Review of Leichhardt Council food waste service

Australians waste an estimated 20% of the food they buy. Sydney’s Leichhardt Council is attempting to change this, implementing a program to extract the energy embedded in food waste.

The council estimates that about 40% of the waste from its household garbage bins is food. In 2007, it trialled a food collection service for apartment blocks that had more than 10 units and shared bins. Residents were given dedicated food waste bins that were emptied weekly; free kitchen bins; biodegradable bin bags; and information about what kind of material could go in the bins.

The food waste collected by Leichhardt Council is converted by a private contractor into a combustible gas similar to that which produces green electricity. The electricity is sold into the grid for distribution to domestic, commercial and industrial clients.

The council has asked researchers from the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) to investigate ways of increasing the number of apartment residents who take advantage of the service. The university’s Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) is reviewing how the program has worked so far, whether residents are confused about the kind of waste to put in the bins and whether there are barriers that stop them separating their food from general waste, such as worries about smell and vermin.

“Unless you are really passionate about it, it is easy to fall off the recycling bandwagon,” said ISF Research Principal Jade Herriman.

“But our waste is our wealth. We need to think about the embedded energy and water that is used to grow food, transport it and store it. That is all wasted if we throw our food away.”