by Komoneed | Mar 1, 2025
With landfill said to reach capacity in Greater Sydney by 2030, the NSW Government has passed legislation to become the first state to implement a statewide mandate for food organics and garden organics (FOGO) recycling, diverting food waste from landfill into compost.
The legislation mandates FOGO collection services for households by July 2030, and for businesses and institutions in stages from July 2026.
“NSW has ignored the crisis for landfill capacity for too long. We cannot kick this can down the road any longer,” said Minister for Energy Penny Sharpe. “The new FOGO laws mean NSW is leading the nation in combating food waste, becoming the first to mandate this recycling revolution across the state.”
FOGO bins will be rolled out at premises such as supermarkets, pubs, cafes, universities, schools, hotels and hospitals. Large supermarkets will also be required to report on the amounts and types of surplus food donated to charities like OzHarvest, Second Bite and Foodbank.
With FOGO taking up to a third of household red bin capacity, this legislation may help take some pressure off landfill. The new laws are projected to divert up to one million tonnes of organic waste from landfill each year, with most to be transformed into high-quality compost for parks, sporting fields and agriculture, promoting healthier soils and sustainable food production.
With the introduction of this mandate, the government plans to take the state one step closer to a circular economy, where resources are recycled, reused and repurposed.
“The mandate is a good step in the right direction, and it comes after the federal government abandoned its initial target for food organic waste collection, changing it from 2023 to 2030,” said Dr Bhavna Middha, Senior Research Fellow, College of Design and Social Context at RMIT University.
The new laws are backed by a $81 million FOGO Fund to go largely to councils for infrastructure including bins, kitchen caddies and liners, contamination audits, community education programs and staffing, including a $9 million boost in funding allocated to:
$4 million to support implementation in apartments and multi-unit dwellings
$3 million for a statewide advertising campaign to raise awareness and encourage behaviour change
$1 million for councils with existing FOGO services to conduct annual ‘booster’ education campaigns
$1 million for a pilot to tackle contamination hotspots using artificial intelligence.
“The NSW Government doesn’t allow any biodegradable, compostable or bioplastics in food waste or FOGO bins, but fibre-based (paper or newspaper) or compostable plastic kitchen caddy liners that comply with the Australian standard for commercial composting are allowed in kitchen caddies,” Middha said.
“This makes it easier for households to collect and dispose of their food waste into FOGO bins. This also reduces the contamination in food waste as excessive biodegradable products were impacting the safe application of the compost.”
The NSW Environment Protection Authority is working closely with communities, councils and industry to ensure a smooth and effective transition.
A step-by-step Best Practice Guide has also been launched to help councils introduce FOGO and manage contamination risks.
Image credit: iStock.com/ruizluquepaz
by Grace Ebert | Mar 1, 2025
On an abandoned pier on Chaishan Island’s shore, an elegant installation rocks in the wind.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Minimal Blades Flutter in the Breeze in a Shoreline Installation on China’s Chaishan Island appeared first on Colossal.
by Komoneed | Feb 28, 2025
DW’s Living Planet podcast explores 15-minute cities with Dan Luscher and
Lindsay Sturman.
by Komoneed | Feb 28, 2025
The ACCC has granted authorisation with conditions to the major supermarkets Coles Group, Woolworths Group and ALDI Stores to continue their collaboration to recycle stockpiled soft plastics and implement the pilot in-store collection program until 31 July 2026.
The ACCC first granted the supermarkets interim authorisation in November 2022, following the collapse of REDcycle, which operated a nationwide soft plastics collection and recycling program.
“Our decision today allows the supermarkets to continue working together to process the remaining REDcycle legacy stockpiles,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.
“Whilst it is encouraging to see that some progress is now being made as processing capacity improves, the ACCC expects that the supermarkets will continue to prioritise stockpile remediation efforts to prevent further delays.”
The ACCC has decided to impose the same reporting conditions as the previous authorisation, requiring the major supermarkets to provide it with quarterly progress reports and minutes of each meeting of the Soft Plastics Taskforce. These reports and minutes will be published on the ACCC’s public register.
It is also a condition that all arrangements must immediately stop when the authorisation expires or is revoked.
“This is a significant issue for many consumers, so continued transparency about what progress the supermarkets are making in their processing of the soft plastic stockpiles is important,” Keogh said.
Authorisation will also allow the soft plastics instore collection pilot program to continue operating in Victoria and New South Wales and expand to other areas.
“It has been encouraging to see the pilot program expand under the current interim authorisation,” Keogh said. “Whilst we recognise that further expansion needs to be in line with available processing capacity, the ACCC expects that the supermarkets will continue with some urgency to expand these operations so that more consumers have the option of recycling their soft plastics.”
The ACCC’s authorisation is also subject to a new condition to prevent the major supermarkets from restricting recycling or logistic providers from supplying services to another customer.
The authorisation does not include authorisation for any conduct of the supermarkets and their program partners with respect to any proposed stewardship scheme.
More information about the application, including a copy of the decision, is available on the ACCC website.
Image credit: iStock.com/daizuoxin
by Komoneed | Feb 28, 2025
Accelerating glacial melting is causing the world’s oceans to rise year after year and is causing a loss of regional freshwater, new research led by scientists at the University of Zürich shows. The world’s glaciers have been losing 273 billion tonnes of ice mass annually, causing oceans to rise by nearly a millimeter per year, […]
The post Glacial Melting Is Accelerating, Driving Sea Level Rise and Depleting Freshwater: Study appeared first on EcoWatch.
