Top FOGO FAQs (English)

The new FOGO service has started!

• Your green lid bin now accepts all food scraps including meats, dairy and bones with your regular household garden organics.
• If you live in an apartment with an existing food recycling service, both burgundy and green lid bins can be used for FOGO. Burgundy lids will be changed to green lids in the future.

By recycling your food scraps through the green lid FOGO bin, you can halve your waste that goes to landfill. Find out more below.

Check your service days and frequencies in the waste calendar.

Please ensure your bins are placed out for collection by 4.30pm on the day marked on the calendar. Bins will be emptied during the evening and following day.

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.

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. Using your FOGO food recycling 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 FOGO food recycling bin.

Once you receive your kitchen benchtop bin and compostable liners, you will be able to easily transfer your scraps from kitchen to kerb:

1. Line your kitchen benchtop bin with the compostable liners provided, newspaper or paper towel, or put it in ‘nude’ (loose)
2. Collect food scraps, expired food and old takeaway food in your kitchen benchtop bin
3. Empty into your green lid FOGO food recycling bin as needed
4. Cover your scraps with leaves, branches or grass clippings. This will keep your FOGO food recycling bin smelling fresh

How can I check my bin collection days?

Visit the waste calendar page.

What can go in my FOGO bin?

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

• All food including rotten fruit or vegetables, stale or mouldy bread, or leftover meals that didn't get eaten in time
• Garden organics
• Compostable liners that comply with Australian Standards (AS4736) for commercial composting

Any type of food can be placed in your green lid FOGO bin. For example:

Garden organics:

The following items CANNOT go in the FOGO bin:

For more information check the NSW EPA website.

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

We understand that a shift to fortnightly red-lid bin garbage collection can feel like a big change for some, so we have a few supports in place to help everyone manage.

Council is offering an additional booked collection of red-lid garbage bins (in the alternate week to the scheduled pick up) to assist households whilst they transition to the weekly FOGO and fortnightly garbage.

• Council clean-up

You can also join the list for a free, larger 240L red bin. Council will not be delivering these immediately but will contact you after the initial roll out of the new service. Call 9392 5000 to register.

Or contact 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. Contact them at wastebusters@innerwest.nsw.gov.au

We encourage you to call Council to discuss any solutions to suit your particular situation.

Check out Council's A-Z: What Goes Where waste guide for more ideas on how a wide range of items can be recycled, reused, donated or sold, rather than thrown in the red lid garbage bin.

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 some families may find this transition challenging and so are offering an additional booked collection of red-lid garbage bins (in the alternate week to the scheduled pick-up) to assist households whilst they transition to the weekly FOGO and fortnightly garbage collection.

We also want to provide some reassurance based on the experience of other councils who have introduced food recycling and fortnightly red-lid bin collections. They have found that odours from nappies, incontinence pads, period products and pet waste are reduced significantly if wrapped or bagged securely before disposal in the red bin. Evidence also indicates that these odours do not increase from week one to week two.

An additional booked service can be made here:

• Council clean-up

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

• Reusable sanitary product rebate

Are my rates changing?

No, your rates are not changing. While the red lid garbage bins are collected fortnightly, the green lid FOGO bins are collected weekly. Same amount of waste, collections and trucks – just food is in a different bin. We will need just as many staff and trucks on the ground as before.

When will I receive my kitchen benchtop bin?

Council will provide you with a starter kit which will include a kitchen benchtop bin, a pack of compostable bin liners and a "how to" flyer.

Starter kits will be delivered to you from the end of September to mid-November, but you don't need to wait for this to get started.

You can still participate by using another container such as an ice-cream bucket and putting your food scraps straight into the green-lid bin.

Extra compostable bin liners are available free at Council service centres or for purchase at supermarkets throughout the Inner West.

Do I have to use a compostable liner?

No you don't! 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 by layering these with garden organics to help absorb liquids, reduce odours and avoid the attraction of pests

If you're new to FOGO, liners can make food recycling easy and mess-free. We recommend emptying your benchtop bin 2-3 times per week in the summer months to reduce smells and ensure liners don’t decompose in your kitchen benchtop bin.

Where can I get compostable liners?

Council will provide you with a pack of compostable bin liners as part of your FOGO starter pack, delivered from October to mid-November.

Compostable liners are also available from Council service centres, libraries and mobile customer service stalls held throughout the community, from Tuesday to Saturday.

You can also purchase compostable bin liners from major supermarkets, independent grocers and hardware retailers. Make sure you purchase green liners with the seedling logo or marked "AS4736".

Can I use any green bag to collect my food?

No - regular plastic bags and "biodegradable" or "degradable" bags, without the seedling logo or marked "AS4736" are not suitable. These bags will not decompose and will contaminate the compost used by farmers to grow food.

Reporting a lost or stolen bin?

Visit the replacement bin page for details.