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Saving food scraps from landfill

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Knox residents will be able to dispose of food in their garden waste bins from mid next year and maximise the amount of waste that can be composted.

Food scraps make up 43% of what is in our rubbish bins. Turning food waste into compost is much less damaging to our environment and reduces harmful greenhouse gases produced by food rotting in landfill.

The food and garden bin will be picked up weekly and the rubbish bin will be picked up fortnightly.

Knox Mayor, Cr Susan Laukens said there is clear evidence that weekly collection of the food and garden bin together with fortnightly collection of the rubbish bin is most successful in diverting food waste from going to landfill.

“We know this will be a big change for our community and we will offer additional support and service options where needed,” she said.

“Collecting the food and garden bins weekly means most of the stinky things in our bins will continue to be picked up weekly.

“We will consult the community to understand what some of the challenges of this change will be and what special exemptions and arrangements can be put in place for households that have specific needs like children in nappies and people using incontinence aids, larger households or households with high volumes of medical waste,” Cr Laukens said.

Knox currently diverts 45% of all kerbside waste from landfill. Some Victorian councils have diverted up to 76% of waste from landfill by switching to weekly food and garden bin and fortnightly rubbish bin collection.

A recent audit of rubbish bins found that food scraps make up 43% of waste in Knox. About 2% is garden waste and 12% is recyclable material. The introduction of a food and garden bin service and education about recycling correctly could halve the amount of waste sent to landfill.

In 2020, the Victorian Government released new waste management and recycling reforms, which are compulsory for all Victorian councils. The community will be consulted on a new waste strategy for Knox to implement the changes mandated by the Victorian Government.

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