When Bendigo starts collecting kerbside organic waste from September it will set an example for the rest of the state and position the city to attract new industries, a regional waste chief says. 

Just 13 of Victoria’s 79 local governments offer food and garden organic collection – or FOGO – according to Sustainability Victoria, but every single one of the state’s seven waste and resource recovery groups has earmarked it as a priority. 

Loddon Mallee WRRG executive officer Karen Fazzani said the City of Greater Bendigo would be the first of its eight councils to go the full FOGO. 

But she said others would be watching Bendigo closely – and looking to follow suit. 

“I know that there are at least a couple more councils which are definitely interested in following suit within the next five years,” Ms Fazzani said.  

That would bring with it the chance to attract new industries, she said. Under the current arrangement, the City of Greater Bendigo will cart its organics to Stanhope for composting.   

“We don’t currently have a reprocessing plant in the region as nobody was collecting food and green organic waste,” Ms Fazzani said. 

“[But our priority] is to divert organics from landfill and we’re hoping someone will look at coming to set up a reprocessing plant within the region.

“The region is quite large – going from Mildura to the Macedon Ranges – so it would offer a great resource recovery opportunity.”

And it is not just regional councils which will look to Bendigo’s example. 

Of the 31 councils in the Metro WRRG group just one – Nillumbik Shire Council – currently offers a FOGO service. 

But that is set to change, according to the group’s chief executive officer Robert Millard.

“Food and garden waste comprises around 40 per cent of the waste Melbourne households currently send to landfill,” Mr Millard said. 

“So the Metropolitan WRRG is working with metropolitan councils to divert more of this organic waste away from landfill.

“We are facilitating collective council procurements across Melbourne to secure new organics processing facilities that are capable of accepting food as well as garden waste.”

But while the big smoke goes in search of willing companies, Bendigo has already knocked one back. 

Shepparton-based Western Composting Technology chief executive officer Matthew Dickens said his company wanted to build an organic waste facility in the Bendigo region. But the five-year delivery contract being offered by the City of Greater Bendigo did not make the proposal viable. 

The city was unavailable to comment yesterday.