Townsville City Council’s trial of green and food waste collection has hit the halfway mark
A trial to determine what benefits a kerbside collection service for greenery and food waste would bring to Townsville has reached a milestone. Find out how it could save you money.
Townsville
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A TRIAL to determine what benefits a kerbside collection service for greenery and food waste would bring to Townsville has reached a milestone.
Thousands of households have been included in the trial, which has seen residents partial out their organic waste into a third wheelie bin.
About 270 tons, equalling the contents of 5400 bins, have already been processed as part of the trial.
Acting mayor Mark Molachino said the initial results had seen strong uptake in the process.
“The trial has been split into two parts, with 1000 households in Idalia and Burdell using their new lime-green lidded bins for food and garden waste, meanwhile, 500 households in Vincent and Heatley have been using their extra bin for garden waste only,” Cr Molachino said.
“We have seen industry-best standards for household participation rates of up to 90 per cent in some areas.”
Cr Molachino said contamination rates were below two per-cent indicating most participating households were doing the right thing.
“Trial participants will be surveyed within the next few weeks so we can gather further information about how the trial is going and receive any feedback they have,” Cr Molachino said.
“The information gathered will be used to evaluate whether the program will roll out citywide, what it might look like and what further infrastructure might be needed.”
The food organics, garden organics kerbside collection trial was funded with assistance from a $242,000 Queensland government grant.
Community Health, Safety and Environmental Sustainability Committee chairman Maurie Soars said the trial could potentially save ratepayers money.
“Waste management is a considerable expense for ratepayers,” Cr Soars said.
“For example, construction has started on two new landfill cells at the Stuart waste facility at the cost of more than $10 million. Our current cell, constructed in 2020, is expected to reach capacity within the next 12 months.
“Initiatives like the FOGO Kerbside Collection Trial are about looking for sustainable ways to divert materials from going to landfills to be reused or repurposed.
“One of those initiatives has been diverting the garden organic material to be processed by local business Atlas Soils to turn into a soil conditioner which Council has already used in parks and gardens across Townsville.”
At present, the trial is planned to end in September.
Originally published as Townsville City Council’s trial of green and food waste collection has hit the halfway mark
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