Councillor John Fry has welcomed Bathurst Regional Council's success in securing a grant for a pilot project aimed at keeping food waste out of landfill.
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Council recently secured a $22,800 innovation grant from Local Government NSW to commence the Closing the Gap on Food Waste project.
The project aims to trial new models of domestic and commercial food waste collection to divert an increasing amount of food waste from limited landfill space.
Cr Fry said its pleasing to see council looking to get serious about food waste.
"I've been campaigning to have an effective strategy for commercial food waste in the Bathurst CBD since I was elected in 2017, and now there's multiple avenues of funding for council to work towards an effective management strategy," he said.
"Council put aside $20,000 for shade structures with wicking beds in the old budget, which has carried over into the current budget, and Sydney sustainability coach Michael Mobbs and I are hoping to secure state government funding to further bolster the project."
With the recent funding, council will trial new methods of capturing waste and encouraging diversion of food waste through a wide range of techniques to help target the best organic waste collection service for residents and businesses of Bathurst.
The material will be composted by ANL Blayney, who currently process food and garden waste via the green bin service.
Cr Fry said its important for the Bathurst community to come up with an effective food waste solution to ensure the region's environmental wellbeing moving ahead.
"When you look at compost going to waste, it produces methane, which is many times worse than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas," he said.
"With an effective plan, we'll be able to reduce the volume going into landfill and the longer we can put off building a new tip site, the better."
"My main aim now is to see the shade structures with wicking beds rolled out at CBD cafes and residences."
Bathurst mayor Bobby Bourke said the project will see commercial food waste collected from some of the hospitality premises in Bathurst.
"The trial is expected to start in April and run for four months," Cr Bourke said.
"Landfill is one of the big contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and food waste is a significant contributor to that, so the trial will allow council to test whether removing this waste helps reduce emissions."
"If a business would like to participate in the trial, I'd encourage them to get in touch with council via phone or email to discuss the project."
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