Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO)

Yes - Accepted items are:

• grass, leaves, twigs, weeds, flowers and small plants
• small branches (less than 3cm in diameter and 30cm long)
• garden pruning's
• cooked and uncooked food
• coffee grounds & loose tea leaves
• dairy products e.g. cheese, butter, yoghurt
• eggshells
• meat, bones and seafood
• fruit & vegetable scraps including citrus, garlic, bones
• bread, rice, pasta, noodles
• biscuits and all other processed food products
    

No - unaccepted items are:

• plastic bags including biodegradable and compostable ones
• rocks, bricks, large logs
• food packaging and items (cutlery, cups, plates)
• fertilisers
• animal waste, kitty litter
• wipes
• plant pots, garden hose, garden tools, etc
• treated and painted woods
• fruit stickers and labels
• soft plastics, e.g. cling wraps
• coffee pods, coffee cups
• nappies
• large logs, soil, stumps and branches (greater than 3cm diameter or longer than 30cm)
• noxious weeds

A Kitchen Caddy is a convenient way to collect loose food scraps from your kitchen, prior to disposing in your kerbside FOGO bin. 

If you have a green bin, a free kitchen caddy is available to collect from Council Customer Service Centres. Alternatively, you can purchase a caddy from your local hardware or garden store (such as Bunnings). You can also reuse a container or ice cream tub as a caddy.

Lining your caddy can reduce odour and keep it cleaner.

You can line your caddy using any of these:

• Paper towel
• Newspaper
• Dry garden leaves

Starting from February until April 2024, we will be running a bin inspection program for the green bins.

The inspection will provide you with information to sort your organic waste correctly.

If your bins are inspected, you will have a tag on the bin. If you receive a 'Thank You' tag, you will enter a monthly draw for a chance to win one of four $100 eGift cards.

List of winners - February

List of winners - March

• Let hot food cool down before putting it in your kitchen caddy
• Layer food waste in between garden waste
• Sprinkle bi-carbonate (baking soda) on top of food waste
• Freeze meat, bones, seafood, and other smelly food put in your FOGO bin the night before collection
• Always keep your green bin in the shade with the lid closed (except when in use)
• Put your green bin out for collection each fortnight, even if it isn’t full 
• Spray lavender or mint around the base of your green waste bin - rats and mice don’t like this smell

Your collection day and the bins you need to put out for collection depends on the area that you live in.

Enter your address on find my bin day to see your next bin collection day.

If you need an additional bin to what is offered in the bin options, it will cost $177.00 extra in the 2022-2023 financial year.

Only owner/s of the property can request additional bins as there is a fee. 

A Managing Authority, such as a Real Estate agent, cannot order additional bins on behalf of the owner.

For more information contact our Customer Service team on 9747 7200.

Households can opt for either a 120L or 240L FOGO Bin.

Excellent! Thanks for managing your food waste at home.

FOGO bin can actually complement your home composting by taking the hard to compost items such as:

• citrus, garlic, onions, chili
• meat, bones, seafood, dairy, eggshells
• weeds

You can recycle most of your organic household and garden waste and put it back into your garden, improving your soil quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Information on creating great compost as well as what you can and can't put in can be found on the CleanUp Australia and Sustainability Victoria websites.

Worm farming is another great way to compost food scraps. Worms will eat most of your kitchen waste and process it into rich plant food. It can be:

• mixed with potting soil and used for houseplants and patio containers
• used as mulch for potted plants.
• finely sprinkled on lawns as a conditioner
• used directly in the garden around existing plants or dug into the soil
• made into liquid fertiliser by being mixed with water until it is the colour of weak tea
• moisture drained from the worm farm’s bottom crate is also a good liquid fertiliser, once diluted. 

Find out more about creating a worm farm on the CleanUp Australia and Sustainability Victoria websites.

Bokashi bins are small containers that you can place indoors or outdoors that you can put food scraps in. You will need to buy and add a bokashi mix (sometimes referred to as Bokashi bran or grains) which is available from gardening stores.

As the waste starts to ferment, Bokashi juice will form in the bottom of the bucket which can be drained off and diluted with water. This can then be used as fertiliser for your garden and plants.