Bass Coast is diverting 77 per cent of the waste that once went to landfill.
By Catherine Watson
LAST week when the State Government announced that all Victorian councils would be required to introduce a bin for food and other organic waste by 2030, it was hard not to feel a smidgeon of pride.
Bass Coast Shire Council introduced an organic collection in September 2017 at a time when only 11 of 79 Victorian councils had a kerbside organics collection.
Being ahead of the pack isn’t always easy and the council copped flak from residents irked at having to accommodate a third bin and not convinced that there was any need for it.
LAST week when the State Government announced that all Victorian councils would be required to introduce a bin for food and other organic waste by 2030, it was hard not to feel a smidgeon of pride.
Bass Coast Shire Council introduced an organic collection in September 2017 at a time when only 11 of 79 Victorian councils had a kerbside organics collection.
Being ahead of the pack isn’t always easy and the council copped flak from residents irked at having to accommodate a third bin and not convinced that there was any need for it.
Since then the tide has turned and many former critics have embraced a bin in which you can throw everything from garden clippings and noxious weeds to fish heads, meat bones and pet waste.
But the benefits go far beyond the convenience for householders, as Bass Coast’s waste education officer Adam Johns explained at Totally Renewable Phillip Island’s recent open day.
The council services more than 26,000 properties each week. Prior to the introduction of the organics collection, 56 per cent of the waste going to landfill was organic.
“Many people believe a landfill is a giant compost heap,” Adam explained. “It’s not the case. What goes into landfill tends to stay in there forever.”
Food waste is one of the main causes of greenhouse gas emissions as well as odour from landfill sites and a potentially dangerous build-up of gases such as methane. Processing food waste into compost lowers emissions and provides valuable nutrients in compost or becomes a source of energy.
Since the introduction of the organic collection in Bass Coast, the monthly average is 374 tonnes of waste sent to landfill, 377 tonnes of recycling and 784 tonnes of organics sent for processing into compost at the Revive composting facility at Dutson Downs, near Sale.
Two and a half years into organics, Bass Coast is diverting 77 per cent of the waste that once went to landfill. The contamination rate for the organic collection is less than 1 per cent – mostly plastic bags – which is considered excellent. The contamination rate for recycling is 6 per cent, which is low by national standards.
Unlike waste from some shires and cities, none of Bass Coast’s recycling goes to landfill. It’s processed by VISY and has so far been unaffected by the recycling crisis.
In November, the council received the award for outstanding local government initiative in collection/processing/marketing at the Australian Organics Recycling Association awards in recognition of the impact it was having on diverting organic waste from landfill.
Adam said it was the ability to take everything in the organics bin that had won people over.
“People still find it difficult to believe we can process meat and bones, dog poo (that’s a big one) along with all your noxious weeds, including anything with seeds.
“At Dutson Downs they start a slow heat process that turns it from kerbside into compostable fertiliser. it starts the first three days in big steam vats heated up to 55 degrees, killing any of the nasties. It’s tested several times during the process. That’s why we can accept the meat and the bones and that sort of stuff.”
At the end of the process, the compost is a cost-effective option to breathe life back into tired agricultural soils.
The benefits of the organic collection are not just environmental. In 2017, Bass Coast had about 15 years life left in the Grantville landfill. By 2019, with the diversion of organics to compost, that had increased to at least 23 years.
“None of this could have been achieved without the community coming on board and supporting it,” Adam said.
Adam Johns is Bass Coast’s waste education officer. This article is based on his talk at the recent Totally Renewable Phillip Island open day late last year.
But the benefits go far beyond the convenience for householders, as Bass Coast’s waste education officer Adam Johns explained at Totally Renewable Phillip Island’s recent open day.
The council services more than 26,000 properties each week. Prior to the introduction of the organics collection, 56 per cent of the waste going to landfill was organic.
“Many people believe a landfill is a giant compost heap,” Adam explained. “It’s not the case. What goes into landfill tends to stay in there forever.”
Food waste is one of the main causes of greenhouse gas emissions as well as odour from landfill sites and a potentially dangerous build-up of gases such as methane. Processing food waste into compost lowers emissions and provides valuable nutrients in compost or becomes a source of energy.
Since the introduction of the organic collection in Bass Coast, the monthly average is 374 tonnes of waste sent to landfill, 377 tonnes of recycling and 784 tonnes of organics sent for processing into compost at the Revive composting facility at Dutson Downs, near Sale.
Two and a half years into organics, Bass Coast is diverting 77 per cent of the waste that once went to landfill. The contamination rate for the organic collection is less than 1 per cent – mostly plastic bags – which is considered excellent. The contamination rate for recycling is 6 per cent, which is low by national standards.
Unlike waste from some shires and cities, none of Bass Coast’s recycling goes to landfill. It’s processed by VISY and has so far been unaffected by the recycling crisis.
In November, the council received the award for outstanding local government initiative in collection/processing/marketing at the Australian Organics Recycling Association awards in recognition of the impact it was having on diverting organic waste from landfill.
Adam said it was the ability to take everything in the organics bin that had won people over.
“People still find it difficult to believe we can process meat and bones, dog poo (that’s a big one) along with all your noxious weeds, including anything with seeds.
“At Dutson Downs they start a slow heat process that turns it from kerbside into compostable fertiliser. it starts the first three days in big steam vats heated up to 55 degrees, killing any of the nasties. It’s tested several times during the process. That’s why we can accept the meat and the bones and that sort of stuff.”
At the end of the process, the compost is a cost-effective option to breathe life back into tired agricultural soils.
The benefits of the organic collection are not just environmental. In 2017, Bass Coast had about 15 years life left in the Grantville landfill. By 2019, with the diversion of organics to compost, that had increased to at least 23 years.
“None of this could have been achieved without the community coming on board and supporting it,” Adam said.
Adam Johns is Bass Coast’s waste education officer. This article is based on his talk at the recent Totally Renewable Phillip Island open day late last year.