Food and garden organic waste weighing more than six buses collected so far in FOGO trial
Date published: 27 December 2021
Townsville’s Food Organic and Garden Organic (FOGO) trial has reached a significant milestone surpassing 100 tonnes, or the equivalent of around six Sunbus buses, of organic waste collected.
Around 1,500 households across Idalia, Burdell, Heatley and Vincent are taking part in a trial to reduce the amount of waste buried in landfills.
Townsville Water and Waste Committee chairperson Russ Cook said Council was only 20 per cent the way through the trial program.
“It is a very positive result. It is great to see the community is on board with reducing waste,” Cr Cook said.
“As part of the trial, some residents can fill their bins with food and green waste while other residents can only use the bins for green waste.
“Plastics, food packaging and other general waste can contaminate FOGO collections resulting in the truck’s whole load of waste needing to go to landfill instead of being mulched and reused.
“A majority of residents are doing a great job of separating their waste, with only an average contamination rate of 1.27 per cent being recorded.”
“Remember, for those in the trial areas, make sure to put the correct waste into the lime-green lidded bins.
Townsville is one of three FOGO trial sites funded by the Queensland Government to gather information about organic recycling.
The data will help the Council determine what is needed to reduce household waste going to landfills.
Cr Cook said information from the trials would help Townsville City Council transition to more sustainable waste management practices.
“We have set a goal to achieve zero waste to landfill by 2030,” he said.
“Information from the trial will help Council explore the best and most effective methods to reaching that goal.
“Council will use what it learnt from the trials to help it understand how a full-scale rollout may be achieved.
The FOGO trials will end in late 2022.
