The region’s weekly red bin collection is safe, with Central Coast Council voting to keep the bin schedule as it is, while it hopes to reduce waste going into those bins by going FOGO.
According to the Council, 59 per cent of what now goes in the red bin is food scraps and garden waste, or Food Organics and Garden Organics, which can go into the green bin.
Council adopted its inaugural Waste Resource Management Strategy, which includes provision to maintain the general waste red bin weekly service and investigating the introduction of a FOGO service for the Central Coast at its September 14 meeting.
It is the result of extended consultation with the community, industry and other stakeholders, exploring attitudes, waste sector expertise, local and global trends and options for creating a circular economy which values the recovery of resources and advocates the prevention of waste.
More than 1,300 residents participated in the initial community consultation phase, with the diversion of waste away from landfill emerging as a top priority.
The strategy sets out four objectives.
The first is to drive waste avoidance by breaking single-use habits, exploring reusable options and repurposing materials.
The second is to build a circular economy through diverting waste from landfill and stimulating local demand for recovered materials.
The third is to strengthen “triple bottom line” outcomes as Council partners with other stakeholders to optimise waste facilities and services.
The fourth objective is to enhance street and open space appeal by creating clean streetscapes.
Council’s Unit Manager Waste Services, Andrew Pearce, said the Council was leading the way in waste education and initiatives such as recycled products being incorporated into road construction, mattress recycling and the household soft plastics recycling trial.
“In 2018-19, 59 percent of the Coast’s waste went into landfill and this Strategy provides the framework for us to significantly reduce that amount and divert waste products into products and resources that can be used again,” Pearce said.
“This Strategy enables us to continue to explore ways of extracting resources from waste, which can then be used for upcycling, returned to raw materials or used in energy production.”
The Waste Resource Management Strategy is available at centralcoast.nsw.gov.au
Source:
Media release, Sep 14
Central Coast Council