Inner West FOGO Food Recycling Monthly Update

Item No: C1123(1) Item 13

Subject:Inner West FOGO Food Recycling Monthly Update

Prepared By: Helen Bradley - Manager Resource Recovery Planning

Authorised By: Peter Gainsford - General Manager

RECOMMENDATION

That Council receive and note the report.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE

This report supports the following strategic directions contained within Council’s Community Strategic Plan:

1: An ecologically sustainable Inner West

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report provides the monthly update to Council on the new FOGO Food Recycling service rolled out to houses across the Inner West, commencing 9 October 2023.

BACKGROUND

Council requested monthly updates for the first year of the new service.

DISCUSSION

Council commenced the FOGO food recycling service on 9 October 2023 and as of 10 November had collected over 1500 Tonnes of FOGO. Whilst the environmental benefits of the new service are self-evident and everyone in our community is able to contribute to a more sustainable future by participating in the service, there are challenges in the roll out of any new service. Experience from other councils suggest that it can take up to six months to embed a new service.

Inner West Council has 50,600 single dwellings (houses) and 31,800 multi-units and picks up approximately 178,000 bins per week across all waste streams. The implementation has required a realignment of our waste calendar to better align the new service, including the accommodation of the multi-unit dwellings being serviced weekly (garbage and FOO) through the entire area. This requires adjustment for not only our waste collection staff and contractors but also residents. Industry standard for missed bins is 0.5% of total services which for Inner West is 700 missed services per week. In the first week of November Council had 876 missed bin requests.

We always anticipated that a change of this magnitude would be a challenge and so we put several supports in place prior to the rollout to help our residents during the transition.

Additional staff were added to Council’s call centre and staff from across the organisation have assisted in taking waste call during peak times. The number of phone calls have reduced by more than half since we commenced the service and continue to reduce each week. A number of Council teams have been focussing on the management of customer requests to help with provide a higher level of customer service.

Council has been promoting access to the online waste calendar as the single source of truth for residents confirming their bin collection details, with the web page receiving in excess of 170,000 visits. This is now reflected in the number of residents presenting their red or yellow bin on the wrong week for collection which was reduced to 10 – 15%.

Staff have been actively attending customer service stalls and events to ensure a presence in the community, answering questions and providing advice around FOGO which has been well received by the community.

Social media has been the greatest difficulty with negative comments and misinformation. This was addressed by Inner West Council joining community groups/discussions to comment on FOGO.

Frequently Asked Questions

Other than missed bins which were discussed above most issues being raised at the present time are listed below;

1. Upsizing Red Lid Garbage bins

2. Booked Overflow Red Lid Garbage Bin collection

3. Supply of starter kits and liners

4. Rebate for Reusable Nappies and sanitary items

5. Nappy drop off

6. Community Education via waste busters

1. Upsizing Red Lid Garbage Bins.

To help assist residents who are struggling with a fortnightly collection of the 120-litre red lidded bin, Council is offering a 240-litre bin. The plan was to allow residents a month to adapt to the new service before offering the larger bin. Council has had 2,189 requests for a 240-litre red lidded bin out of the 50,600 households and has so far delivered 789 and it is envisaged that the current requests will be delivered in the next three weeks. In the meantime, if residents require an additional support they can book an extra collection which has been done through the Optimo service.

2. Booked Overflow Red Lid Garbage Bin Collection

Optimo, Council’s current booking system for clean-up bookings, has been active since 9 October 2023 to support residents that would like to book the alternate week collection. Council clean-up and extra red-lid bin collection - Inner West Council (nsw.gov.au)

The booked system gives residents opportunity to adapt waste sorting behaviour before committing to an upsizing of bin. Cumulative bookings:

3. Supply of starter kits and liners

Home delivery of caddies and liners, with supply also made available at customer service stalls, libraries and service centres. Council can deliver starter kits to households who may not have received them.

4. Rebate for Reusable Nappies

$30,000 was allocated by council resolution for the nappy and sanitary rebate which opened on 9 October to enable households to try subsidised reusable nappies or sanitary products and reduce the amount of garbage in their red lid bin. Residents buy the items of their choice and submit their simple application and their receipt to qualify for the rebate (up to $150 for reusable nappies and $100 for sanitary products).

Inner West Council's Rebately | Reusable Cloth Nappies

At 6 November 2023, seventy-seven rebates had been claimed ($4,554 of $30,000 available);

Reusable cloth nappies – 20 claims to the value of $1,441.39

Reusable sanitary products – 57 claims to the value of $3,112.92

5. Nappy Drop Off

Excess nappies can be dropped off at the following locations:

Community Recycling Centre – 50-54 Moore Street, Leichhardt. Open Saturday and Sunday 7:45am to 11.30am and 1pm to 3:45pm.

Community Recycling Centre – 15-17 Unwin's Bridge Road, St Peters (entry via Bolton Street). Open Saturday and Sunday 8am – 1pm.

Inner West Sustainability Hub – 7 Prospect Road, Summer Hill. Open Weekdays 9am-5pm

Community recycling centres - Inner West Council (nsw.gov.au)

Inner West Sustainability Hub - Inner West Council (nsw.gov.au)

6. Waste Busters

Waste Busters - Inner West Council (nsw.gov.au)

The Waste Busters and resource recovery officers are attending community events and stalls. The focus has been on reactive education to date, when the enquiries settle waste busters will proactively be contacting households with contaminated or overflowing red lid garbage bins.

One waste audit has been completed as another was cancelled by the resident as they found they adjusted to FOGO better than expected and four more are in progress.

FOGO weekday customer service stalls 9.30am to 5.30pm:

10,11, 12, 13 Oct – Ashfield Aquatic

17,18,19, 20 Oct – Marrickville Library

23 Oct - Loyalty Square, Balmain

24, 25 Oct - Marketplace Leichhardt

26, 27 Oct – Loyalty Square, Balmain

31 Oct – Haberfield Library

1 Nov – Summer Hill Piazza

3 Nov – Ashfield Aquatic

FOGO Weekend customer service stalls (9:30-1:30):

9 Sept – Tempe Recreation Reserve

16 Sept – Dulwich Hill Library

17 Sept – Dulwich Hill Festival

23 Sept – Ashfield Town Hall

30 Sept – Enmore Park

7 Oct – Pioneer Memorial Park, Leichhardt

14 Oct – Yeo Park, Ashfield

15 Oct – Marrickville Festival

21 Oct – Steel Park, Marrickville

28 Oct – Tillman Park, Sydenham (Early Learning event)

28 Oct – Elkington Park, Balmain

29 Oct – Italian Festa, Norton Street, Leichhardt

4 Nov – Summer Hill Piazza

Communications and Engagement

FOGO Community Champions

Cornersmith Workshops and social media commenced mid-October and will be completed by mid-December 2023.

Facebook and Instagram – by 6 November 3 reels have been posted by Cornersmith using FOGO Fridge Check and featuring the kitchen benchtop bin and compostable liners. These posts received up to 888 likes and have been shared by Inner West.

Cornersmith workshops

Inner West Sustainability Hub, Summer Hill – Thursday 26 October (35 attendees)

Balmain Town Hall – Sat 4 November cancelled due to presenter illness (currently being rescheduled as 28 had booked)

Marrickville Pavilion – Sat 2 December (33 booked)

Workshop Summer Hill Thursday 26 October (35 attendees)

Adventure Kids Entertainment have undertaken FOGO performances across the Inner West Primary schools and have booked in schools, inner West Early learning centres and libraries through to March 2024. Feedback has been positive with children loving the interactive approach and FOGO songs.

Primary Schools

Marrickville Public – 17 October (38 children)

Marrickville West Public – 17 October (65 children)

Wilkins Public – 19 October (45 students)

Birchgrove Public – 24 October (45 students)

Balmain Public – 26 October (40 students)

Dulwich Hill – 30 October

Leichhardt Public – 3 November

Ashfield Public – 21 November

Inner West Early Learning Centres;

Annandale – 20 October (20 children)

Cavendish Street – 24 October (40 children)

Balmain-Rozelle – 25 October

Deborah Little – 25 October (52 children)

Leichhardt – 26 October

Addison Road – 7 October (45 students)

Leichhardt Park – 1 November

Enmore – 10 November

Inner West Libraries

Haberfield - 5 December

Marrickville - 6 December

Leichhardt -10 January

St Peters – 11 January

Ashfield – 15 January

Dulwich Hill – 13 February

Balmain – 14 Februar

Engaging a high-profile individual to help promote FOGO

Craig Reuscassel has shared reels on social media and supported the FOGO Hero campaign. FOGO (Food organics garden organics) - Inner West Council (nsw.gov.au)

Advertising on Social Media

Communications and Engagement

Social media has been active with organic posts and boosted ads achieving great reach and engagement. As the campaign has continued there has been a marked downward trend in negative comments.

	Ads	Reach	Impressions	Engagement	Engagement Percentage
2/11/2023
1/09/2023	FB	FB Ads – pre-launch	234,349
1/09/2023	FB	FB Ads – post-launch	125,632
8/09/2023	FB	FB video boost	13,817	4,756	34.42%
11/09/2023	Insta	Introducing FOGO	5,318	213	4.01%
12/09/2023	FB	Longform post	1,626	320	19.68%
13/09/2023	FB	FOGO is coming (red tile)	5,303	993	18.73%
13/09/2023	Insta	FOGO is coming (red tile)	4,578	174	3.80%
14/09/2023	Insta	FOGO red tile (story)	963	2	0.21%
16/09/2023	FB	Did you hear the news	738	24	3.25%
19/09/2023	FB	Be a FOGO Hero (orange tile)	1,682	205	12.19%
21/09/2023	FB	Every hero needs a sidekick (blue tile)	7,679	1,686	3.44%
21/09/2023	Insta	Every hero needs a sidekick (blue tile)	5,227	128	2.45%
23/09/2023	Insta	Did you hear the news (ep 1)	2,811	70	2.49%
27/09/2023	FB	There is a new home for your food scraps (ep 2)	640	9	1.41%
27/09/2023	Insta	There is a new home for your food scraps (ep 2)	1,925	36	1.87%
29/09/2023		Google Ad	68,400	11,900	17.40%
2/10/2023	FB	What to FOGO?	3,815	141	3.70%
2/10/2023	Insta	What to FOGO?	2,497	43	1.72%
3/10/2023	FB	With the expansion of food recycling	58,523	14,287	24.41%
3/10/2023	Insta	With the expansion of food recycling	9,161	762	8.32%
5/10/2023	FB	Wondering what goes in your different coloured bin?	2,511	465	18.52%
8/10/2023	FB	EPA FOGO video	1,503	95	6.32%
8/10/2023	Insta	EPA FOGO video	3,766	129	3.43%
9/10/2023	FB	It's official - Our new FOGO service starts today (check your calendar)	36,188	9,351	25.84%
9/10/2023	Insta	It's official - Our new FOGO service starts today	7,681	293	3.81%
11/10/2023	FB	Discover eco-friendly kitchen hacks	664	6	0.90%
11/10/2023	FB	Sustainable kitchens (event)	739		100.00%
11/10/2023	Insta	Craig Reucassel (story)	840	13	1.55%
11/10/2023	FB	FOGO food recycling is	1,951	133	6.82%
11/10/2023	Insta	FOGO food recycling is	5,413	125	2.31%
12/10/2023	FB	Craig Reucassel ad	13,538	1,680	12.41%
13/10/2023	FB	Your FOGO starter pack is on its way!	3,482	627	18.01%
13/10/2023	Insta	Your FOGO starter pack is on its way!	5,518	145	2.63%
16/10/2023	FB	The FOGO waste revolution	1,136	183	16.11%
16/10/2023	Insta	The FOGO waste revolution	2,559	49	1.91%
19/10/2023	FB	What goes where in FOGO?	6,952	896	12.89%
19/10/2023	Insta	Discover ecofriendly kitchens	2,130	105	4.93%
20/10/2023	FB	GOOD NEWS Tea bags are now accepted	1,933	285	14.74%
20/10/2023	Insta	GOOD NEWS Tea bags are now accepted	6,476	231	3.57%
24/10/2023	FB	Remember, when using your FOGO bin remove	2,155	295	13.69%
24/10/2023	Insta	Remember, when using your FOGO bin remove	2,670	59	2.21%
27/10/2023	Insta	Introducing FOGO Friday Fridge Check	5,856	198	3.38%
27/10/2023	FB	Introducing FOGO Friday Fridge Check	2,090	334	15.98%
28/10/2023	Insta	FOGO doesn't have to be spooky story	411		0.00%
28/10/2023	Insta	FOGO doesn't have to be spooky	41	6	14.63%
28/10/2023	FB	FOGO doesn't have to be spooky	3,054	150	4.91%
29/10/2023	Insta	FOGO has been in the inner west for almost 3 weeks	9,121	309	3.39%
29/10/2023	FB	FOGO has been in the inner west for almost 3 weeks	846	116	13.71%
31/10/2023	Insta	The new combined food organics	1,232	31	2.52%
31/10/2023	FB	The new combined food organics	631	60	9.51%
2/11/2023	FB	Darcy red bin video	5,645	219	3.88%
2/11/2023	FB	Darcy red bin video	227	74	32.60%
			307,853	51,029	10.91%
		TOTAL REACH (including ads)	696,988	51,029

Compostable liner supply and delivery

Council has compostable liners (bags) available at Inner West Customer Service Centres and libraries. The process needs to be consistent for residents in apartments and houses.

The current on-demand order for apartments is resource intensive and inefficient and will need to be reconsidered as part of our long-term approach with houses.

Other metro councils offer ongoing bag supply:

· Randwick Council currently offers 6 monthly delivery of bags and encourages residents to buy their own, use paper or go bag free in the interim Order new FOGO caddy liners - Randwick City Council (nsw.gov.au)

· Penrith offers quarterly delivery (opt-in) and promotes pick up from council offices and libraries. FOGO FAQ - Penrith City Council (nsw.gov.au)

In a 2021 publication of industry news, Waste Management, a study of the use of compostable liners by MRA Consulting found that councils which supplied liners had on average 30 per cent more FOGO capture than those without. While the study noted that those councils not supplying liners did so to save costs, modelling showed that the avoided landfill gate fees for the additional food waste captured because liners were provided, resulted in savings well exceeding the cost of providing liners.

It is proposed to provide the delivery of compostable bag liners to the 50,600 houses single dwellings by the end of the year and the supply of these bags is estimated at $165,000 and the delivery of the bags will be undertaken by Council's waste staff.

In future a report will be presented to Council that considers a number of delivery models like the Penrith or Randwick examples or offering a pick-up service as costs could be reduced or avoided by offering free collection from the three Customer service centres, eight libraries and the Inner West Sustainability Hub. They could also be provided from the mobile Customer service stalls.

There must be a strong focus on take only one pack to discourage the stockpiling of bags due to the 12-month shelf life of bags and them beginning to compost and deteriorate over time, particularly if stored in damp areas or exposed to sunlight.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Fully funded via Domestic Waste Budget for ongoing operational costs and implementation funded via the NSW EPA (Environment Protection Authority) Grant[$953,425] and any additional costs to the above budget for example the additional compostable liners will be funded from the Domestic Waste Reserve.

ATTACHMENTS

Nil.

Council Agenda 21 Nov 2023 https://innerwest.infocouncil.biz/Open/2023/11/C_21112023_AGN_4014_AT_WEB.htm

Search This Blog

Perambuler