More than 70 councils across Australia already do it and now pressure is mounting for Brisbane City Council to join the FOGO phenomenon.
FOGO stands for Food Organics, Garden Organics.
It’s a waste management system similar to recycling but instead of re-purposing glass and paper, FOGO finds a new life for kitchen scraps and garden waste.
It would work by residents putting their kitchen scraps and garden clippings into Brisbane City Council’s green lid waste bins, which already exist.
Those bins would then be emptied on a weekly basis and the organic matter would be treated and composted at a special facility.
The end result is nutrient rich compost that Council can sell to farmers and landscapers or even use in public gardens.
The Council Opposition team (Labor) launched the push to bring the waste management system to Brisbane and gain public support for it.
They’ve started a petition, in a bid to lobby Brisbane City Council to implement the service.
“It’ll create three times as many jobs as landfill, reduce our city’s carbon footprint and save ratepayers millions in waste levy charges,” Opposition Leader Jared Cassidy said.
“Right now 80,000 tonnes of organic waste is put into Brisbane’s landfill every year, that’s 80,000 tonnes of valuable food and garden waste that could be transformed into nutrient rich compost.”
Things that are classified as ‘FOGO’ waste include vegetable and fruit scraps, tea bags and coffee grinds, meat off-cuts, pizza boxes and even dog and cat poo.
If you want to see a FOGO waste collection service in Brisbane, CLICK HERE to view the petition.
