1. Busting FOGO myths Jess Braun 7 Nov 2018

2. Presentation agenda Organic waste to landfill Options for recovery
Perceived barriers to implementing FOGO
Bust myths
FOGO success

3. Household waste to landfill
Paint the picture of municipal waste in NZ
Organic waste is the single largest component of municipal kerbside solid waste sent to landfill – 50% - 306,000 tpa
Most of kerbside residual waste ends up in landfills in New Zealand.
Source: 2009 Household waste to landfill report for Ministry for the Environment, by Waste Not Consultants
Strategy adopted by New Zealand’s government is to reduce, recycle and reuse waste (New Zealand Waste Strategy, 2012). Waste Minimization Act of 2008 also encourages the reduction of waste generated and disposed of in the country.
The argument for keeping organics out of landfill is assumed knowledge for the audience at this conference.
Source: New Zealand Ministry for the Environment 2009

4. Collection options to recover organics
GO–Recycling–Residual
FOGO–Recycling–Residual
Recycling–Residual

5. 32%
50%
Fortnightly
Weekly
18%
Ready, set, FOGO
Solution

6. FOGO benefits Recover 306,000 tpa organics
Save $46 mil pa processing costs
Double the compost sector
306,000 tpa CO2–e abatement
Savings based on 307,000 tpa organics (MfE 2009 report), $150/t savings on gatefees for organics processing compared to landfilling
So, why do we not see more FOGO uptake?

7. Local Gov FOGO Implementation

8. Leading the way

9. Council perceived barriers to FOGO
High contamination
Poor performance with MUDs
Poor community satisfaction
Economically irrational
No FOGO processors
No market for outputs
Existing micro solutions
We surveyed 12 councils in NZ about the barriers and concerns regarding the introduction of an organics waste collection. The following perceived concerns were common themes in discussions – organics collection would be too expensive, there is not enough processing capacity, no market for the outputs of composting, residents are already undertaking their own composting or worm farming, poor performance from multi-unit buildings with respect to contamination and engagement, poor community satisfaction with the changed service, high contamination.
Other underlying issues that also need to be addressed include current staffing and contractual arrangements.
Contractual arrangements/interests maintain status quo,
Too hard? Staff and capacity constraints?.
Estimated 34% of households have Food Waste Disposers which diverts food organics to the sewerage system to be processes at a waste water treatment facility (Source: 2004 research for Parex Industries – distributor for InSinkErator)
Go through myths 1 by 1 and pick them apart. Then provide some practical information to support a successful FOGO rollout.

10. Community satisfaction
Christchurch City Council
85% satisfied with FOGO service
Auckland-Papakura
70% supported FOGO service
Timaru District Council
87% supported FOGO trial
91% supported FOGO service
North Shore City
70% participation in FOGO trial
Community satisfaction
Sources:
Ministry of Environment, 2005, Options for Kerbside Collection of Household Organic Wastes.
Christchurch City Council, 2014, Organic Material Collection and Composting-Activity Management Plan.
Timaru District Council, 2014 ,CHANGE FOR THE BETTER, TIMARU KERBSIDE ORGANIC COLLECTION & COMPOSTING, 7 YEARS ON, : KEY LEARNING’S.
Sources: Ministry for the Environment, 2005
Christchurch City Council, 2014
Timaru District Council, 2014

11. Multi-unit developments
Problems
High turnover
Low care
Poor engagement leading to contamination
Poor bin storage and presentation
Solutions
Communication, residents survey
1 FO bin : 10 residual bins
Kitchen caddies & liners
Accessible, identifiable, conveniently located FO bins
Vehicle access
Adequate bin volume
Bin cleaning
Engage body corporates
Multi-unit development in Auckland means a development consisting of 10 or more residential or residential and commercial units on any premises. It includes a unit title development and any development with controlled or restricted access.
Currently there are 1700 MUDs throughout Auckland region.
The picture is for Christchurch.
Problems are from MRA research and case studies
Options include approaches that deal specifically with engagement, convenience and contamination prevention.
The south Korean option is a bin with an RFID lock that only opens with a tag and it records weight of each food waste deposit - user pays system

12. Work with strata and estate agents – resource new tenants, waste infrastructure, good access to waste infrastructure
Communication critical – simple, visual. Use schools, community groups, face-to-face, positive messages, consistent and on-going education
Couldn’t find a photo that neatly showed a good bin area WITH FOGO bins…

13. Single-unit dwellings
Even if MUDS are more challenging it doesn’t prevent FOGO roll out to other residents

14. Contamination reality
Timaru 1%
Christchurch
1.2%
Contamination fear
Contamination reality
<5% contamination is low. The best performance of FOGO in Australia is 0.5% contamination at Albury.
Update shapes without corners

15. Economics
Average LF:
Average compost: 67

16. NZ wide FOGO
= $46mil pa savings

17. 98 commercial composting facilities accepting FOGO
Processing capacity
98 commercial composting facilities accepting FOGO
Source: Ecoware 2015 industry report
Sources: Ecoware 2015

18. Market for FOGO compost
Agricultural land:
12 mil ha
NZ wide FOGO compost:
20,000 ha
Compost improves:
Soil compaction
Soil erosion
Nutrient depletion
Source: Renshaw, 2015
Make map showing red square of compost if all compost from FOGO was spread at 10 tonnes per ha. 2/3 efficiency of compost production from FOGO tonnes ,000 tpa of food and garden waste in residual bin at the moment.
Compost tonnes (2/3 *306,000) = 202,000 tpa
Composted area (10t/ha) = 20,000 ha (200km2)
General understanding that increase in organic matter in soils is beneficial
Land-use data from Ministry for the Environment Land Use Map 2012 – cropland and high producing grassland, planted forest
The green area is the market for FOGO compost (agricultural land), the red square is the size of the area if all of NZ’s FOGO was composted and applied to land.
Source: Ministry for the Environment 2012

19. FOGO success Analyse options,build business case
Ongoing communication & education
Monitoring & engagement
Plans & strategies
Analyse options,build business case
35 councils in NSW have shown that it can work and pay rewards.
Based on this model and developments of our own MRA has assisted many councils to plan, implement and monitor FOGO rollout
How to make it work – successful implementation based on MRA experience
Develop and maintain plans and strategies leading to communication and education schemes. Continual monitoring leading back into amended strategies as required.

20. Develop business case Cost options
Cost the options using robust analysis, e.g. multi-criteria analysis
Make a decision based on findings of analysis
Developing the business case takes into account all the costs in a multi criteria analysis across a range of scenarios and configurations. Its is both detailed and high level considering the costs of caddies and liners to the potential GHG abatement advantages. It provides a transparent decision making platform
Redo options figure

21. Strategic implementation
Two step dance
The implementation needs planning and needs to start at least 2 years out, what when and how.
Conduct a trial to promote the outcomes and iron out the logistics.
Develop the right contracts with the waste service providers and contractors.
Two stage process
Introduced a 3-bin Garden only service for the first 3 years before introducing the Food
Drop to residual fortnightly only when FOGO is well-established
Future proof waste service by building flexibility into the waste contract that allows same processing volume but different composition.

22. Communication Before – during – after
The essential component is communication – before during and after. Particularly before – you have to take the community with you, explain the benefits, the why, the cost savings, the environmental benefits
Campaign to raise awareness, communicate rollout 1-2 years in advance. Build up the intensity 3 months before – youtube videos on benefits and correct use. Create a FOGO Friendly Force that talks at community events. Roll out caddies and bins in advance to get people in the habit. Have a launch day.
Communication experiment in NSW – recent overnight ban of compost from organics separated from residual waste through AWT facilities. To avoid organic outputs going to landfill, councils will need to rollout FOGO immediately. Record FOGO rollout processes, successes, contamination rates.

23. Community engagement Community Advisory Group
School education programs
Branding & key messages
FOGO Friendly Force
Communication – brochures, stickers
Incentives
Surveys & audits
Media
Public support is vital to the success of any food waste collection scheme. How householders view their local service has a major impact on participation. There are well developed community engagement approaches that have generated high levels of participation, focused on education, engagement and friendly support services, Halve Waste for example has achieved 95% participation.
Most successful engagement comes through participatory planning and decision making where groups are fully consulted at all stages and on all questions.

24. Case study - Timaru District Council
Education & communication
Monitoring
Options analysis
Community consult
Preferred option
Tender
Trial
Positive case study.
Timaru District Council, 2014 ,CHANGE FOR THE BETTER, TIMARU KERBSIDE ORGANIC COLLECTION & COMPOSTING, 7 YEARS ON, : KEY LEARNING’S.
15 year contract 2006 – 2021
Bins – FOGO weekly, Recyclables and red fortnightly
Consideration of options started 1999
Community info program – media, door drops, giving talks, employed comms staff
Community consultation on size and type of containers – 240L, 120L or 45L crate
Trial in Dec Jan 2005 – weekly FOGO, alternating fortnightly red and yellow, info sheet.
Conducted a survey – 87% supported 3-bin service, 64 % had no problems, 36% indicated common problems (separating waste in kitchen, some uneducated residents in the house, accepted items, mixed up collection days)
Full service rolled out 2006 with supporting education program to address issues identified from the survey, and different sized bins for different needs (such as smaller bins for the elderly)
18,989 households with FOGO containers (as at Sept 2013)
14,000 tpa fogo processed – council gets a % of revenue from compost sales
Gatesfees: $100/t composting, $193/t LF
On-going monitoring – full kerbside audit 2007 and 2008, visual audit 2009, on-going driver observations and 3 strike approach to contamination
On-going education – Zero Waste Advisor runs compost facility tours, talks at schools/community groups, visiting businesses, regularly updated brochures ---- promote engagement and low contamination
2011/12 survey indicated 91% satisfaction with kerbside collection service

25. Commercial
Strategy
Planning
Auditing
Education
Modelling
Engineering
Due diligence