Northern Beaches Council has begun testing a new food waste collection service, with around 3,000 local households taking part in a two-phase pilot now underway.
The move is part of a statewide rollout, in which all NSW councils must introduce residential food waste collection by 2030.
The preliminary testing will help Council fine-tune what works best for locals before implementing it across the entire Northern Beaches.
How will the pilot work?
The first phase of the pilot runs from late October 2025 to March 2026, focusing on selected streets in Cromer and Dee Why.
Households in the pilot area received a new kitchen caddy, compostable liners and an information pack on how to separate food waste and add it to their green bin.
If none of that has arrived at your place, bad news (or maybe good news, depending on how you feel about food scraps), you are not in the pilot. Keep using your bins as usual and leave your lucky neighbours do the testing for now.
By adding food scraps to the green bin, households ensure the waste is recycled with garden material rather than ending up in landfill.
Michelle Lea Palmer lives in a Dee Why apartment block that is involved in phase one.
We popped into her place to see how the experience had gone in its first few weeks.
She said: “Some recycling is a thing today that it was not when I was young, and so while you may have some pain getting used to the new process, I think ultimately that it will be great.
“I think the biggest challenge that we have is even getting people to use the right bins as they exist today.
“The green bin seems like a simpler solution. If it is already garden clippings that people are used to disposing of, then we are just adding food to that.”
“It all comes down to how important it is to people, and whether they believe it is a solution for the future.”
What’s next?
The second phase, running from April to September 2026, will introduce a new burgundy bin dedicated solely to food waste.
The aim is to find out whether an extra bin helps households that already max out their garden bin capacity, or if it simply adds more clutter to the curb on bin night.
Council has selected a mix of households to make sure they hear from all corners of the community, from single houses to low, medium and high-density units.
Mayor Sue Heins said: “Households are already pretty good at recycling, with more than 46,000 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill on the Northern Beaches via our green, blue and yellow bins every year.
“But almost half of our red bin is made up of food waste which can be composted and used for agriculture and other purposes, saving landfill space and reducing potent gases.”
She acknowledged the rollout would be a significant shift for local households, adding that is why Council is starting with a pilot.
“We will learn what works and what needs to be improved before we introduce it across the whole area,” said Mayor Heins.
This local trial feeds into a much bigger goal.
What waste?
According to the 2021 National Food Waste Strategy Feasibility Study, Australians throw out about 7.6 million tonnes of food each year, with households responsible for nearly a third of it.
All that waste adds up. It is estimated to account for around 3% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions and is linked to the use of 2,600 gigalitres of water, roughly equivalent to the water in five Sydney Harbours.
Beyond the environmental toll, food waste carries a staggering economic cost for Australia, estimated at $36.6 billion annually.
Australia has committed to halving the amount of food waste sent to landfill by 2030, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12, which promotes more sustainable consumption and production.
Other nations are already showing what is possible.
South Korea led the way back in 2013, introducing a mandatory, nationwide collection system, which has seen the amount of recycled food waste go from 2.6% in 1996 to 95% today.
Meanwhile, in England, new laws will require weekly food waste collection for all households by March 2026.
Many local councils and London Boroughs have already rolled out the kitchen caddies and compostable liners, much like what is now being trialled on the Northern Beaches.
If you are not part of the local pilot but still want to cut down on food waste, there are plenty of sustainable options, including composting and worm farming.
Visit the Council’s website to learn more about the pilot program or find upcoming waste collection events.
