sustainable waste management practices.

“This is to ensure we can meet our aspiration of zero waste to landfill by 2030 and to align with policies and strategies being implemented by the Queensland and Australian Governments,” Cr Cook said.

The FOGO Have Your Say survey is available on the council’s website.

Schools to become vax hubs

A NUMBER of Townsville schools will be turned into vaccination hubs this weekend as the state government looks for more opportunities for people to get jabbed.

The hubs will be part of the state’s largest vaccination blitz to date with anyone who is yet to be vaccinated encouraged to come forward and get their first dose.

The Super Saturday vaccination blitz will include pop-up clinics at 100 high schools across the state including Thuringowa State High, Heatley Secondary College, Northern Beaches State High and William Ross State High.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said there would be a focus on the areas with low vaccination uptake.

“We need Queenslanders to vaccinate before it’s too late,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“Vaccinations are the key to saving lives and reuniting Queenslanders with their friends and family.”

William Ross State High School will be one of the vax hubs. Picture: Alix Sweeney

Thuringowa MP Aaron Harper encouraged all Townsville and North Queensland residents to get vaccinated.

“Get vaccinated. We can’t be any clearer than that,” Mr Harper said.

“Delta will get here and you need to be vaccinated for the sake of our community. What better place than Thuringowa State High or any of the other three schools in Townsville.”

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said earlier this month, the state established pop-up clinics at 18 schools, administering 4500 doses over two days.

“We’ve given you the vaccination targets and dates we’re working towards to open Queensland’s borders so you can see your family and friends – and Queenslanders have the power to bring those dates forward if more people get vaccinated sooner.

“We cannot be complacent. Just because Covid-19 may not have reached your community yet does not mean it won’t.

“We need more of our regional Queenslanders to get vaccinated now to protect themselves, their loved ones and their communities.”

Education Minister Grace Grace said that many students aged 12 and over, their families and friends would come forward to get vaccinated this weekend.

NQ mums miss out on millions

TOWNSVILLE mums could have been $22m better off when they retire if the federal government paid superannuation on its parental leave scheme.

New data from Industry Super Australia show more than 20,000 North Queensland mums have tapped into the parental leave pay in the past decade, putting a $22m dent in their retirement savings.

The issue could equate to $14,000 less in the kitty for a mother of two.

In the 2019-2020 financial year, more than 2000 North Queensland women missed out on $2.8m in payments.

In the electorate of Herbert, 10,880 women lost $12m in super payments, while in Dawson, 9220 women lost 10.3m in payments.

ISA advocacy director Georgia Brumby said Townsville women were being made to sacrifice retirement savings to have children. “It’s hard enough trying to juggle work and raising a family – it’s not fair that thousands of women are also missing out on thousands from their super as well,” she said.

Ms Brumby said if there was no change to the scheme to include superannuation payments, more women would be at risk of retiring into poverty.

The parental leave scheme is understood to be one of the only forms of paid leave where there is no requirement to pay super.

Superannuation and Women’s Economic Security Minister Jane Hume said the government had made reforms to the paid parental leave scheme last year to enhance its flexibility and allow families to choose how it was used.

“Given the disruptions to Australia’s workforce due to Covid-19, we have not seen the full impact of these reforms since they were proclaimed. It would be remiss of this Government to make further changes without proper consideration of the changes already made,” Ms Hume said.

“We are focused on improving retirement outcomes for women by increasing superannuation coverage and making our system fairer for women and all Australians.”

In Townsville, 99.5 per cent of applicants for the paid parental scheme were women, 0.5 per cent were men.

ISA’s analysis showed that missing super payments had a dramatic impact on a women’s final super balance.

A woman who spent five years out of the paid workforce in their late 20s and early 30s could be almost $100,000 worse off. Across the state, women lost $315.4m in super due to parental leave while men only lost $1.9m. 

SOLAR CITY: New renewable hub key for NQ

TOWNSVILLE is fast becoming a renewable energy powerhouse with a new plan in place to build a new sustainable development.

The Queensland government is working toward developing the industrial land in Bohle Plains for a renewable energy project which has been earmarked for a potential 235ha solar farm.

This will be the first time Economic Development Queensland, a government agency that delivers property development and provides specialist land use planning, will develop suitable land for renewable energy infrastructure.

While EDQ has proposed a solar farm would be ideal for the land, the project is structured in such a way that it could later be transformed back into industrial space.

A number of major renewable energy projects are under development or operating in North Queensland including the Sun Metals solar farm, the Kidston Pumped Hydro Storage Project, the Kennedy Energy Party, the Mt Fox Energy Park and a connected battery trial at Black River.

A solar farm is proposed for the place at Bohle Plains. (Photo by Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images)

The proposed project at Bohle Plains is currently being reviewed against the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

Deputy Premier and State Development Minister Steven Miles said the government was proposing a precinct with a footprint about 235ha, to be developed in 2022 following a comprehensive expressions of interest process.

“The expression of interest process would identify interested renewable energy developments that could be based on the site,” Mr Miles said.

“By backing Queensland to become a renewable energy superpower we will create and sustain jobs long into the future.”

The North Queensland Regional Plan identified potential areas suitable for new renewable energy developments, including a location in Bohle Plains.

Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said the city had the potential to be the renewable energy powerhouse of Northern Australia.

“As a city and region that receives more than 300 days of sunshine every year, we are uniquely positioned to take advantage of new energies such as solar and hydrogen,” Cr Hill said.

“The private sector has shown that it is willing to invest. All levels of government should be working together to provide a foundation for private sector investment.”

Cr Hill said this project was another example of the momentum building in the new energy economy locally.

If approved, Thuringowa MP Aaron Harper said it would help the state reach its target of 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030.

“A precinct like this would encourage more investors in renewable manufacturing to come to Townsville,” Mr Harper said.

“Our ambitious targets and investments are creating huge opportunities with more jobs in more industries right along the renewable energy supply chain.”

Mundingburra MP and hydrogen champion Les Walker said the government had committed to creating more jobs in more industries.

“In Townsville we are working with Sun Metals as they move to operate their refinery on 100 per cent renewable energy by 2040 and use hydrogen trucking fleets,” Mr Walker said.

“The Port of Townsville has also now signed a Memorandum of Understanding with two companies to export hydrogen from the city which is fantastic.”

Townsville MP Scott Stewart said the government was committed to working with industry.

“Just last month the Townsville Energy Chemicals Hub (TECH) at Lansdown Eco Industrial Precinct was declared a prescribed project, and the Port of Townsville and Ark Energy signed a Memorandum of Understanding that could mean renewable hydrogen is exported to South Korea from North Queensland,” Mr Stewart said.

Originally published as Townsville City Council FOGO trial already showing sings of success