FOGO stands for food organics and garden organics. It is a green lidded bin that takes your food scraps as well as your garden waste, and it is the single biggest change happening to household bins in Australia right now. The catch is that a green bin is not automatically a FOGO bin, and telling the two apart matters.
FOGO versus a garden only bin
A traditional green bin is garden only: grass clippings, prunings, leaves and small branches, and nothing from the kitchen. A FOGO bin adds food. The difference is not cosmetic, because sending food to composting instead of landfill is the whole point, and putting food in a garden only bin can contaminate the load. If you are unsure which you have, the giveaway is the kitchen caddy: councils that run FOGO give households a small benchtop caddy and compostable liners to carry scraps out to the bin.
What goes in a FOGO bin
A true FOGO service is generous. In Casey, in Melbourne's south east, the food and garden organics bin accepts food scraps including meat, dairy and citrus alongside garden waste. Across FOGO councils the accepted list generally includes:
- All food scraps: fruit and vegetable peelings, leftovers, meat, bones, seafood shells, dairy and bread.
- Tea leaves, coffee grounds and paper towel or napkins where the council allows it.
- Garden waste: grass, leaves, prunings and small branches.
- Certified compostable caddy liners, where supplied. Never ordinary plastic bags.
The one item that trips people up is the greasy pizza box: in a FOGO area the whole box can go in the green bin, because food soiled cardboard composts even though it cannot be recycled. Full detail on food scraps and garden waste is on their own pages.
Which councils run FOGO
Victoria is furthest along. Yarra in inner Melbourne moved to a weekly FOGO bin from 1 July 2024, sending the material to be composted for farmers and landscapers. Casey runs a fortnightly FOGO bin with a free kitchen caddy for every household. Even the City of Melbourne collects a food and garden organics bin weekly and hands out caddies.
South Australia was an early mover: Adelaideaccepts all food scraps and certified compostable products in its fortnightly green organics bin, with a free caddy and liners. In Tasmania, Launceston offers FOGO as a voluntary service with a one off application fee and no ongoing collection charge.
Not everywhere has it, and that is worth knowing. Stirling in Perth has decided not to introduce a FOGO food service for now and keeps a garden only organics bin. Many Queensland councils are the same, running a garden only green bin rather than FOGO. Browse Victorian and South Australian councils to see how widespread it has become, and check your own council page for what your bin actually takes.
Food out of landfill
Food rotting in landfill produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Composting it through a FOGO bin turns the same scraps into soil conditioner instead, which is why state governments are pushing the service out to more councils each year. It also frees up space in your red bin, which can mean a smaller, cheaper general waste service over time.