Food scraps

Household food scrap collection

Food is the most wasted commodity in Australian households. 1 in 5 grocery bags of food ends up in the bin, costing an average of $3,500 per household each year. That is equivalent to $5.3 billion of food wasted in Australia every year. Our last residential waste bin audit revealed over 39% of the content in our bins are compostable food scraps.

In 2022, Willoughby City Council participated in a food scraps recycling service trial for sections of the community. Utilising the results of this trial and learnings from other local government municipalities, Council is determining the best method for delivering a service that maximises food scrap recovery from our red general waste bin, to ensure it meets the diverse needs of our community.

Whilst research is being conducted on our future food and organics collection service, our general waste processor, Veolia’s Woodlawn facility, currently provides some recovery of organic material from the red general waste bin. At this facility the organic material is turned into compost that rehabilitates a former mine site. There is also an extensive gas capture network on its landfill site which produces the energy to operate the facility.