South Australians are being urged to do their bit to help reduce waste to landfill this Christmas by being smarter with food scraps and organics over the holidays, which will not only benefit the environment but help create jobs.
On average, South Australian households generate around 3.3kg of food waste each week. With increased consumption over the holiday period, more than 5,000 tonnes of food waste is expected to be generated over Christmas and the New Year in South Australia.
Minister for Environment David Speirs said the holiday season is the perfect time for families to look at how they manage their waste and reduce the amount being sent to landfill.
"The holidays are a great time to spend a couple of weeks relaxing with family and friends but it's also a time where we often find ourselves consuming more food at home," Minister Speirs said.
"This inevitably leads to more waste being produced but there are some simple things which South Australians can do to reduce the amount that gets sent to landfill. As it stands as much as 40 per cent of the material in South Australian household waste bins sent to landfill is food and organics which could be diverted through the green bin.
"Doing the right thing with food scraps and putting them in your organics bin or creating a compost bin at home is by far the easiest way to reduce your household's carbon footprint and be part of the circular economy here in South Australia,
"South Australians will also be surprised just how many regular household items can go in the organics been instead of landfill such as tissues, paper towel and even greasy pizza boxes.
"Less waste to landfill is not only good for the environment but it's good for the economy with more than three times as many jobs created for every tonne of waste recycled instead of going to landfill.
"Peats Soil here at Willunga is a great example of a local business which turns waste put through the organics bin into valuable resources such compost, supporting local jobs in the process. The waste management and resource recovery industry is a major player in South Australia's economy with approximately 4,800 people employed and we want to this number to grow."
The Marshall Liberal Government is investing more than $50 million to boost recycling and resource recovery, creating more than 400 jobs and keeping waste out of landfill through improved infrastructure and education.
"This funding will lead to less waste sent to landfill, a reduction in emissions, and will also provide vital stimulus to our world-leading waste management and resource recovery sector, leading to more jobs here in South Australia," Minister Speirs said.
"When organic material gets sent to landfill it generates Methane. Methane is up to 25 times worse as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide when it comes to global warming so improved waste management is another way our government is taking practical action on climate change."
