Recycling-food-scraps-program

City of Sydney – Food Scraps Recycling Trial

Reducing food waste landfill and greenhouse gas emissions

Food waste typically makes up one-third of our residents’ red-lid rubbish bins. Collecting and recycling food scraps separately can reduce waste in landfill. We can then convert the food scraps into green electricity and fertiliser for use in gardens and farms. This will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and nourish our environment.

The City of Sydney ran a food scraps trial in 2019 involving more than 1,000 houses and 120 apartment buildings across the city, comprising more than 10,000 households.

This trial ended in October 2021, and their team is evaluating the results to inform a wider service rollout, subject to Council approval. In the meantime, they continue collecting and recycling food scraps from properties that participated in the trial.

How did the program work?

Households participating in the trial are provided with a small kitchen caddy, compostable caddy liner bags, and a food scraps bin – everything you need to make it easy to recycle your food scraps.

Once collected, the City of Sydney transport your food scraps to EarthPower, Australia’s first food waste-to-energy processing facility in Camellia, Sydney.

The EarthPower facility uses anaerobic digestion technology to convert food scraps to green electricity and a nutrient-rich fertiliser.

As an accredited GreenPower supplier, EarthPower sells green electricity to the grid for distribution to domestic, commercial and industrial clients.

The fertiliser is produced from a nutrient-rich sludge, a by-product of the anaerobic digestion process. The sludge is dried and granulated into fertiliser prills sold into agriculture and horticultural markets.

For more information on the program, visit the City of Sydney website

For more information on how recycling food waste benefits the environment, and details about other programs, read our article on Recycling Food Scraps in Strata Buildings

 

 

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