Ipswich City Council has welcomed a $9 million funding boost from the State Government to support council’s Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) waste collection program and waste management.
Growth, Infrastructure and Waste Committee Chair Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said the funding will advance council’s planning for a citywide FOGO rollout and support council in moving its FOGO waste to a provider that can offer enclosed organic waste processing.
“The State’s funding will allow council to start preparing the 68,000 green-lid bins and 96,000 kitchen caddies required to support FOGO being introduced across the city.
“Following our 1,000-household trial and the introduction of FOGO as an opt-in service, we have learnt a lot of lessons. We know it takes time, education, and community awareness to ensure the rollout is smooth and successful.
“Importantly, this funding includes a commitment of close to $1 million for education and awareness to bring our community on this journey.
“Council needs to ensure it can send its FOGO to a service provider that offers best practice, enclosed organic waste processing before we can advance a citywide rollout. We are delighted to be able to partner with the State, through this funding, to achieve this significant win for our community.
“Removing FOGO waste from our red bins is a big part of our plan to reduce landfill and focus on resource recovery, and I look forward to working with the State to progress our planning.”
FAST FACTS
Residents will benefit from this initiative in several ways:
- Cost effectiveness: Diverting waste from landfill will reduce the impact of the state’s waste landfill levy on council rates for Ipswich residents.
- Meeting standards: Diverting organics from landfill contributes to state waste diversion targets.
- Environmental sustainability: Residents will be able to divert organic waste from landfill, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving a higher recycling rate.
- Future Ipswich City: Promoting a circular economy by transforming organic waste into quality compost or other valuable end products.
Ipswich City Council was the first council in Queensland to adopt a FOGO service and we are now planning to introduce a city-wide service as part of a three-bin core service in mid 2025,
