FOOTT is proud to have been announced as a finalist in the innovation categories in both the 2025 Greater Shepparton SPC Business Excellence Awards (Excellence in Innovation) and the 2025 Waste Innovation and Recycling Awards (Innovation Award).
This recognition comes during a period of significant growth for our business. In the past three years, we have doubled in size and now employ more than 100 staff across Victoria and southern NSW.
Innovation has been central to that growth. Over the past 18 months, FOOTT has commenced domestic waste collection for three regional Victorian councils; Greater Shepparton, Benalla Rural City and Strathbogie Shire. The fleet used in these services has been fitted with AI-enabled cameras, which allow us to resolve customer enquiries more accurately, reduce unnecessary truck movements, and improve safety for our drivers.
At our CDS Vic depots in Shepparton, Benalla and Yarrawonga, high-speed counting machines process thousands of containers each hour. Each container is photographed as it passes through a light ring, and the barcode is checked against a database of more than 38,000 eligible containers before being sorted into the correct material stream. Since the scheme began in November 2023, FOOTT has processed more than 60 million containers through our depots, returning millions of dollars to local communities.
We also trialled Victoria’s first rear-loader electric waste truck on a regional route, which gave us insights into how zero-emission vehicles could play a role in future collections. In addition, our customer portal provides customers with easy access to bookings and recycling data at any time.
For FOOTT, innovation is about making practical improvements that support our customers, improve efficiency and safety for our staff, and deliver better outcomes for the communities we serve.
The winners of both awards will be announced later this year.