Canberra businesses could soon face fines of up to $40,000 for improperly disposing of their food waste as part of the ACT government’s push to create a circular economy.
The fines will not come into effect in the short-term, and the government said it would initially take an educational approach to ensure businesses were ready for the new regulations.
For Brook Clinton, who has been collecting Canberrans’ food scraps for four years, the government’s push for food waste reduction is a move in the right direction.
The founder and manager of Capital Scraps Composting (CSC) said she hoped more people were starting to recognise the impact of food waste on the climate.
When added to landfill, food scraps emit methane that contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, but when properly processed as compost, those emissions are significantly reduced.
“At the moment most of the food waste in the city is still going to landfill, and that’s not the best place for it by any means. It produces a lot of methane in that situation,” Ms Clinton said.
CSC processed 23.5 tonnes of food waste into compost last year and is on track to meet that target this year.
The ACT government this week said educating businesses on the new regulations would be the first step toward the goal of keeping thousands of tonnes of food waste from ending up in landfill.
The ACT Circular Economy Strategy and Action Plan 2023-2030 was first introduced by Minister for City Services Chris Steel in August and it was unanimously passed in the ACT Legislative Assembly yesterday.
The strategy has three key principles: designing our waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use at their highest value, and avoiding negative impacts on the environment while regenerating natural systems.
The legislation will require businesses to develop food waste reduction plans, and to recycle whatever is left over.
Mr Steel said about 9,500 tonnes of organic food waste was currently going into landfill from food businesses every year in the capital.
Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee said while “there’s no doubt” the legislation’s intent was sound, her party had some concerns about any additional burden it may pose to businesses doing it tough in the ACT.
“We know that there are many businesses – especially in the hospitality and food industry – that have had a really tough time over the last couple of years,” she said.
(ABC)
