FOGO FAQs

FOGO FAQs

What is FOGO?

FOGO is a combined Food Organics, Garden Organics (FOGO) food recycling service that turns your green lid bin contents into compost for farmers. Your green lid bin accepts all food scraps including meats, dairy and bones with your regular household garden organics.

What do I need to FOGO?

You will need a container to collect your food scraps in the kitchen and a green lid wheelie bin that gets collected weekly.

Order a kitchen benchtop bin

Order a FOGO wheelie bin

You don't need the Council supplied benchtop bin to FOGO. You can use any container that suits your kitchen size or aesthetic.

Why do I need to FOGO?

All councils in NSW are required by the state government to provide a food recycling service by 2030, and Inner West Council is one of the first Sydney councils to do this. Composting your food scraps through the green lid bin helps our environment to:

• Halve waste that goes to landfill
• Turn food and garden organics into compost to support farmers and grow better quality produce to feed our families
• Reduce the impacts of climate change

How do I FOGO?

You can use any container to transfer your food scraps – including meats, dairy, and bones – into the green lid bin.

Use your kitchen benchtop bin and compostable liners to easily transfer your scraps from kitchen to kerb:

1. Line your kitchen benchtop bin with the compostable liners provided. You can also use newspaper or put your food scraps in 'nude’ (without a liner)
2. Collect food scraps, expired food and old takeaway in your kitchen benchtop bin
3. Empty into your green lid bin as needed
4. Cover your scraps with leaves, branches or grass clippings. This will keep your bin smelling fresh

What if I already compost my food scraps?

That's great! Home composting avoids emissions from transporting food organics to a licenced composting facility and produces a nutrient rich product that can be used on your garden. We encourage all residents to continue using existing home composting systems for their food scraps, or reach out to us if they'd like to start.

There are some items like meat, dairy, rice and grains, which are best not composted at home. You can use your green lid FOGO bin to keep them out of landfill.

Residents can establish a home composting system through our home composting programs.

What day is my bin collection?

You can check the Waste Calendar to find out.

What can go in my FOGO bin?

Remove all packaging and place the following in the green lid FOGO bin: 

The following items CANNOT go in the FOGO bin:

For more information check the NSW EPA website.

Do I have to use a compostable liner?

Putting food in loose without using a liner is the most environmentally friendly way to FOGO. If you choose to put food in loose, here's some tips to get you started:

• Use an airtight container to collect your scraps. This minimises smells in your kitchen.
• Store your container near your knife block, under the sink, in your fridge or next your bin as a reminder to use it. Make sure it is stored away from direct sunlight.
• Empty your container regularly in the warmer months (2 to 3 times per week).
• Cover food scraps in your green lid wheelie bin. You can cover them with garden organics to help absorb liquids, reduce odours and avoid the attraction of pests.

Where can I get compostable liners?

Compostable bin liners are delivered every May and November to houses and apartments.

One pack of liners will last the average household up to 6-months. We know every household is different so residents can access liners over the counter at all Council service centres and libraries. Alternatively, liners are available from our mobile customer service stalls held throughout the community from Tuesday to Saturday.

Residents can purchase liners from major supermarkets, independent grocers and hardware retailers. Please make sure to purchase green liners with the seedling logo, marked AS4736. Regular plastic bags and "biodegradable" or "degradable" bags will contaminate the compost used by farmers. 

Do I need a green lid wheelie bin to FOGO?

Yes, you will need a green lid FOGO bin to use the FOGO food recycling service.

If you don’t have a FOGO bin, you can order one online.

How can I reduce pests and odours in my home?

Using your FOGO bin is unlikely to create or attract any more odours or pests inside your home than before. The main difference is placing food scraps in a compostable liner instead of a plastic bag, and into your green lid FOGO bin instead of a red lid garbage bin. Council will provide you with a kitchen benchtop bin, however, you can use any container to collect your food scraps.

1. Start with fruit and vegetable scraps, bread, rice and pasta. Work your way up to meats, seafood and dairy. You can keep these in the fridge or freezer until bin day to minimise smells.
2. Keep a lid on it – lock the lid in place by pulling the handle to the front of the benchtop bin. Alternatively, use an airtight container. 
3. Store the benchtop bin away from direct sun, under the sink or in the fridge to keep it cool and odour-free.
4. Store your container in a convenient location. This will serve a reminder to use your benchtop bin and will make it easier to empty it regularly.

How can I reduce pests and odours in my green lid FOGO bin?

Using your FOGO bin is unlikely to create more odours or attract more or pests than before. The main difference is placing food scraps in a compostable liner instead of a plastic bag, and into a green lid bin instead of a red lid one. If used correctly, your FOGO bin will not smell or attract pests or vermin.

Empty and clean your kitchen benchtop bin regularly with soapy water to keep it clean. Sprinkle bicarb soda in your kitchen and outdoor bin to absorb liquids and reduce odours. Make sure your kitchen and outdoor bins have the lids closed to keep vermin and pests out. 

Here are our top tips for odour-free food recycling:

• Present your FOGO bin weekly for collection. If you’re unsure, check what day your FOGO bin is collected on our waste calendar.
• Cover your food scraps with sticks, leaves, plant prunings or lawn clippings from your garden.
• Move your FOGO bin to a shaded area to avoid direct sunlight.
• Place twigs and branches in the bottom of your wheelie bin to stop food sticking and help aerate your bin.
• Rinse your wheelie bin with a hose or boiling water as needed.

What will happen if someone puts something in my FOGO bin that doesn't belong?

If your FOGO bin contains an incorrect item, our service team will tag your bin with a sticker outlining what shouldn’t be in there. If you receive multiple warnings, your bin may be rejected (not emptied) in future.

When incorrect items are collected by our trucks it can contaminate a whole street of FOGO material. The processing facility has strict screening processes and whole truckloads can be rejected if contamination is found. It's important that you use the FOGO bin correctly. If you are unsure, check out Council's website or contact Council.

What if I don't generate garden organics?

You don't need garden waste to use your green lid bin. Council will provide households with a kitchen benchtop bin and compostable bin liners to help recover food scraps.

If you don't generate much garden waste, using compostable liners will make the process easy and mess-free. 

What if my FOGO bin isn't full?

Our collection crews visit your house every week and will empty the bin if it's placed at the kerb, no matter how full it is.

Weekly collections will stop scraps from composting in your bin before they are emptied. This will ensure that your bin doesn’t get too smelly or messy, especially in the warmer months.

How does my FOGO help farmers?

Three good reasons farmers want your FOGO (food organics, garden organics):

1. Compost creates resilient soils – compost increases the amount of water soils can absorb. This reduces flooding during intense rainfall events and means soils can store more water during extended periods of hot and dry weather. 
   
   
2. Compost returns nutrients to the soil and reduces farmers’ reliance on artificial fertilisers. Synthetic fertilisers require a lot of energy to make, are more expensive than compost and are harmful to pristine waterways. 
   
   
3. Compost enhances the natural immunity of soils - natural microbes on compost help naturally fight off disease and decreases the reliance on synthetic pesticides. Healthy crops mean better quality produce.  

At our apartment we have burgundy lid bins. Will these be swapped for green lid FOGO bins?

Yes, we will be swapping burgundy lids for green in the future. Food scraps from burgundy lid and green lid bins will be collected in the same truck and sent to the same facility for composting. 

• Ensure that garbage bins are placed out fortnightly for collection. Check your collection day using our waste calendar page.
• The maximum weight allowance for a 240 litre bin is 70kg.
• Make sure that the bin lid can be shut. Overflowing bins will not be collected. Please report damaged bins to Council for repair or replacement.
• Be a good neighbour and bring in your bin. Bins left on the road or footpath can go missing, pose a risk to pedestrians and disrupt traffic.

I'm concerned about fortnightly garbage collections. What can I do?

Almost 300 tonnes of food scraps from the Inner West used to go into landfill every single week before FOGO. That's why it's important food scraps are collected weekly and processed into compost for farmers.

We understand that a shift to fortnightly garbage collections can feel like a big change for some, so we have a few supports in place to help you manage:

1. Book an extra red lid bin collection when you need it. Council can provide an additional garbage collection to assist households transition to fortnightly garbage.
2. Upsize to a large (240L) garbage bin on fortnightly collection
3. Request an additional recycling bin - you can order a recycling or FOGO bin at no extra cost. Checkout Council's A-Z: What Goes Where? guide to recycle, reuse, donate or sell items rather than putting them in the red lid garbage bin.
4. Contact our Waste Busters - they're our helpful team who will look at your waste and give you tips on how to create space in your red lid bin and make FOGO work for you.
   

What if I have nappies, incontinence pads or pet waste?

Unfortunately, the chemicals and plastics in disposable nappies and incontinence pads mean they can't be disposed of in the green lid bin and must be sent to landfill. The same is true of pet waste and most commercial cat litter products.

We understand that a shift to fortnightly garbage collections can feel like a big change for some, so we have a few supports in place to help you manage:

1. Book an extra red lid bin collection when you need it. Council can provide an additional garbage collection to assist households transition to fortnightly garbage.
2. Upsize to a large (240L) garbage bin on fortnightly collection
3. Request an additional recycling bin - you can order a recycling or FOGO bin at no extra cost. Checkout Council's A-Z: What Goes Where? guide to recycle, reuse, donate or sell items rather than putting them in the red lid garbage bin.
4. Contact our Waste Busters - they're our helpful team who will look at your waste and give you tips on how to create space in your red lid bin and make FOGO work for you.

Research undertaken by Lake Macquarie council identified that odours from nappies are at their peak after 3 days, meaning the smell does not get worse after this time. The smell will not differ whether red lid garbage bins are collected weekly or fortnightly. The smell can be reduced by wrapping nappies in a plastic bag and storing your bin in a shady spot where possible.

You might also like to check out the details of our reusable nappy rebate. 

I don't want a FOGO bin. What should I do?

If you still do not want to FOGO, we can arrange to have the bin taken away from your property - please submit a request online.

Was the community consulted about whether or not they want FOGO?

Yes, the community was consulted during the drafting of the Zero Waste Strategy and the feedback was summarised into a report that informed the Strategy.

The introduction of FOGO food recycling is a key part of the Zero Waste Strategy, reflected in the target: Reduce food and garden organic waste disposed in landfill by 60% by 2030 via the action to Maximise garden organics and food waste recovery through kerbside organics services.

The configuration of weekly green lid FOGO food recycling collection and fortnightly red lid garbage was based on the NSW EPA best practice model for maximising food recycling and reducing landfill.

Are my rates changing?

No, the domestic waste charge on your rates has not changed. We switched the collection of your red lid garbage bins to fortnightly with the collection of the green lid bins to weekly. The amount of waste, collections and trucks has not changed. Food is still collected weekly - just in a different bin. 

A council resolution determined that any additional costs associated with an upsizing of garbage bin and additional red lid garbage bin collections will not be passed on to ratepayers for up to 2 years to allow households time to transition to FOGO.

Branches and real Christmas trees

If you have tree branches or real Christmas tree that don't fit into the FOGO bin, cut them into 1 metre lengths and schedule a collection online.

Reporting a lost or stolen bin?

Visit the replacement bin page for details.