By Molly Magennis
Hobsons Bay council is encouraging more residents to get involved in its free paper-bag trial to help recycle food scraps, with thousands of residents already registering to participate in the initiative.
All households in Hobsons Bay are invited to register and collect a free six-month supply of paper bags from the Civic Centre and local libraries.
The bags were introduced as a result of constant complaints from residents about the odour coming from their food organics and garden organics (FOGO) bins prior to its fortnightly collection.
According to council, 7,000 households have already registered for the trial, and 70 per cent of participants who have provided feedback have found the paper bags make sorting food scraps easier.
Hobsons Bay mayor Peter Hemphill said the trial was just one of the ways the council was making it easier for residents to reduce the amount of rubbish sent to landfill.
“With up to a third of some household rubbish bins made up of food scraps, recycling more food waste is a great opportunity to reduce our landfill volumes,” he said.
“By sending less to landfill we reduce harmful emissions and reduce costs to Council and residents.”
To register for the paper bag trial, visit www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/paperbagtrial or contact council’s customer service team on 1300 179 944.
