A large-scale food and garden organics composting facility is planned to be built 1n Mugga Lane to support the diversion of waste from landfill and its use as a valuable resource.
Releasing a feasibility study into Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) in the ACT, City Services said that since its FOGO pilot program began in November, over 480 tonnes of organic material had been collected and diverted away from landfill from participating households in Belconnen, Bruce, Cook and Macquarie.
“In the ACT, roughly one-third of household landfill bins is food,” City Services said.
“This equates to around 26,000 tonnes of food waste going to Canberra’s landfill each year,” it said.
“When food waste breaks down in landfill it produces methane – a harmful greenhouse gas.”
City Services said that an in-vessel composting system had been identified as the best option for the new facility, “which will keep all composting materials enclosed within a building to reduce odour in surrounding areas”.
The Directorate said the new facility would be capable of processing over 50,000 tonnes of FOGO material each year, enough for a city-wide FOGO collection service.
Welcoming the feasibility study, Minister for Transport and City Services, Chris Steel said food and garden waste could be transformed into nutrient-rich compost, and removing the items from the Territory’s landfill would help cut waste emissions by up to 30 per cent.
Mr steel said City Services would continue planning for a citywide rollout of household FOGO collection services while the FOGO composting facility was under development.
City Services’ 15-page Feasibility Summary: FOGO – a food and garden organics service for the ACT can be accessed at this PS News link.
