The introduction of FOGO to the Bega Valley Shire is outstripping all expectations.
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Around 2000 tonnes of food and organic "waste" has already been diverted away from landfill since the service's introduction in October 2018.
While initial estimations were planning for around 1000 tonnes over the first 12 months of operation, it's looking like the actual figure may end up closer to 4000.
"About 30 per cent of household waste is now being diverted from landfill," BVSC waste management coordinator Joley Vidau said during a video interview with the Bega District News on Wednesday, coincidentally World Environment Day.
"It's not only saving that landfill space, but probably more importantly, when that organic waste is covered in dirt it becomes anaerobic and that produces methane, a key contributor to climate change, and we need to do what we can to mitigate that."
Ms Joley put the impact into financial terms as well.
"It costs about $150 a tonne to manage this landfill site, versus $70 a tonne for an organic site," she said.
"At $150 a tonne, 3-4000 tonnes - that's half a million dollars so it's a massive saving.
"It's extending the landfill, saving the community money and not producing the methane - and you have the amazing compost at the end."
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While having a positive impact of both the financial impost of waste in the shire as well as the effective life of the Central Waste Facility, there has also been an unforeseen effect - there's more compost being created than the team know what to do with!
More marketing is in the pipeline for the FOGO end product, but approaches are being made to farmers for broadacre application rather than just "mums and dads for their backyards".
Larger allocations of the nutrient-rich compost are also being made available free to anyone fire-affected or rebuilding after last year's devastating fires in the Tathra and Bemboka districts.
The successful take-up of FOGO by many across the shire has resulted in several other opportunities in the works.
Chief among them is an upcoming trial of compostable nappies.
Ms Vidau said the issue of disposable nappies was one of the most raised concerns when the introduction of FOGO meant red general waste bins changed to fortnightly collections.
However, she said 50 local families had signed up to a trial being run between the council and EPA of nappies that could potentially be disposed of via the FOGO green bin to be incorporated into the wide variety of other compostable organic material.
Ms Vidau said for now it's looking at the hurdles, regulatory and otherwise, to introduce those nappies into the existing collection process, with "extensive and rigorous testing" to be part of the trial.
"While we're making headway, we're a long way off being able to offer that, and we may not be ever able to offer that, but we're trying our hardest," she said.
READ MORE: Major award for council FOGO crew
Meanwhile, for those who are nearing the end of their "year's worth" of FOGO caddy liners, keep an eye on your letterbox come August when Ms Vidau and her team are planning to issue vouchers that can be exchanged for a new free roll. Compostable bin liners are also available to purchase from council for $5 for the roll of 150 bags.
