FOGO like a Pro

Using 240L AS 4736 certified compostable bin liners is NOT recommended in the green FOGO bin as it prevents the bin vents from doing their job of drying out your organic waste. By drying out moisture from your organic waste, you prevent odours from being produced and reduce the likelihood of attracting insect pests.

Here are some other tips to keep your green FOGO bin in good order:

• Use the Council-supplied AS 4736 certified compostable liners to hold food scraps and tie it to contain smells and spillages.
• Place your green FOGO bin out for collection fortnightly.
• Layer food scraps in your green FOGO bin with sticks, leaves, or lawn clippings to help aerate your organic waste and minimise odours.
• Position your green FOGO bin in a shaded area to avoid direct sunlight, especially during summer. Applied heat can accelerate decomposition leading to the emission of odours.
• Place twigs or branches at the bottom of your green FOGO bin to enhance aeration and prevent food from sticking.
• Occasionally hose out your green FOGO bin to maintain cleanliness and eliminate odours.
• Add a few drops of citronella oil or tea tree oil to a spray bottle with a 1:1 ratio of vinegar and water. Then occasionally spray this mixture into your green FOGO bin to deter insects.
• Sprinkle in some bicarbonate soda between food scraps to suppress odours and absorb liquid spillages.
• Keep meat and seafood scraps in the freezer until closer to bin collection day.

Do not overfill your green FOGO bin and keep the lid closed. A small opening from the lid is enough for insect pests to gain access to your waste. An open bin can also attract larger pests such as white ibises, ravens, and cats to go through your waste and leave a mess.

If you run out of Council-supplied certified compostable liners for your kitchen caddy, come in to our administration centre at 86 Avoca Road, Wakeley, leisure centres or libraries where you can pick up some more for free. 

Please note, there is a limit of 1 roll per household.

Multi-Unit Dwellings (MUDs) such as apartments; units and flats, residential developments with 3 or more dwellings or complexes with shared bins on the same parcel of land will receive a green FOGO bin at a later stage. Details will be outlined in Council’s next 4 year Delivery Program (2025/26 – 2028/29). Stay tuned for more information.

Your current weekly red general waste bin and fortnightly yellow recycling bin collections remain the same.

The new fortnightly green FOGO bin is collected the week after your yellow recycling bin. Put it out on the same day as your red general waste bin. Your kitchen caddy stays in the kitchen.

Check your waste calendar for the collection schedule on your street or visit our Find My Bin Collection Day webpage to find out your upcoming bin collection dates for each bin.

Using Council-supplied AS 4736 certified compostable liners will help reduce smells coming from your green FOGO bin. Tying off your compostable liner before dropping it into your green FOGO bin will reduce the likelihood of odours, spillages, and pests.

Here are some other tips to minimise odours and pest attraction to your green FOGO bin:

• Place your green FOGO bin out for collection fortnightly.
• Layer food scraps in your green FOGO bin with sticks, leaves, or lawn clippings to help aerate your organic waste and minimise odours.
• Position your green FOGO bin in a shaded area to avoid direct sunlight, especially during summer. Applied heat can accelerate decomposition leading to the emission of odours.
• Place twigs or branches at the bottom of your green FOGO bin to enhance aeration and prevent food from sticking.
• Occasionally hose out your green FOGO bin to maintain cleanliness and eliminate odours.
• Add a few drops of citronella oil or tea tree oil to a spray bottle with a 1:1 ratio of vinegar and water. Then occasionally spray this mixture into your green FOGO bin to deter insects.
• Sprinkle in some bicarbonate soda between food scraps to suppress odours and absorb liquid spillages.
• Keep meat and seafood scraps in the freezer until closer to bin collection day.
• Do not overfill your green FOGO bin and keep the lid closed. A small opening from the lid is enough for insect pests to gain access to your waste. An open bin can also attract larger pests such as white ibises, ravens, and cats to go through your waste and leave a mess.

By following these guidelines, you can contribute to effective food recycling with minimal odour and pest issues associated with your green FOGO bin.

A kitchen caddy is a small 7L container for food waste. Leave it in your kitchen so you can collect food scraps when you're preparing and cleaning up after meals.

Line your kitchen caddy with a Council-supplied AS 4736 certified compostable liner. Tie the liner when it's full and drop it in the green FOGO bin. Put a new liner in your kitchen caddy and start collecting food waste again.

It's important that you DO NOT USE plastic bags in the kitchen caddy or green FOGO bin. Plastic is a no-go in FOGO!

Use either Council-supplied AS 4736 certified compostable liners or Australian certified (with the seedling logo AS 4736) compostable liners made from corn starch if you are purchasing from the store. These break down with the food scraps in the composting process. 

Alternatively, you can wrap your food scraps in newspaper or put them straight into your green FOGO bin.

Ordinary plastic bags and other types of ‘degradable’ or 'biodegradable' bags are not acceptable as they are not compostable. Uncertified biodegradable plastic bags will break down into micro plastics which are harmful to the environment and our health. For that reason, plastic bags and ‘degradable’ or 'biodegradable' bags are NOT accepted by the FOGO processing facility and must be placed in your red bin.

No, but we can only keep domestic waste charges low if everyone does the right thing.

Placing garden and food organics in the green FOGO bin will free up space in the red bin which means Council pays less to the NSW Government in waste taxes, passing these savings on to residents through a more affordable Domestic Waste Charge in your rates. 

The annual Domestic Waste Charge includes collection, transport and landfill costs. The NSW Environmental Protection Agency applies a waste levy for every ton of material sent to landfill. For the 2023/24 period it was $163.20 per ton, a 7.65% increase on the previous year.

Landfill capacity is also finite. As existing landfill capacity approaches zero, the cost to dispose waste at another landfill facility is likely to be more significant than it is now.

All single-unit dwellings who pay a Domestic Waste Charge including: houses, duplexes, and townhouses are entitled to the FOGO service including a 240L green FOGO bin and 7L kitchen caddy.

We will be rolling out the FOGO service to multi-unit dwellings such as apartments, units, and flats in the next phase. 

That’s great, keep it up! FOGO can complement your home composting. You can place certain items into your green FOGO bin that some home composting systems can’t accept such as cooked foods, meat, bones, dairy and citrus.

No. Other biodegradable and compostable products, such as single-use cutlery and crockery, are made from fibrous materials that need special conditions to be processed properly. Therefore, our FOGO composting facility does not accept these materials.

Instead, dispose of these items in the red bin.

The dark-green lidded bin is used for general waste. It is different to your FOGO bin which has a lime-green lid, black body, and lime-green vents for air circulation.

Continue to use your dark-green lidded bin as your general waste bin and the collection will remain the same, a weekly service. 

New house developments are entitled to our 3-Bin Waste Services. Owners of the new house development can apply for their bins via our New Service Request Form.

As a new service, you will receive:

• A 240L red general waste bin
• A 240L green FOGO bin
• A 240L yellow recycling bin
• A kitchen caddy
• A roll of AS 4736 certified compostable liners

Under the NSW Government’s Waste & Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041, all NSW councils must have a FOGO service to significantly reduce the amount of organic material entering landfill. Around 80 councils in Australia are already doing FOGO with more in Sydney coming onboard soon.

The NSW Government has a role to play in regional facilities, such as landfills, retaining sufficient capacity to meet Sydney’s growing demand – for residential, commercial and construction waste to be tipped. The Waste Levy provides an incentive to find a cheaper alternative to sending waste to landfill.

Food organics and garden organics (FOGO) are a beneficial resource if collected and processed appropriately.  Not tipping them at landfill, extends the life of landfills and reduces their greenhouse gas generation. When FOGO waste is collected separately, it is turned into compost to be used in farms, parks, and sports fields.

FOGO will have huge environmental benefits and help maintain our beautiful suburbs, parks, and reserves for everyone to enjoy. The key NSW Government requirement is to introduce a Food Organics Garden Organics weekly collection by 2030.

Council manages its waste services to comply with NSW Government regulation, including payment of the Waste Levy (or tax) for all waste material going to landfill.

Keep the roll of unused bags in a dark, dry, and cool place.

If possible, try storing them in an air-tight container to prolong the shelf-life of your bags.

We suggest these unique storage guidelines since our bags are certified under the AS 4736 qualification, meaning that they begin to deteriorate after 12 weeks and completely biodegrade after 6 months if left in moist and warm conditions.