Council celebrates a successful first year of Food and Garden Waste service

Implemented in July 2018, the Food and Garden Waste service has now been in operation for 12 months and has processed almost 8000 tonnes of organic waste into high-quality compost.

Narromine Shire Council is one of three councils in Central West NSW who introduced organics recycling last year as part of a regional collaboration to turn organic waste into compost, instead of landfill.

The weekly kerbside service collects both food and garden waste from some 24,000 homes across Dubbo Regional, Mid-Western Regional and Narromine Shire Councils. This organic waste is transported to the purpose-built Dubbo Regional Organics Processing Plant, located at the Whylandra Waste and Recycling Centre. Here the material is composted to Australian Standards by council’s waste contractor JR Richards and Sons.

Despite the dry conditions, nearly 8000 tonnes of organic waste have been diverted from landfill by the kerbside service. This equates to around 20 swimming pools, full of food scraps and garden waste.

The three councils conducted a community survey recently which showed high participation and usage of the organics waste service within our community.

“For many, the service has been a really simple and convenient way to recycle their organic waste. Looking bigger picture, this change to our waste system – diverting organics from landfill - has been a significant step towards sustainability.”

Residents are provided with a kitchen ‘caddy’ and ongoing supply of compostable liners for disposal of kitchen food scraps.

“We encourage residents to separate everything they can, the compost facility can process all food scraps and garden trimmings, none of this should still be going in your landfill bin.”

Narromine Shire Councils General Manager, Jane Redden said “The compost will be used on sporting fields and parks in the Region”

“It is a great initiative and the community should be proud” she continued.

The compost is available at the JR Richards Depot, 60 Fitzroy Street Dubbo and Active Earth Landscape Supplies, Williams Circuit Dubbo

This project was supported by the Environmental Trust as part of the NSW EPA’s Waste Less, Recycle More initiative, funded from the waste levy.

Media Contacts: Narromine Shire Council, General Manager, Jane Redden T: 0407 438 422