A major education campaign to reduce the amount of food waste ending up in garbage bins has been launched as the service is expanded across Moyne Shire.
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From July 1, the existing kerbside pick-up for garbage, recycling and organic waste will be extended to include Peterborough, Nirranda, Nullaware, Naringal, Caramut, Woorndoo, Framlingham, Chatsworth and Hexham.
The cost of the service will be added to the rates for residents in those towns.
It is expected to be about $327.
Moyne Shire team leader environmental services Paula Tovey said while many of the part-time residents of Peterborough said they did not want the service, the majority of residents supported the idea.
“If you’re in a defined township, it’s compulsory. If you’re on the designated truck route between the towns, you can opt into it,” Ms Tovey said.
“Council has made that strategic decision. We supply libraries and everyone pays for that out of their rates.
“We supply swimming pools. It’s exactly the same thing.”
As part of the roll-out, new kitchen caddies and liners would be supplied to all households in the shire using the service.
Ms Tovey said reducing the amount of food waste going into garbage bins would bring significant cost savings to both the council and community as well as to the environment.
The council conducted a survey of 7000 households in April which attracted 2000 responses.
It found while 95 per cent of customers were happy with the service, 40 per cent of people were using the organics bin only for garden waste.
The findings prompted the decision to supply kitchen caddies and ramp up an education campaign to let people know that food scraps such as vegetables, fruit, meat, fish and tea bags could be put in the organics bin.
As part of the new service, the council will supply new liners every year for the kitchen caddies.
“That’s purely to help the household collect the kitchen organics and, instead of putting it in the bin, making it easy for them to put this whole green bag into the organics bin,” Ms Tovey said.
“There is significant cost savings to the council and the community from efficiently using the organics bin.”
Letters will soon be delivered to residents to inform them about the new service.
The contract to supply the service will be decided at the January 20 council meeting.
There is significant cost savings to the council and the community from efficiently using the organics bin.
- Paula Tovey
