Satellite image shows huge bin change coming to households: 'FOGO a no go'
While FOGO systems have been widely introduced in other Australian states, particularly in Victoria and New South Wales, in Queensland, councils have cited a mix of cost, logistical complexity and community readiness as reasons for delaying full-scale implementation.
In Brisbane, the city council had previously rolled out an opt-in service for green-lidded bins at a quarterly price of $49. Used for garden waste and not food scraps like FOGO, it's believed that just 30 per cent of eligible households took up the offer.
But satellite photos available on Google show a massive stockpile of the bins waiting at Nudgee, Rochedale and Willawong council depots.
Brisbane City Council, controlled by the Liberal party since 2008, had suggested that it would make a bin-related announcement when the council budget is released this month, but Labor seemingly beat them to the punch — and wants to take credit.
According to the ABC, leaked details by Labor indicate that free green bins for garden waste will be rolled out across the city.
LNP councillor Sarah Hutton declined to provide further details until June 18 when pressed by the ABC, but stated that "FOGO is a no-go".
"I can promise you that we will be making sure if people want a green bin, there'll be an option for them to get a green bin," she told the national broadcaster. "We'll wait and see what the budget has to say."
She would also not say whether residents who had paid for a green bin would be refunded if they're now made freely available.
According to the opposition leader, Jared Cassidy, Labor deserves the credit for the green bins. He said it would have happened sooner if not for the council "stalling". "The amount of organic waste going into landfill is the single biggest contributor to Brisbane's carbon footprint, and all we've seen is years of inaction from this LNP Council," he claimed.
"Brisbane should be leading Queensland on green waste services, but instead we've been falling behind other councils like Moreton Bay, which rolled out a city-wide garden organics program last year."
Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) recycling systems offer significant environmental benefits by diverting organic waste, such as food scraps and garden clippings, away from landfill and into composting or anaerobic digestion facilities.
This process reduces methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas produced by decomposing organic matter in landfills, and creates valuable compost that can improve soil health and support sustainable agriculture. Several Australian states have widely adopted FOGO systems with NSW mandating that all council areas adopt the system by 2030.
Queensland, however, has been slower to implement FOGO across its councils, with many opting for limited or opt-in green waste services rather than comprehensive organic waste separation.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
WIRED
28 minutes ago
- WIRED
The First Planned Migration of an Entire Country Is Underway
Jul 25, 2025 5:00 AM The Pacific island nation of Tuvalu could be submerged in 25 years due to rising sea levels, so a plan is being implemented to relocate its population to Australia. Photograph:All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Tuvalu is preparing to carry out the first planned migration of an entire country in response to the effects of climate change. Recent studies project that much of its territory could be submerged in the next 25 years due to rising sea levels, forcing its inhabitants to consider migration as an urgent survival measure. This island nation in Oceania is made up of nine coral islands and atolls inhabited by just over 11,000 people. The country's average altitude is just 2 meters above sea level, making it extremely vulnerable to rising oceans, flooding, and storm surges, all exacerbated by the climate crisis. A study by NASA's Sea Level Change Team revealed that, in 2023, the sea level in Tuvalu was 15 centimeters higher than the average recorded over the previous three decades. If this trend continues, it's projected that most of the territory, including its critical infrastructure, will be below the high-tide level by 2050. In the face of this existential threat, an unprecedented climate visa program has begun. In 2023, Tuvalu and Australia signed the Falepili Union Treaty, an agreement that provides for a migration scheme that will allow 280 Tuvaluans per year to settle in Australia as permanent residents. The visas will be allocated through a ballot system and will grant beneficiaries the same health, education, housing, and employment rights enjoyed by Australian citizens. In addition, Tuvaluans will retain the ability to return to their home country if conditions permit. The first stage of applications was open from June 16 to July 18. 'We received extremely high levels of interest in the ballot with 8,750 registrations, which includes family members of primary registrants,' the Australian High Commission in Tuvalu said in a statement on July 23. The first cohort of 280 people will be drawn via a ballot on July 25, the high commission says. Residents take shelter as floodwaters move inland on the island of Tuvalu, March 14, 2015. Photograph: Getty Images 'When combined with other Pacific pathways to Australia and New Zealand, nearly 4 percent of the population could migrate each year,' says Jane McAdam, a fellow at the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW Sydney, writing in the Conversation. 'Within a decade, close to 40 percent of the population could have moved—although some people may return home or go backwards and forwards.' Penny Wong, Australia's foreign minister, said in a statement that the program gives Tuvaluans a chance to settle in Australia 'with dignity as climate impacts worsen.' She added that this initiative reflects the deep trust between the two nations and that Tuvaluans are expected to make a valuable contribution to Australian society. Feleti Teo, prime minister of Tuvalu, called for the support of the international community during his address to the Third UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France, in June. 'Tuvalu calls for the development of an international treaty on sea level rise to enshrine the legal rights of affected states and people, including the principles of statehood continuity and the permanency of maritime boundaries,' Teo said. The Tuvalu prime minister also said that his country supports the idea of a Fossil Fuels Non-Proliferation Treaty with 'the ultimatum of a rapid, fair and irreversible phase out of fossil fuels across all sectors.' The agreement with Australia is not the only action taken by Tuvalu in the face of the threat of disappearing. In 2022, the country launched an ambitious strategy to become the world's first digital nation. This initiative includes 3D scanning its islands to digitally re-create them and preserve their cultural heritage, as well as moving government functions to a virtual environment. In order to protect national identity and sovereignty, the project is also contemplating constitutional reforms to define the country as a virtual state, a concept already recognized by 25 countries, including Australia and New Zealand. What is happening to Tuvalu could be experienced by other nations. NASA has found that global sea levels rose more than expected over the last year. Its satellite measurements reveal that the annual rate of increase has doubled since 1993, with a rise of 10 centimeters in that period. Pacific islands are particularly vulnerable to rising seas, although the impacts are not limited to that region. For example, sea levels in the Gulf of Mexico have recently risen at three times the global average, according to a study published in Nature in 2023. Albert van Dijk, professor at Australian National University, has emphasized that climate change is affecting all the planet's water systems. 'From historic droughts to catastrophic floods, these extreme variations disrupt lives, economies and entire ecosystems. Water is our most vital resource, and its extreme behavior represents one of the greatest threats today.' This story originally appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.
Epoch Times
an hour ago
- Epoch Times
Australia Can't Revive Manufacturing Without Changing China Trade Rules: Former PM
Anti-dumping measures pose a real threat to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and offer Western countries a practical tool to counter the regime's harmful economic practices, according to former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Morrison made the remarks during testimony at a U.S congressional hearing on the CCP's use of economic coercion against democratic countries.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
UK, Australia back embattled submarine deal with US
Britain and Australia said Friday they will sign a 50-year commitment to their nuclear-powered submarine pact with the United States, seeking to bolster a deal that Washington has thrown into doubt. The two countries cast their pledge as a historic treaty but gave few details beyond saying it would help economic cooperation and "underpin" the existing, three-nation AUKUS pact. "It is a profoundly important treaty that we will sign tomorrow," Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles told reporters after talks in Sydney between the two countries' defence and foreign ministers. A US defence official last month revealed that a review of AUKUS was underway to ensure it "aligned with the President's America First agenda" and that the US defence industrial base was "meeting our needs". Under the 2021 AUKUS deal, Australia would acquire at least three Virginia-class submarines from the United States within 15 years, eventually manufacturing its own subs. The US Navy has 24 Virginia-class vessels but American shipyards are struggling to meet production targets set at two new boats each year. In the United States, critics question why Washington would sell nuclear-powered submarines to Australia without stocking its own military first. "A new government undertaking a review is the most natural thing in the world," Marles said of the decision by US President Donald Trump's administration. - 'Symbolism is important' - Australia had already contributed US$1 billion this year to help boost production and maintenance of submarines in the United States, he said. "We are really confident that the production rates will be raised in America." Under AUKUS, Britain will eventually develop a new class of nuclear-powered attack submarines, the SSN-AUKUS, to enter service from the late 2030s. Australia would also build the SSN-AUKUS, with delivery expected to its navy in the early 2040s. British Defence Secretary John Healey said London welcomed the US review. "It's an opportunity for the new administration to renew America's commitment to the deep AUKUS partnership that our three nations have," he said. In a government statement, Britain repeated previously released figures saying that the AUKUS submarine programme would lead to the creation of 21,000 UK jobs. It said the submarine programme was expected to be worth "up to" 20 billion pounds (US$27 billion) in British exports over the next 25 years. Analyst Tom Corben from the United States Studies Centre in Australia said the new treaty between Canberra and London was an important show of solidarity. "The symbolism is important given everything else that is happening," he said. Britain's defence and foreign ministers were visiting Australia as their country's Carrier Strike Group and 3,000 personnel took part in annual Talisman Sabre military exercises across Australia and Papua New Guinea. djw/sft/amj Solve the daily Crossword
