These Aussie Councils Are Trialling Weekly FOGO Bin Collections To Minimise Waste

Image: Bayside City Council / Facebook

FOGO In Bayside City Council (VIC)

First, let’s take a look at South Melbourne’s Bayside City Council, which features Melbourne’s iconic Brighton Beach Bathing Boxes! Bayside City Council is also home to a successful FOGO green waste service, which has been operating for over two years. 

From July 4th, 2022, the council is switching up the bin collection schedule to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill even further. To do this, the council will be collecting FOGO bins (light green lids) weekly, and general waste bins fortnightly (dark green lids). 

Currently, 84% of Bayside households already use their FOGO bin to divert organic waste from landfill, where it’s transformed into nutrient-rich compost. The majority (88%) of residents expressed support for the plan. 

Image: City of Holdfast Bay / Facebook

FOGO In The City Of Holdfast Bay (SA)

The City of Holdfast Bay — located in Adelaide’s western, coastal suburbs — was the first council in South Australia to trial a weekly green bin collection system for their residents! From 2020 to 2021, 1050 households in Seacliff, Kingston Park, Somerton Park and North Brighton volunteered to participate in the pilot, which saw the FOGO bin collection increase to weekly. 

The participating households almost tripled the contents within their FOGO bins and increased their landfill diversion rate to reach 84%. The pilot was a massive success, with  98% of participants wishing to continue with the trial. 

According to Seacliff resident, Kaleo Selah, “it really gets you into the habit of going to the green bin first, and leaving the red bin alone,” he said.

Image: Townsville City Council

FOGO In Townsville City Council (QLD)

Up in the sunny, coastal city of Townsville, residents in Idalia, Heatley, Vincent and Burdell are undertaking a 12-month FOGO bin collection trial! Around 1,500 households received their lime-green FOGO bin in the lead-up to the beginning of the trial, which started in October 2021. 

The weekly FOGO bin collection service was an immediate success! According to Townsville Water and Waste Committee chairperson, Russ Cook, “we began FOGO in the first week of October and in the first two weeks we had a presentation rate of around 60 per cent from eligible households, with 20,400 kilograms of material collected,” Cook said.

“It’s encouraging to see the community jumping on board with almost all bins being presented showing minimal contamination — we’re hoping it'll continue,” said Cook.

Image: ACT Government / Canberra Weekly

FOGO In Canberra (ACT)

We can’t forget about Canberra! Around 5,000 households in Belconnen, Bruce, Cook and Macquarie are currently in a trial period for a weekly FOGO bin collection and a fortnightly general waste collection. As per trial, the collected FOGO waste is transported to a local facility — the Mugga Lane Resource Management Centre — and turned into compost! 

It’s estimated that in the ACT, roughly 26,000 tonnes of food waste goes into landfill every year. The weekly FOGO bin collection service is expected to roll out to all Canberran households by 2023.

“As a resident of an area where this pilot program is underway, I applaud the ACT government for this initiative, and many of my neighbours have a similar sentiment,” said Cook resident, Dale Kleeman in the Canberra Times.