Page 2081 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 5 June 2019
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I am pleased to provide the Assembly with an update on what the ACT government is doing to reduce organic waste going into landfill in the ACT. This important issue was highlighted in the ACT government’s waste management strategy for 2011-25, which identifies the importance of reducing organic matter in landfill. The strategy seeks to not only recover valuable food resources but reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are generated from them.
It is estimated that 37 per cent of household bin contents is organic food waste. With around 70,000 tonnes of rubbish collected in our household garbage bins, this means around 25,000 tonnes of compostable household waste is being buried at the Mugga Lane landfill each year. Add the figures from commercial sources of food waste in the ACT and there is a total of around 40,000 tonnes of food waste going into landfill. Food waste is also an economic burden, estimated to cost the Australian economy $20 billion annually. At the household level, this translates to anywhere from $2,200 to $3,800 a year. The national food waste baseline found that in 2016-17, as a nation, we generated an estimated 7.3 million tonnes of food waste across the supply and consumption chain. This is equivalent to 13,594 Telstra towers.
The waste feasibility study, funded in the 2015-16 budget, was established to seek pathways to achieving the goals of the waste management strategy. The study’s final road map discussion paper released in May last year provided three key recommendations in relation to addressing food waste. No 1 is that it is best practice to educate households and businesses on how to avoid food waste in the first place. No 2 is to maintain the ACT’s participation in and support for the national food waste initiatives. No 3 is source separation of food waste through a collection service, which would leverage the green bins that we have made available across all Canberra suburbs since March this year. The study presented a compelling case for food waste reduction.
I am pleased to inform the Assembly that the ACT government, in the budget that we released yesterday, is investing $973,000 over two years to undertake a community education pilot and early planning for a food organics and garden organics collection service. If we are to fight food waste in the ACT, the ACT government wants to do it properly. The funding will seek to teach the Canberra community and businesses how we can avoid food waste in the first place. But getting the food waste to the bin, free from contamination, is only the first step. Once food waste is in the bin, the government is responsible for ensuring that the material is collected, is processed and goes to the right markets to keep the circular economy in place.
The importance of robust markets for recycled products cannot be underestimated. The 2019-20 budget funding will support research on identifying and confirming robust markets for the recycled FOGO material, and a site to process the material needs to be identified and established. We need to give proper consideration to neighbours and the potential odours and truck movements associated with composting large quantities of organics, something that Ms Lawder has raised in relation to the Mugga Lane landfill in the past. Such considerations should include conversations with our regional neighbours and the local governments that surround the ACT.
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