City of Albany’s FOGO waste collection service postponed until 2021

A food and garden waste collection service in the City of Albany will be delayed until early next year after a unanimous vote by councillors on Tuesday.

This marks the second deferral of the City’s kerbside Food Organics and Garden Organics waste disposal service, after a vote to delay the roll-out in November last year.

An officer’s report put to the council ahead of the meeting stated the FOGO deferral aligned with the end of the council’s current collection and processing contract, set to expire in February.

Officers said the COVID-19 pandemic had further delayed the the roll-out of the new system, with City staff focused on ensuring a consistent delivery of waste services during the crisis.

Due to delays to modifications and approvals in the City’s current green-waste processing operations, the roll-out had not been made by the proposed start date of January this year.

“At present there is no facility capable of accepting FOGO waste within the City,” the report said.

“Delaying the commencement of the FOGO service will provide additional time to ensure availability of an approved local FOGO processor to accept and process food waste.”