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Is your apartment building participating in the trial? Need a kitchen caddy?
Food scraps recycling trial
We're running an important pilot involving contributions from residential properties.
Food scraps recycling trial
About the trial
We're running an important trial involving the separate collection and recycling of food scraps from residential properties.
Phase 1 of the trial started July 2019, and from September 2020 we began expanding the project into phase 2. Currently the trial involves 1,037 houses and 99 apartment buildings across the city, comprising more than 8,700 households.
We’re planning to bring an additional 150 apartment buildings into the trial in phase 2. If your building was waitlisted in phase 1, you’ll receive an email invitation to join phase 2 over the coming months. Please wait for us to contact you. Due to high demand, we are currently not accepting properties that aren’t already on the waitlist.
Households participating in the trial are provided with a small kitchen caddy, a supply of compostable caddy liner bags, and a food scraps bin – everything needed to make separating food scraps for recycling easy.
Why we're running the trial
Food waste typically makes up one third of our residents’ red lid rubbish bins. By collecting and recycling food scraps separately, we can reduce waste to landfill. We can then convert the food scraps into green electricity and fertiliser for use on gardens and farms. This will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and nourish our environment.
The results of this trial will shape future food scraps recycling services across our local area.
The food scraps recycling trial is an initiative of our Leave nothing to waste – waste strategy and action plan 2017–2030, and is one of the actions we’re taking to help achieve our zero waste target by 2030.
Leave nothing to waste strategy and action plan 2017 - 2030PDF · 7.23 MB · Last modified
Not in the trial? Other options for food scraps recycling
If your house or building isn't participating in the trial, you can still recycle your food scraps and play your part in reducing food sent to landfill.
Think about composting food scraps or setting up a worm farm. Check out our tips for composting.
Alternatively you could get involved in community-run food scrap recycling initiatives like ShareWaste or Positive Waste.
Avoiding food waste in the first place
You can avoid or reduce generating food waste by planning your meals, shopping wisely, being creative with leftovers, and storing food correctly. In partnership with the NSW Government, we've launched Love Food Sydney. This is a free online program with tools and tips on how to cut down your food wastage, save money and reduce your impact on the environment.
This project was supported by the Environmental Trust as part of the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment Waste Less, Recycle More initiative funded from the waste levy.
This project was supported by the Environmental Trust as part of the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment Waste Less, Recycle More initiative funded from the waste levy.
