New FOGO service recognised as Wagga Wagga cleans up at Tidy Towns awards

Wagga Wagga City Council has cleaned up at the 2018 Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities Awards held in Orange on Saturday, 10 November.

Wagga Wagga finished runner-up in the Overall Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities Award for its population category, missing out to Cessnock who went on to be the NSW overall winner.

The introduction of the food organics and garden organics (FOGO) service earned Council the Recycled Organics Award and a highly commended in the Environmental Communication Award Population category.

The new FOGO service was rolled out in April, with waste such as fruit and vegetable scraps, meat, egg shells and dairy products able to be disposed of in the green-lid bin, along with garden waste.

In the first six months, the community has helped send 4567 tonnes of FOGO material to be composted rather than going to landfill.

Riverina Water was awarded the Hey Tosser! Litter Prevention Award for the tap water partner project with Council. As part of the project, water refill stations were installed across the city to encourage the community to use reusable drink bottles. Cafes and restaurants were also provided with glass bottles to promote drinking tap water over bottled water.

Sturt Public School was awarded the Schools Environmental Achievement Award for its efforts to reduce waste at the school and promote awareness of waste issues – including writing a book about the Rad Reece the Recycling Warrior character the students created.

REROC also earned a highly commended in the Waste Less Recycle More Waste Minimisation category for its Recycle Night? Recycle Right! project.

The annual awards are presented by Keep Australia Beautiful NSW, with representatives from Wagga Wagga City Council’s environment team, Councillor Yvonne Braid OAM and members of the Wagga Wagga Tidy Town Sustainable Community Committee attending.

2018 Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities Awards

Population category E: 20,001+

• Overall Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities Award Category E: Runner-up, Wagga Wagga
• Recycled Organics Award: Implementation of the new FOGO Service, Wagga Wagga City Council
• Environmental Communication Award - Highly Commended: ‘Your Waste – Got it sorted?’ campaign, Wagga Wagga City Council
• Hey Tosser! Litter Prevention Award: Tap that Wagga, Riverina Water
• Schools Environmental Achievement Award: Sturt Public School
• Waste Less Recycle More Waste Minimisation – Highly Commended: Recycle Night? Recycle Right!, REROC