What is FOGO, and can we do even better?
FOGO stands for Food Organics and Garden Organics. There is a push Australia wide to separate our bin waste into at least 3 types- organics, recyclables and other.
Some councils in WA have chosen the more marketable option of the GO, or Garden Organics as the 3rd bin ie NOT including food. When we add the food component there is a whole new level of processing required.
The food fraction is messy and requires some kind of wrapping before putting in the bin. Councils promote a compostable bag in a kitchen caddy to transfer into outside bin easily and hassle free. The collection is weekly to reduce odour issues.
The processing systems can be in a building or an open windrow (large covered pile in open air). Currently FOGO processing in WA is all in the open windrow system. Odour and noise can still be an issue, so the destinations may be some distance from the collection points.
An important aspect in this process is to find a market for the final product. It may be sold as is or as a blend with other input materials. Who is the market? If all of Perth metro area is included in this system, about 837,000 households, we would be processing over 300,000 tonnes of organics a year. This is based on half of our bins being organic material and households disposing of about 700kgm (not including recycle bin waste). Flexible figures, but a lot of material going into the market. (Ref WA Local Gmt Census on Waste and Recycling Services)
Although the word from farmers and those marketing the material is- the product is useful, but transport to locations of either processing (usually out of city region) or to markets (rural and country) will be costly.
Yes we need this life and nutrition in our superficial soils, but there will be a cost we should be prepared to pay.
My encouragement to policy makers and householders alike, is to process our own and keep the precious material close to home. There are options for all of us other than a council bin. I understand this will not be easy for everyone but in unison with education on FOGO bin rollout, can we include options to use it ourselves?
Tell me what you think- is it too hard, not important, not likely?
Thumbnail image by Shellharbour Waste
