2020-08-10
The ACT Greens today welcomed ACT Labor’s recycled (!) announcement on food waste collection, while reinforcing the necessity of dealing with organic waste for the commercial and hospitality sectors.
A 2019 motion by Greens MLA Caroline Le Couteur that was passed in the Assembly committed the Government to start planning for a new food waste collection service for green bins before 2023.
The motion followed an ACT Greens campaign for ‘Compost, Not Landfill’ across the Territory.
“Canberrans want to do our bit in the ‘War on Waste’. It is certainly well and truly time we had a food waste collection system in the Territory,” Greens MLA Caroline Le Couteur said today.
“But household scraps are only part of the problem - we also need to tackle the massive issue of commercial food waste. Any system designed in the Territory also needs to ensure that commercial outlets are part of the scheme.
Key facts
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More than a third of the waste in Canberra’s household bins is made up of food waste.
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Composting this waste would prevent approximately 40,000 tonnes of food waste ending up in landfill each year - composting this waste would reduce our greenhouse gas emissions that come from food waste by 96%.
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Around half of local councils in Victoria already have this kind of household food waste collection service in place.
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More information is listed on the ACT Greens’ ‘Compost Not Landfill’ campaign website.