Food Organics and Green Organics (FOGO) Kerbside Collection
What is FOGO / Organics?
FOGO organics waste streams accept food and garden waste together with bins collected weekly for businesses and fortnightly for residents with the contents being made in to compost within South Australia. The contents are commercially composted to produce soil conditioner products for improving soil, growing healthy gardens and supporting food production.
Kitchen Caddy Bin
The kitchen caddy bin (lined with a compostable bag) assists with the collection of compostable material in the kitchen to then be disposed in the lime green lid bin.
Initially, kitchen caddy bins and compostable bags were available free of charge to business and residents.
The package included:
- A benchtop kitchen caddy bin (a 7 litre plastic tub and lid made from 100% recycled plastic).
- Approved compostable kitchen caddy liners, made from natural corn starch - not plastic.
- An education pack, including a FOGO information booklet, ‘FOGO, Recycling and Waste Guide’ and a 2020-21 waste (landfill) bin collection calendar.
Through a Green Industries SA Grant, a roll of 75 compostable bags will be available at no charge between 2021-2024 for businesses and residents.
If you do not have a Kitchen Caddy Bin, please visit our Office and arrange to collect one.
240 Litre Lime Green Lid Bin
In the Copper Coast, bins are purchased and owned by the residents, so if you move, you can take it with you. This saves ratepayers money from having to subsidise the purchase and ongoing replacement of bins that are damaged or lost by others in the community. Therefore businesses and residents will need to purchase a Lime Green Lid Bin (approx. $75 delivered to your home). Ratepayers received a $30 subsidy on the first quarter of the 2021/22 rate notice to offset this cost. Compliant bins are available from Wardles Garbage Contractors, and hardware stores in the area.
What happens to the material after it is collected?
It is taken to a composting facility, where it undergoes some very specific processing. Ultimately all the materials (food and garden waste) are processed into mulch and nutrient-rich compost that improves soil health, fertility and productivity for use within the agricultural and horticultural sector.
What CAN I put in my Organics Lime Green Bin? You can put much more than just fruit and vegetable in your organic bin:
| What CANNOT go in the Lime Green Lid Bin The following cannot be placed in your organic bin:
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Do I have to put all of my food and green waste in to my Lime Green Lid Bin?
At this stage, it is not compulsory to use the Lime Green Lid Bin for food. Small amounts of food waste will still be accepted in your Red Lid Bin but Government waste strategies is to phase it out by 2025 (approximate).
Garden waste is not accepted in the Red Lid Bin.
Council encourages all residents to opt in for a Lime Green Lid Bin and help as best they can to divert this waste from landfill. Every little bit helps!
How do I know if packaging is Compostable?
Look for the symbol:
Australian Standard AS5810-2010 Home Composability |  | Australian Standard AS4736 Commercial Composability |
Biodegradable and Degradable packaging is NOT COMPOSTABLE, it still contains plastic.
Always refer to each package/packaging, as suppliers may/may not use compostable materials.
Just one plastic bag or nappy in the system can result in a truck of FOGO material being sent to landfill.
Will my bin smell with food in it?
It is not compulsory to use Council issued kitchen caddy bin and compostable bags, but by placing food scraps in one of the 7 litre compostable bags, twisting the top and then placed in the Lime Green lid bin, and if it is collected fortnightly, it should contain the smell within.
The compostable bags are designed to not start decomposing before the fortnightly collection. It is recommended to empty the kitchen caddy bins every 4-5 days, depending what has been placed in it. By taking a few of the following simple steps
- Store your lime green bin in the shade.
- Layer your food waste with garden waste materials such as dried grass clippings and leaves.
- Wrap your food waste in a newspaper, kitchen towel or tissue before placing it in your lime green bin.
- Store your food waste in a container (eg an old ice cream container); place it in the freezer until the night before collection; then empty the food waste (not the container) into the lime green bin.
- You can also be stored in an old ice cream container with a lid (or similar) before being taken out and emptied into the Green Bin. It is recommended food waste storage containers are emptied regularly and rinsed between uses.
- Food scrap containers can be stored in the fridge during warmer months and recycled and replaced when necessary!
- Make sure you use compostable bags with the code AS4736 (the compostable bags with the code AS5810 decompose a lot quicker)
- Try to limit food waste.
Will I have enough space in my general waste bin for a fortnightly collection?
- Yes. Based on waste bin audits, only 3% of what is currently put into the average waste bin should go to landfill.
- Thank you for using your Lime Green Lid Bin for garden waste and keeping this material out of landfill.
- If you use your organic and recycling bins correctly, you should have enough space in your waste bin even with fortnightly collections. With the introduction of FOGO, most households will see an increase in bin capacity.
- Or you can divert your food scraps away from landfill by establishing a backyard compost bin for some of your excess garden materials and food waste in addition to utilising your Lime Green Lid Bin.
If you have concerns about your waste (landfill) bin meeting the needs of your household, please contact our Customer Service Team to discuss your options.
Free Services
Green Waste - Copper Coast Residents are entitled to dispose of 2 x 6x4 (levelled) Trailer Loads of Green Waste at the Resource Recovery Centre in Wallaroo (see below for address). You will need to bring in your rates notice or your driver’s license with the property address.
Below are a few points to help clarify how the free loads of green waste will work for residents:
* If you have organised someone to do the works, there needs to be something in writing (i.e. a gardener delivering on behalf of residents)
* Cannot be a copy of rates notice, must be the ORIGINAL
* Renters need to have permission from the owner, however, driver’s license with property address will be sufficient
The 2 loads apply per property, so, if a person owns say 2 properties, he/she will get two free loads for each of the properties.
What if I already use a home compost bin or worm farm or feed my scraps to my chickens?
Excellent! Thank you for doing this – please keep doing it!
However, commercial composting reaches temperatures higher than a home composting system. Therefore some of your garden materials or food scraps that are only suitable for commercial composting like hard-to-compost items such as meat, citrus, chilli and processed foods.