Ipswich City Council has welcomed a $9 million funding boost from the State Government to support council’s Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) waste collection program and waste management.
Growth, Infrastructure and Waste Committee Chair Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said the funding will advance council’s planning for a citywide FOGO rollout and support council in moving its FOGO waste to a provider that can offer enclosed organic waste processing.
“Ipswich City Council was the first council in Queensland to adopt a FOGO service and we are now planning to introduce a city-wide service as part of a three-bin core service in mid 2025,” Mayor Harding said.
“The State’s funding will allow council to start preparing the 68,000 green-lid bins and 96,000 kitchen caddies required to support FOGO being introduced across the city.
“Following our 1,000-household trial and the introduction of FOGO as an opt-in service, we have learnt a lot of lessons. We know it takes time, education, and community awareness to ensure the rollout is smooth and successful.
“Importantly, this funding includes a commitment of close to $1 million for education and awareness to bring our community on this journey.
“Council needs to ensure it can send its FOGO to a service provider that offers best practice, enclosed organic waste processing before we can advance a citywide rollout. We are delighted to be able to partner with the State, through this funding, to achieve this significant win for our community.
“Removing FOGO waste from our red bins is a big part of our plan to reduce landfill and focus on resource recovery, and I look forward to working with the State to progress our planning.”
Growth, Infrastructure and Waste Committee Deputy Chair Councillor Paul Tully said the total $9 million of State funding would allow Ipswich City Council to significantly progress the FOGO program, intended to launch in the 2024-2025 financial year.
“This is welcome funding for council to support our priorities in reducing organic waste going to landfill, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and better meet community expectation around waste management,” Cr Tully said.
“In 2020, council implemented its Waste and Circular Economy Transformation Directive, which after three years in operation has already made significant strides in reducing the impacts of the waste industry on local communities.
“This Directive has supported us in the achievement of further improved compliance amongst waste operators, and developed stronger relationships between council and stakeholders.
“FOGO will be a major capstone in Ipswich’s waste transformation, and we are pleased the State has recognised the value of this program in Ipswich.”
Further details on council’s resource recovery program is available at the City-wide FOGO Service Update page or at Shape Your Ipswich: Waste Odours in Ipswich.
