Decision details

Moved by Councillor Miller, seconded by Councillor Thalis -

It is resolved that:

(A)        Council note:

(i)          that the Leave Nothing to Waste, Waste Strategy and Action Plan 2017-2030 states the largest single waste stream in our red bin is food waste, which represents up to 35 per cent of the bin contents;

(ii)         the City is developing and will implement a trial food waste collection scheme for residents and will commence a pilot collection service for food organics premises by mid-2019;

(iii)        that based on the success of the pilot, a more extensive two-year trial collection service will be included as part of the new domestic waste collection tender, proceeding in early 2020; 

(iv)       residents already using a variety of composting methods, particularly those in apartment buildings, are seeking further advice on how to safely and most efficiently use the compost they have generated;

(v)         Making Sydney a Sustainable Destination notes that up to one-third of commercial waste is food and the greenhouse gas emissions from food waste are 20 times that of carbon dioxide emissions; and

(vi)       recent findings from a trial undertaken by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and FlowSystems has found that organics digested onsite from residential and commercial sites at One Central Park have the potential to create a 20 per cent conversion of waste to energy or a 40 per cent conversion of waste to hot water supply for 623 residential apartments (Central Park Precinct Organics Management Feasibility Study); and

(B)        the Chief Executive Officer be requested to:

(i)          inform the community about options currently available for community composting as well as the upcoming food waste trial and how apartment buildings can get involved;

(ii)         provide to Councillors, via a CEO Update an overview of the food waste trials and research programs happening throughout the City and metro region such as the UTS/FlowSystems trial at One Central Park;

(iii)        use these findings to investigate additional partnership and collaborative opportunities to reduce food waste through collaboration with the Sustainable Destination Partners, research institutes and other councils;

(iv)       if needed, provide assistance to the University of Technology Sydney research team to advocate to the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) to review their compost standards in line with technological developments and cost-benefit analysis in light of current climatic conditions; and

(v)         continue to work with residents and businesses to reduce their own organic waste through avoidance of food waste through targeted, and collaborative engagement via the City's grants program.

Carried unanimously.

S129262