Food recycling for apartments

Not enough space on your kitchen benchtop?

• Use any container with a lid that works for you
• Store your food scraps container under the sink

How do I manage smells and pests?

• Store your food scraps out of direct sunlight in a container with an airtight lid
• Store the container in the fridge or freezer if you have space
• Collect food scraps directly into a liner and store in the fridge or freezer until bin day
• Wash your container out regularly with soapy water, dry thoroughly before adding a new compostable liner
• Add baking soda to your food scraps container to remove any smells

 

My bin room is far away, how do I transport my food scraps to the FOGO wheelie bin?

• Store your food scraps "nude" (without a liner) in your container and only place them in a compostable liner to transport them to your building's FOGO wheelie bin

I have garbage and recycling chutes, or I can't access my bin room, how do I use FOGO?

• FOGO wheelie bins should be stored in well-ventilated and easily accessible locations. We recommend storing FOGO bins away from direct sunlight and close to your building's other waste and recycling bins. Your building or strata manager can assist with finding the best location
• Contact Council's Waste Buster outreach team and we will support you to find a FOGO solution that suits your unique situation

Burgundy lid bins are for Food Organics Only (FOO) and green lid bins are Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO). So, the only difference is that you can put garden scraps in FOGO bins, alongside food scraps.

Burgundy lid FOO bins and green lid FOGO bins are collected by the same truck. Food scraps from both bins are recycled into compost for NSW farmers.

Burgundy lid FOO bins were rolled out as part of a food recycling service in apartments in 2008 to 2021. Many apartment buildings currently have burgundy lid food only bins, but these will be changed over.

In 2023, Council provided FOGO to all households in the Inner West. This service means food and garden scraps can go into the green lid FOGO bin.

Council-provided compostable liners

Council-provides compostable liners:

• Council will deliver a pack of 75 compostable liners to you in May 2025. A pack of 75 liners will last the average household around 6 months (using 3 liners a week).
• Ask your building manager for more compostable liners
• Visit a Council service centre or library to pick up more liners
• Visit our friendly mobile customer service stalls from Tuesday to Saturday to pick up liners near you

Buying compostable liners

Compostable liners can be purchased at most supermarkets, independent grocers and hardware retailers or online.

Council’s kitchen benchtop bin are 8 litres. 

Only use compostable liners with the seedling logo and the AS4736 certification (see below). 


Never use plastic, “degradable” or “biodegradable” bags or liners. 

Want to know more about the difference between “compostable”, “biodegradable” and “bio” bags? Check out our socials where we explain how you can feel more empowered to tell the difference. 

Wow! We love hearing that you're already doing your bit to save food scraps from landfill.

If you’re already recycling your food scraps through a shared compost at your building or your own worm farm, we encourage you to keep up the good work!

FOGO complements home composting because it can collect types of food scraps and leftovers that are discouraged from placing in home composting system.

Council’s FOGO accepts:

• Meat, chicken and fish (including all bones)
• Seafood (including crabs, prawns, oysters, clams, and mussels)
• All bones (including steak, rib, chicken, and Christmas ham bones)
• Dairy products (cheese, yogurt etc.)
• Eggshells
• Garden organics (including weeds)

Got more questions? Check out our FOGO FAQs.