Community Encouraged to Scrap Together

Published on 01 July 2022

Households are being encouraged to scrap together as Snowy Valleys Council sets its eyes on an ambitious goal to divert all food scraps from landfill.

Eleven months on from the introduction of the kerbside Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) collection service, 1,200 tonnes of food and garden organics has been diverted from landfill.

To build on these positive results, Council has partnered with the Canberra Region Joint Organisation (CRJO) to roll out the Scrap Together community education campaign to help residents get the most out of their FOGO service.

Consisting of promotion across radio, print, web and socials, the success of the campaign will be measured by the results of bin audits conducted before and after the program.

Key messages will include tips on reducing food scraps, how to combat bins smells and reminding people what can be recycled through the green FOGO bin.

Along with four other NSW Councils in the CBJO, Snowy Valleys Council have successfully received a share in an NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) grant of $50,000 to participate in the community education program.

The program was first piloted in Forbes, Clarence Valley and Kempsey Councils, and resulted in an average of 10 per cent increase in food waste recovered for recycling.

The NSW Government has allocated an additional $69 million over the next five years to further expand FOGO services and support councils to meet new requirements under the Government’s Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041 to provide services to all NSW households by 2030.

People keen to learn more about reducing their waste to landfill can visit www.svc.nsw.gov.au/scrap-together

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