The Victorian government is investing $1 million to expand the food and organics processing capacity at the Repurpose It facility in Epping.
Repurpose It is Victoria’s statewide four-bin rollout scheme that seeks to allow Victorians to play their part in reducing landfill while creating a steady stream of recyclable materials, including food and organic waste.
The Epping facility is the largest organics processing facility in the state, with the capacity to transform 200,000 tonnes of organic waste each year into over 1 million cubic metres of high-quality landscaping materials.
The $4.4 million expansion will equip the facility with new efficient decontamination technology to filter out problematic items commonly found in kerbside food organics and garden organics bins.
The new capacity significantly reduces processing time by 45 per cent and creates new quality mulch and compost. This will enable Repurpose It to meet increased demand and expand into emerging markets by delivering an additional 87,000 tonnes of quality premium soils, mulches and composts.
Thirty-one Victorian councils have introduced new separate glass recycling services, so far. Meanwhile, 53 have implemented a kerbside FOGO service. All 79 Victorian councils are expected to be onboarded to the service by 2030.
“We’re changing the way Victorians recycle with our container deposit scheme and the four-bin system, helping us reach our goal of diverting 80 per cent of waste from landfill by 2030 and keeping litter out of our environment,” said Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos.
“About one-third of a household rubbish bin is food waste – that’s why we’re helping innovative businesses like Repurpose It expand their operations, ensuring our organic waste is being turned into something new and useful.”
