Go FOGO Grants Open

The second round of NSW Government Go FOGO grants is open for applications from eligible Councils and will remain open until October 10.

Successful grant recipients will join 56 Council areas in NSW that already provide or are preparing to provide a FOGO - food organics and garden organics - recycling service for households across the state.

Murrumbidgee Council received a FOGO grant in January and has already rolled out the service to more than 1000 households, enlisting the help of local sporting clubs and men’s sheds to help get the new FOGO bins to residents.

NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Director of Major Programs, Kathy Giunta said it was estimated that the program would establish FOGO recycling for two million households in NSW by 2027.

“Food waste makes up almost half of the contents of our red lid bins and can generate millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year when it breaks down in landfill,” Ms Giunta said.

“These grants will allow more households in NSW to start recycling their nutrient-rich organic waste into high-quality commercial compost that can be used to enrich soils in our local parks, sporting fields or in agriculture.

“Councils can use the funding as needed to prepare their new waste service, including purchasing bins and caddies, rolling out community education and completing waste audits to ensure a successful FOGO service.”

The grants are available as part of a $69 million commitment under the NSW Government’s Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy to halve the amount of organics waste sent to landfill in NSW by 2030.

Households with service will be provided with educational resources, kitchen caddies and green bins to place their food and garden scraps in for weekly collection at the kerbside.

Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe said recycling food was an effective way to help meet our climate change targets because every tonne of organic waste diverted from landfill saves 1.5 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.

“Going FOGO is a win for waste reduction, emission reduction and the environment,” Ms Sharpe said.

Visit https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/gofogogrants for more details.

• Topics:

• Grants / Funding
• My House My Home