Everyone is directly affected by the impacts of food waste. Businesses are taking a $74 billion hit due to food waste every year. After food is wasted, so are all the resources that went into making it.

Currently, one-third of all food produced is wasted. When this food ends up in a landfill, it decomposes without oxygen. This releases Methane, a greenhouse gas that traps the sun's heat and creates what is known as the greenhouse effect. Food waste in landfills is responsible for around 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions produced by humans are much higher than the amount that can be captured by the earth's natural carbon cycle leading to global warming and climate change. 

Many places around the world and here in New Zealand have adopted curbside compost pickup. Such as Tauranga, which as of 2021 has now got kerbside rubbish, recycling, food scraps and optional garden waste collection. 

We propose to implement curbside compost pickup in the Hutt Valley along with our other recycling bins. If we implement curbside food scrap collection now, we will be able to halve the amount of waste sent to landfills. This would greatly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we are producing and therefore have less impact on global warming and climate change.

Hutt City Council is proposing to implement curbside compost pickup by 2030, but that's too late, please sign our petition to make this change now.