Construction is about to begin on the City of Gosnells’ new food waste recycling facility, with residents now invited to sign up for the innovative GOsFO (Gosnells Food Organics) trial program.
Households that sign up for GOsFO will soon receive a 140-litre burgundy bin for organic kitchen scraps, collected weekly from the verge.
The program is available to 2,000 participants at a cost of $80 per financial year, though the first year will be billed at a reduced pro-rata rate of $20, as it will only run for three months in the 2024/25 financial year.
The program, originally due to start in early 2025, was postponed until March 2025 due to an unforeseen delay in equipment delivery.
Goterra, the company behind the project, is currently assembling the facility’s components off-site.
Mayor Terresa Lynes and Councillors recently joined Environment Minister Reece Whitby and Goterra CEO Olympia Yarger to inspect the new concrete pad at the facility site located at the City’s Operations Centre in Maddington.
“Once it is up and running in the coming months, food waste from residents who sign up to GOsFO will be turned into high-quality fertiliser and animal feed,” Mayor Lynes said.
“The City of Gosnells is the first organisation in Western Australia to use this food waste recycling system through Goterra.”
GOsFO will utilise insect larvae to process food waste into high-quality fertiliser, with the larvae then being harvested and converted into high-protein animal feed, ensuring nothing goes to waste.
“These products are in demand by the agricultural sector and it’s great to know that our kitchen and table scraps will be helping to grow more food for our plates,” Mayor Lynes said.
“The City of Gosnells is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and GOsFO will help us do that, in partnership with local residents who are interested in sustainability and reducing waste.”
Minister Whitby believes the project demonstrates Western Australia’s leading approach to recycling on a national scale.
“It will complement our existing Food Organics, Garden Organics (FOGO) recycling system, which has proven enormously popular with hundreds of thousands of households throughout WA,” he said.
Goterra Founder and CEO Olympia Yarger was excited to bring their food waste recycling system to Western Australia.
“This project represents the best of what can be achieved when an innovative and passionate Council like the City of Gosnells works to deliver better waste recovery and sustainability for their community,” Ms Yarger said.
In addition to the burgundy bin, participants will receive a 5-litre benchtop caddy with compostable liners for collecting organic scraps.
For more information on the program or to sign up, visit the City’s Your Say page online at yoursay.gosnells.wa.gov.au.
