Minute by the Lord Mayor
To Council:
Councils are at the end of the line when it
comes to waste. We don’t cause the problem: we don’t make plastic packaging or
products that need replacing every few years, but we are responsible for
cleaning up the mess.
In NSW, 4.1 million tonnes of waste is
generated each year, with around 55 per cent going to landfill. Disposing of
this waste costs residents more than $1 billion annually.
The City of Sydney local government area
alone produces 5,500 tonnes of waste every day which contributes to about eight
per cent of the City’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
While recycling our waste is important, the
market for recycled products hasn’t kept up with demand. We collaborated on the
Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC) Paving the Way
program and together created a market for one-third of our domestic glass
collections. Let’s use this as a model to continue to work together.
We need innovative solutions to reduce waste,
as well as to reuse and recycle more, and to recover energy from what is left
over.
Food Waste Collection
Food scraps make up one-third of household
waste. From July 2019 to October 2021, the City ran a food scraps collection
trial for 20,000 selected households, and we have continued to deliver this
service to existing participants. In the trial period alone, we saved 738 cubic
metres of landfill space and 1,284 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. At the
same time, we produced 64,500 kilowatt hours of energy through anaerobic
digestion, 7.9 tonnes of fertiliser and 239 tonnes of compost.
Staff have evaluated the trial results and
analysed the different ways that a food organics service could be delivered to
all residents. Key factors that need to be determined include whether the City
provides a food organics only or a combined food and garden organics service
and then how this waste is processed.
One of the benefits of keeping food organics
as a separate waste stream is that we can deliver superior environmental
benefits and there is greater flexibility to adopt emerging processing
technology options as they become available.
Insect Farming
Trial
Insect farming is a relatively new food waste
processing technique which uses insects to process food waste. We expect this
processing technique to deliver superior environmental benefits as it should
result in net positive carbon emissions by producing sustainable animal feed
and fertiliser. In addition, the processing infrastructure required for insect
farming is modular, scalable, and cost effective compared to other food organic
processing technology, making the cost per tonne very competitive.
As it is an emerging technology, insect
farming has not yet been used by the City to process food organics. To date,
the City has used anaerobic digestion and composting to process food scraps
from the residential food scraps trial. However, there are increasing
opportunities to use insect farming to process food organics. For instance, a
local insect farming processor, uses black soldier fly larvae to consume food
scraps and converts them into a sustainable protein and fertiliser at a
commercial scale which can be used for animal feed and a soil conditioner.
It is recommended that the City investigate
how insect farming can be trialled to process the residential food organics
that are currently being collected through the food scraps recycling service.
Results of this trial can be used to inform how the City will deliver a food
organics service to all of our residents.
Recommendation
It is resolved that:
(A)
Council
note:
(i)
the
City of Sydney produces 5,500 tonnes of waste every day, which is around eight
per cent of the City's total greenhouse gas emissions;
(ii)
food
scraps make up one-third of household waste;
(iii)
the
City's food scraps collection trial with 20,000 households allowed us to save
more than 738 cubic metres of landfill space and 1,284 tonnes of greenhouse gas
emissions, while also producing 64,500 kilowatt hours of energy, 7.9 tonnes of
fertiliser and 239 tonnes of compost; and
(iv)
insect
farming is a relatively new food waste processing technique that delivers
superior environmental benefits; and
(B)
the
Chief Executive Officer be requested to investigate how the City can trial the
use of insect farming technologies to process the City's food organics from the
residential food scraps recycling service and brief Council on the result via a
CEO Update.
COUNCILLOR CLOVER MOORE
Lord Mayor
Moved by
the Chair (the Lord Mayor), seconded by Councillor Worling –
That the
Minute by the Lord Mayor be endorsed and adopted.
Variation.
At the request of Councillor Scott, and by consent, the Minute was varied, such
that it read as follows –
It is resolved
that:
(A)
Council
note:
(i)
the
City of Sydney produces 5,500 tonnes of waste every day, which is around eight
per cent of the City's total greenhouse gas emissions;
(ii)
food
scraps make up one-third of household waste;
(iii)
the
City's food scraps collection trial with 20,000 households allowed us to save
more than 738 cubic metres of landfill space and 1,284 tonnes of greenhouse gas
emissions, while also producing 64,500 kilowatt hours of energy, 7.9 tonnes of
fertiliser and 239 tonnes of compost;
(iv)
insect
farming is a relatively new food waste processing technique that delivers
superior environmental benefits;
(v)
in
March 2022, Council requested that the Chief Executive Officer present an
options paper to Council and decide on the delivery of FOGO within this term;
and
(vi)
the
City of Sydney’s ‘Leave Nothing to Waste” Strategy and Action Plan 2017-2030
identified improving recycling outcomes and promoting innovation to avoid waste
as priority areas; and
(B)
the
Chief Executive Officer be requested to investigate how the City can trial the
use of insect farming technologies to process the City's food organics from the
residential food scraps recycling service and brief Council on the result via a
CEO Update.
The Minute, as
varied by consent, was carried unanimously.
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