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December, 2000:

Australia: Assessment of Food Disposal Options in Multi-Unit Dwellings in Sydney

In 2000, the city of Sydney, Australia investigated the impact of food waste disposals in five areas: environmental, economic, microbial risk, social acceptance, and technical/operational for sewer systems. For each area, the impacts of disposals were compared to that of collecting food waste with municipal waste and sending it to landfills, centralized composting of food and garden waste, and home composting. Among the report‘s conclusions was that 1) the disposal of food with municipal waste was the least satisfactory of all options, 2) individual composting was environmentally ideal, but impractical for multi-unit dwellings, and 3) using a food waste disposal was second best for energy consumption, global warming potential, and acidification.

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