Give it a FOGO

Exciting changes are coming to the City’s residential waste sorting system this November with the introduction of a Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) bin. 

The new bin system will allow The City's residents to participate in composting, which will help divert up to 65 per cent of waste from landfill by 2025.

What Does this Mean? 

The LIME GREEN LID FOGO BIN is for food and organic waste such as fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, and garden trimmings. The Lime Green lid bin will be collected weekly,

The YELLOW LID RECYCLING BIN is for recyclables like plastic bottles, paper, steel cans and glass. The Yellow lid bin will be collected fortnightly.

The RED LID GENERAL WASTE BIN is for general rubbish that cannot be composted or recycled, such as nappies and plastic bags. The Red lid bin will change from a weekly to fortnightly collection.

Why FOGO?

Waste surveying found that up to half the contents of residents' general waste bins in the City was organic material. With the FOGO system in place, this organic material can be turned into high-quality compost that can be sold or used in the community. Not only will this help reduce landfill waste, it will contribute to lowering greenhouse gas emissions, which will have a positive and lasting impact on the environment.

Lastly, under the State Government’s recently revised Waste Strategy 2030, all Councils will need to move to a three bin FOGO system by 2025.

What goes in a FOGO bin?

Collected WEEKLY, your lime green lid bin should be filled with all your organic waste. It is important to ensure this bin is not contaminated with any of the DON’T items below.

Do:

  • Food scraps: meat, bones, seafood, shells, fruit and veg, bread, rice, and dairy (raw and cooked)
  • Tea bags and coffee grounds
  • Used paper towels
  • Shredded paper
  • Garden waste: lawn clippings, small branches, weeds and flowers
  • Greasy pizza boxes
  • Tissues
  • Cardboard
  • Compostable liners (AS 4736)
  • Kitty litter
  • Cat and dog poo (only inside a compostable liner)

Don’t:

  • General Rubbish
  • Nappies and Hygiene products
  • Plastic bags and bottles
  • Toiletry items (razors, toothpaste tubes etc.)
  • Plastic bags (only the supplied compostable liners or newspaper to wrap food scraps are to be used)
  • Bricks, sand, soil and rocks
  • Glass or ceramics
  • Hazardous waste, including petrol, gas cylinders, paints, motor oils, garden chemicals and poisons, pool chemicals, cleaners, acids, bleaches and ammonia, medicines and flammable liquids
  • Medical Waste or needles

What goes in the recycling bin?

All items that go into the yellow-lidded recycling bin need to be clean, dry and empty. Also lids off please.

Do:

  • Paper (not shredded)
  • Clean cardboard (flattened)
  • Glass (clean and empty)
  • Plastic containers and plastic bottles (clean and empty)
  • Aluminium cans (clean and empty)
  • Steel cans (clean and empty)

All items should be clean, dry and empty with lids removed and placed in the bin loosely.

Don’t:

  • Soft (scrunchable) plastics e.g. plastic bags, plastic film and snack wrappers 
  • Polystyrene
  • Disposable coffee cups
  • Long-life milk cartons
  • Nappies and hygiene products
  • Damaged textiles and old clothing
  • Meat trays
  • Garden and food waste
  • Gas bottles and aerosol cans
  • Electronic waste and batteries
  • Ropes, cables and hose
  • Recycling in bags

What goes in the General Waste Bin?

Do:

  • General rubbish
  • Nappies and hygiene products
  • Old clothing
  • Soft plastics and polystyrene
  • Meat trays
  • Small plastic items (straws, lids, cutlery)
  • Disposable coffee cups, long-life milk cartons

Don’t:

  • FOGO material (food organics and garden organics)
  • Recyclables
  • Hazardous items

Caddy information

You will be receiving a small bin, which will be referred to as a caddy. Your caddy is designed to temporarily store your organic food scraps before transferring them to your lime green lidded FOGO bin outside. The caddy is small enough to sit on your kitchen bench near where you will prepare food for easy transfer.

Before filling up your caddy, it is recommended that you use a compostable liner, of which two (1 year supply) complimentary rolls will be supplied by the city. Alternatively, you can line your caddy with newspaper or opt to go liner free.

Once your caddy is full of your organic household waste or after 2 to 3 days, tie off the liner and place the bag into the lime lidded FOGO bin. We recommend you carry your FOGO contents to the outside bin using your caddy to avoid any liquid spillage from the bottom of the bag.

Whether you use a liner or not, it is recommended you always rinse or dishwasher your caddy in between filling and emptying it.

If you choose to purchase additional liners, please ensure they are certified compostable and display this symbol:

Bin Changeover Information

Monday, 24 October to Friday, 4 November  – bin lid changeover and caddy delivery begins.  

During this period, please leave all bins out from 6am to 6pm on your normal collection day.

The changeover day will occur on your normal bin day and our waste team will:

  • collect your rubbish as per usual
  • throughout the day another vehicle will come and replace your current green waste bin lid with a new lime green FOGO bin lid
  • supply your kitchen caddy and FOGO information pack

Bin Day Information

Your FOGO bin will be collected weekly and the General Waste and Recycling bins will alternate, so you only put two bins out each week.

Your Recycling bin collection day will remain the same.