Garden waste collection coming this year

Moreton Bay City Council will start an opt-out garden waste collection service later this year, after receiving $9.6 million in State Government funding.

Council will introduce the service in stages, with stage one being a conditional opt-out Garden Organics (GO) service in early December, 2024.

The funding will support the delivery of more than 116,000 lime-green-lidded organics kerbside bins to households across the City of Moreton Bay as well as ‘harmonisation’ for some existing bins as part of a nationwide push to make bin lid colours consistent.

Stage two of council’s plan involves the inclusion of food waste in the collection. The start of this service will depend on finding a processing facility with capacity to process all food organic and garden organic (FOGO) materials collected in the city.

Queensland Environment Minister Leanne Linard says most garden and food waste ends up in landfill, where it emits methane gas and wastes significant organic resources.

“We are committed to halving the amount of food waste generated by 2030,” she says.

“Where organic waste is generated, we have set ourselves the goal of diverting 80 percent of it away from landfill. We are also committed to achieving a minimum organics recycling rate of 70 percent.

“Organic waste can be turned into high value compost, mulch, and soil products that can be used for a range of things, like tree planting, soil improvement, and revegetation projects.

“Through recycling, organic waste is put to good use, with the important nutrients and resources able to be reused and put back into the environment as compost.

“The Miles Government has committed $151 million to help councils across Queensland, including the City of Moreton Bay, to implement FOGO waste collection services.”

Welcome step forward

City of Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery says locals have been calling for green bins to separate and manage their green waste.

“I’m thrilled to be able to make this a reality for them. FOGO is a resource recovery project with the potential to bring our region’s recycling rate from 45 percent to over 60 percent by adding a new lime green lidded bin for organic material made up of food and garden waste,” Mayor Flannery says.

“The introduction of the GO service for Garden Organics across approximately 116,000 households is an important first step in the lead up to full FOGO.

“Council currently produces electricity from landfill gases at its three landfill sites to power up to 7000 homes in our region.

“This additional bin service is in line with our commitment to investing in sustainability and our local lifestyle as our city’s population booms.

“This is another way council is living our mantra of ‘Going Green As We Grow’.”