As a result of the new FOGO service, Barunga West Council is now achieving an outstanding landfill diversion rate of 66 per cent, easily surpassing Council’s target rate of 45 per cent.
The new system has collected a higher total amount of waste than the average of the past 12 months, and increased use of the comingled recycling to deliver thousands of dollars in savings in disposal fees for Council and its ratepayers.
Steve Davey, Manager of Assets and Infrastructure, of Barunga West Council said it was pleasing to see how well the community had embraced and complied with the new FOGO system during its first month of operation.
“The new fortnightly kerbside collection schedule has been in operation for one month now and the data is looking very pleasing,” Mr Davey said.
“Council commends the community on its fast uptake of the new FOGO system. The switch to a three-bin fortnightly collection program has achieved what we promised - an increase in volume of recycling collected; more waste disposed via yellow and green bins for reuse instead of landfill; and reduced costs.”
Barunga West Council last month joined a majority of councils across South Australia in changing its rubbish bin collection program to ensure less waste goes to landfill.
The changes will increase the rate of recycling, address climate change by reducing emissions and ultimately save ratepayers money by reducing the impost of overflowing landfills. Red bins, for general rubbish, are now collected fortnightly on a Monday while yellow bins, for recyclables, are collected fortnightly on a Friday along with green bins for food scraps and garden clippings.
The changes came after Council last year resolved to adopt a FOGO collection, in an effort to increase the percentage of waste being diverted from landfill.
Mr Davey said people had quickly adapted to the new system and were already starting to reap the benefits.
The table below shows a comparison of average collection volumes per stream for the 12 months with the old system compared with the volumes collected in the first month with the new system in place.
| OLD KERBSIDE PROGRAM | Average Tonnes (12- month average) | Disposal Cost | NEW KERBSIDE PROGRAM | Tonnes collected September 2022 | Disposal Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RED - General Waste (to landfill) | 47.0 | $9,825 | RED- General Waste (to landfill) | 28.4 | $5,935 |
| YELLOW - Comingled Recycling | 14.5 | $2,755 | YELLOW Comingled Recycling | 15.38 | $2,922 |
| DARK GREEN Cardboard & Paper | 8.0 | $1,520 | LIME- Food Organics & Garden Organics | 40.24 | $4,024 |
| LIME GREEN - Green Waste | 11.2 | $1,117 | |||
| TOTAL | 80.7 | $15,217 | TOTAL | 84.0 | $12,881 |
| Landfill diversion rate | 41.7% | Landfill diversion rate | 66.0% |