Food and Garden Organics (FOGO) Waste Collection Service

The reasons for supporting Option 3 were:

• It provides a weekly collection, which was of high importance to the community in survey results
• It recognises that on average, 46% of the contents of the red-lidded garbage bin is food waste and that this would be collected weekly in the green bin
• It supports the City’s goal of diverting 85% of waste from landfill as per the endorsed Environmental Sustainability Strategy

Councillors also discussed:

• The need for significant education and communication prior to the roll out
• Providing opportunity for households to request a larger bin if needed (at a small cost)
• Providing a service which balances the needs of different household types

Food Organics and Garden Organics include meat, bones, bread and dairy scraps as well fruit and vegetable waste.

All of this can be recycled, rather than sent to landfill.

For this reason, Council is proposing to change the way your waste is currently collected - a proposal that has now been endorsed.

In future, you will place your food and garden waste into the green-lidded bin for weekly collection.

• The red-lidded bin will change to a smaller size.
• There will be no change to the yellow-lidded recycling bin.
• The overall bin capacity is not reduced.

Below are some interesting facts and frequently asked questions.

Learn about the impact of food waste and reducing the amount of food going to landfill here.

Learn about waste reduction programs here.

Learn about the nappy and sanitary rebate program here. (Please note this program has been fully expended. Council is seeking an extension so stay in touch for updates).

Food waste must be placed in the red-lidded bin until the end of Council’s current waste contract in November 2024.

Before the new FOGO service rolls out, Council will provide households with kitchen caddies and biodegradable bags, along with education and support.

Almost half of the waste in our red-lidded general waste bin is food waste. When food waste is sent to landfill, it degrades and generates harmful greenhouse gases.

Food and garden organics are a valuable resource. If collected and processed appropriately, it can be turned into compost that can be used in parks, sportsfields, and farms.

The NSW government has set the target for all households in NSW to have a food waste collection service by 2030. With Council’s waste contracts ending in 2024, now is the perfect time for us to start planning for our future waste services so that they can deliver great outcomes for our environment, and our community.

Food waste degrades in landfills and produces harmful greenhouse gases.

Introduction of the new FOGO service will mean food waste will be placed into the 240L green-lidded garden organics bin and collected weekly.

There are a number of benefits to collecting food and garden organics separately to the general waste.

• When collected separately, these materials can be processed into compost that can be used to improve the soils in our parks, sportsfields and farms.
• Keeping these materials out of landfill, also avoids dangerous greenhouse gases.
• The cost to process food and organic waste that has been collected separately to general wastes is also less than the cost of sending this material to landfill.

Council has endorsed the option for a 240L weekly FOGO bin; a 240L fortnightly yellow-lidded bin; and an 80L weekly red-lidded bin for general waste.

The current service provides a 140 litre red-bin for general household waste collected weekly; a 240 litre yellow bin collected fortnightly and a 240 litre green bin for garden waste collected fortnightly. The current cost for collection and disposal is $349.49 with a potential diversion from landfill of 58%.

Council intends to roll out bins as part of the new waste service to all households.

Council is exploring options to introduce food and organics collections for all housing types. The number of bins and frequency of collection will depend on the size /density of the complex and space available to store bins.

With food waste moving into the green lidded bin with your garden waste, the collection of these bins (the FOGO bins) will become weekly when the new contract comes into effect (after November 2024).

Modelling of the different options based on current charge rates for collection and processing of landfill and organics* indicate that the introduction of a food and organics (FOGO) service will cost less than continuing to send our food waste to landfill.

*as of December 2021

Council's decision means the general waste bin (red lid) will change from 140L to a 80L bin collected every week.

While this would ultimately be up to the successful tenderer, most FOGO processors accept all food items such as fruit and vegetable scraps, meat products, bread, pasta, rice, dairy products, tea and coffee grounds, as well as small bones and shellfish.

The green-lidded food and garden organics (FOGO) can be used for items that you might not currently compost, such as dairy, bones, meat/fish scraps and weeds.

With the introduction of a food and organics (FOGO) service, you will actually receive double the capacity in the green lidded bin over the period of a fortnight, as the green-lidded FOGO bin would now be collected weekly instead of fortnightly.

In late 2021 and early 2022, City of Parramatta ran an eight week consultation to explore a proposal to introduce a Food and Garden Organics (FOGO) waste collection service.

The proposal contained information about sending food waste to landfill and the environmental and cost benefits if we separate food from general waste.

Four options for a new waste collection service were outlined and we surveyed you on which were acceptable and which was your preferred solution. Council is still analysing the results and plans to conduct further community workshops in early 2022.

A variety of methods and channels were used to promote the consultation:

• an LGA-wide letterbox drop
• multiple social media campaigns
• Council's ePULSE and Participate newsletters
• Council's website and media release
• Local newspaper display ads

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Here's a snapshot of the information we received about you. This information helps us to know that the results are representative.

In Your Words

All comments are being reviewed in the analysis of the FOGO survey and there were a wide range of views! Some wanted to ensure there was no change to the red-lidded bin - others emphasised the need for education, while some people were interested in further recycling solutions. Here are some examples.

Need lots of reminders and education. Needs to have an inclusive program especially for apartment living residents. 

I think it's good for the council to reduce waste, but it would need to be an additional service, not reducing the frequency of collection or size of red bins. I'd be happy to put my food scraps in a green bin for reusing, but my red bin would still get full. 

I wish it was in place now. 

I think this is a good idea and worth introducing. 

More people need to be educated about the benefits of segregation of waste. Without the proper education, this may all be a wasted (no pun intended) effort. 

In April 2022 Council invited residents who had indicated their interest, to take part in workshops.

A total of 26 participants attended the online community workshops and 34 participants attended the face-to-face community workshops.

All participants were residents of the City of Parramatta local government area.

Insights from the workshops

The online participants were asked to indicate which of the four FOGO waste collection options presented to them was their preferred option.

• Across the two online workshops, the majority of participants (58%) selected Option 4 (smaller red bin collected weekly for 2 years, then fortnightly) as their preferred option.
• This was followed by 29% of participants who selected Option 3 (smaller red bin collected weekly).

Participants who selected Option 4 indicated that it is the most environmentally sustainable option, as it encourages greater composting and less waste going to landfill.

Participants who selected Option 3 saw value in the weekly red bin collection, due to certain types of waste that would create odour or attract pests if left in the bin for two weeks.

People were then asked to vote on their level of concern about the FOGO-related issues raised so far from the community.

Participants indicated that they were most concerned about the need for education, communication and behaviour change around waste, FOGO service needs, contamination and misuse, pests and impact on waste like nappies and dog poo.

Face to Face Workshops

• Across the three face-to-face workshops, the most popular option was Option 4, with 33% of participants selecting that option as their preference. This was followed by Option 3, which was selected by 30% of participants.
• Participants who selected Option 1 or Option 2 noted that the larger red bin size is more suitable for their household

Overall, participants indicated strong concern for the need for education, communication and behaviour change around waste (30 votes).

This was followed by contamination and misuse (28 votes), impact from reduced red bin collection frequency (18 votes) and odour (16 votes).

In your words

“What a great night to gather together and learn something. I look forward to having more sessions like this in the future.”

“Tonight was extremely educational and it was fascinating to learn about the waste process and goals and objectives moving forward.”

“The opportunity to raise concerns and gain some advanced knowledge is valuable.”