Sydney residents to get new bin for food waste

A Sydney council, on a mission to reduce food waste, has decided it will give all homes a new bin.

All homes in Sydney’s Inner West local government area will be given a new designated bin for food scraps.

Residents will scrape their plates into a small purple-lid bin for the kitchen counter, which they will then empty into a kerbside bin which is picked up and processed by the council.

The organic waste recycling service aims to reduce the amount of food waste going to landfill.

Inner West councillor Mat Howard, who brought forward the motion that passed unanimously this week, said enthusiasm from residents for food recycling was inspiring and they needed to give all residents the tools to get involved.

“Food scraps make up around 40 per cent of the average household bin in Australia and when those food scraps go to landfill they produce toxins, leachate, greenhouse gases,” he told council.

“As councillors know recycling food scraps on the other hand generates green energy that is fed back to the grid or turn scraps into compost.”

All homes in the Inner West Council area will be getting a new bin for food waste. Picture: Darcy Byrne / Facebook

About 22,600 units and apartments in the local government area already recycle food waste, but it will now be expanded to all homes.

In November, it was revealed the current program saved more than 713 tonnes of food waste from going to landfill, which is the equivalent emissions of removing 433 cars from roads.

Mr Howard and Mayor Darcy Byrne posted about the successful motion on Facebook.

Mr Byrne said it was a “big and complicated project” and it was expected the expansion would begin in the new financial year.

Some units and apartments have already been using the bins. Picture: Jessica Rozema

The councillors received mostly positive feedback, but some residents were concerned about how it would work and the smell.

Residents wanted to know if there would be one kerbside bin per household and how often it would be collected.

Mr Byrne acknowledged there was “much planning to do”.

“I just worry about the smell and the bins attracting vermin. I hope they are collected once a week and not fortnightly,” wrote one woman.

In the National Waste Policy Action Plan, the Australian Government with states and territories have agreed to introduce Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) collection services to households and businesses by 2023.