Forbes residents will be the best in NSW when it comes to recycling their food waste with a new education campaign being piloted by Forbes Shire Council.
Mayor Phyllis Miller OAM said Forbes Shire Council volunteered to test the Let’s Get Our Scrap Together campaign, to get more food waste out of the red lid bin and into the green.
“Having a kerbside food waste recycling service already makes us among the best recyclers in NSW,” Phyllis said.
“This new education campaign will help us to be even better.”
The campaign was developed by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) to support its kerbside collection program under Waste Less, Recycle More. It follows research that showed on average, only half the available food waste was being correctly disposed of in the green lid FOGO (Food Organics and Garden Organics) bin.
EPA spokesperson Amanda Kane said the campaign is being piloted in Clarence Valley, Kempsey Shire and Forbes Shire council areas, with each council tailoring it to their own community. It will be delivered over the next three months, telling the story of how the green lid bin recycling benefits local farms, how it can take all types of food waste and is something everyone can do.
Forbes Shire Council will be distributing it through its Facebook page as well as letterbox drops, local media advertising and radio ads.
The results of bin audits conducted before and after the program will be compared to determine the success of the campaign. The ambitious goal will be to get all the food that is currently being wasted in the red lid bin disposed of in the green bin instead.