New green bin service

All single unit dwellings, such as houses, duplexes and townhouses are scheduled to receive their new green bin in April or May 2024. If you wish to check if you are on the list, visit Find my Bin Collection Day and please enter your address.

If you haven't received your bin by 3 June, or the neighbours both sides of you have and you haven’t, please contact Council on 9725 0222 or via email at environment@fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au and we will check the status of the delivery.

Multi-unit dwellings such as apartments and units will receive a green bin at a later date(still to be confirmed).

If you did not get a kitchen caddy, Council will assess the situation and replace the caddy where appropriate.

The more waste material recovered for composting (FOGO) the less of the levy we pay. Residents placing food and garden organics in the new green bin (without contamination) is diverting waste from landfill to be reused as compost. The better we as a community are at this, the lower the disposal cost and the lower the Domestic Waste Charge will be over time.

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 2023/24, this is $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 of disposing of waste at another landfill facility is likely to be more significant than it is now. The more we can compost through the FOGO bin, the less waste that will be needed to be transported to landfill and the lower domestic waste charge.

To ensure your green (FOGO) bin remains odour-free and minimises pest attraction, follow these straightforward steps:

1. Fortnightly collection: Your green bin will be collected every two weeks. This schedule is unlikely to cause odours or attract pests.
2. Proper usage: Use compostable liners for food scraps in your green bin, never use plastic bags. Ensure all food waste goes into the green lid bin, not the red lid bin. When used correctly, your green bin should remain odour-free and pest-resistant.
3. Keep bins clean: Regularly empty and clean your kitchen benchtop bin with soapy water to maintain cleanliness.

Additional tips for managing your green (FOGO) bin effectively:

• Fortnightly presentation: Place your green bin out for collection fortnightly. Refer to our waste calendar for your designated collection day.
• Cover food scraps: Layer food scraps in your green bin with sticks, leaves, or lawn clippings from your garden to prevent odours.
• Shaded placement: Position your green bin in a shaded area to avoid direct sunlight, which can accelerate decomposition and odours.
• Bin aeration: Place twigs or branches at the bottom of your wheelie bin to enhance airflow and prevent food from sticking.
• Regular cleaning: Rinse your wheelie bin periodically with a hose or boiling water to maintain cleanliness and prevent odours.

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

Lime-green, Australian certified (with the seedling logo AS 4736) compostable bags or liners made from corn starch need to be used – which could be purchased from the store. These break down in the composting process, just like food scraps do.

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 tiny pieces of plastic harmful to the environment and our health. For that reason, plastic bags, ‘degradable’ or 'biodegradable' bags are NOT accepted by the FOGO processing facility and must be placed in your red General Waste bin.

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.

Your current red General Waste bin and yellow Recycling bin collections do not change.

From June 2024, households will continue to put out their red general waste bin every week and the yellow recycling bin every fortnight as you do now.

The new green FOGO bin goes out the week after your yellow recycling bin (with your red bin). Your caddy stays in the kitchen on collection night.

You will receive a handy bin collection calendar you can put on your fridge showing the alternate weeks for Recycling and FOGO bin collection.

Collection services for the green FOGO bin will commence from the first Monday in June 2024. The new green bin will be collected on your normal bin collection day, the week after your recycling bin is collected.

At Fairfield, there are a limited number of bins with a dark green lid. These are the same as the red bins other residents use for general domestic waste and you should continue to use them as you have been.

The dark green lid bin is different from new green lid bin which has a lime green lid, black body and lime green vents for air circulation. Our drivers will know the difference on collection day.

For easier identification, when you receive your FOGO Welcome Pack, you can place the red general waste sticker provided on the dark green lid of your bin.

Refer to the “Waste Services Guide” provided in the FOGO Welcome pack for further information on how to use your bins.

A kitchen caddy is a small 7L container provided to you free of charge (one-off) and is designed to be placed on your kitchen benchtop. This is so you can easily put in food scraps during meal preparation and any leftover scraps when cleaning up after your meal.

Once your caddy is full, empty it into your green FOGO bin, put a new liner in your caddy and start collecting food waste again!

Only use the supplied lime-green compostable liners - DO NOT USE plastic bags for the caddy or in the green bin.

Single-unit households who pay a Domestic Waste Management Charge, including houses, duplexes, and townhouses, will receive a new green FOGO bin (240L) and kitchen caddy (7L) to collect their food scraps and garden waste. These will be delivered in April and May 2024. 

Multi-unit dwellings, such as apartments, units, and flats,  will have their FOGO service in the coming years.

Continuing to take red bin waste directly to landfill is becoming more expensive. Introducing the new green bin service (FOGO) serves two purposes – it assists in keeping the overall cost of waste disposal down and it is part of producing a compost product which can be reused by the broader community in their gardens.

The cost of disposal of waste from the red bin is greater than disposing of organic waste (FOGO) through a composting facility (new green bin). The more waste we can dispose of through FOGO, the less we pay for the disposal of the waste.

A decrease of 1.5% in the Domestic Waste Charge has been included in the Draft 2024/2025 Operational Plan due to the expected change in disposal costs and Council’s prudent management of its waste services and disposal contracts.

Part of the higher cost for the red bin waste is the NSW EPA waste levy (the waste tax). This has increased significantly in recent years and costs Council $163.20 per tonne when tipped at a landfill (a 7.65% increase on the previous year).

The more our residents participate in making best use of the new green bin (FOGO) service – the more we can shift to the green bin without contaminating it, the better for all of us. Our objective is to achieve a 60% reduction in food and garden organic waste sent to landfill by 2030 through initiatives like kerbside organics services, optimising garden organics and food waste recovery.

New houses or dwellings will be provided with the red, yellow and green bins (and a caddy) when their application for a new domestic waste service is confirmed.

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 General Waste bin.

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.