FOGO FAQ's

Answer the quick questions below to find out the options for your property.

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No. The FOGO waste is sorted by hand to remove contamination. We need to protect these important workers from the bacteria that animal waste can contain.

Dog and cat poo and kitty litter should be:

• placed into the rubbish bin, or
• composted at home in a compost bin or worm farm.

If you have pets, it's worth considering installing a pet waste composting system at home. Home composting rebates of up to $40 are available from Council when you purchase an eligible composting system. You can apply for the home composting rebate on our Council website.

We understand that these changes may be challenging for some residents. 

If you are unable to reduce the amount of waste you generate and need some extra waste disposal help you can order an additional bin (fees apply). If you find over time your waste needs reduce, you can cancel the service - this may be useful for families with young children in nappies.

Additional bins can be ordered online or by calling Council on 1300 368 333 and cost $168 for the full 23/24 year, for a fortnightly collection with an estimated delivery time of 5-7 business days for the new bin.

Please note: A charge for an additional bin covers the cost of providing the additional bin and regular collection. If you order an additional bin and cancel it within the same financial year, the full year cost will be applied to the property to account for the cost of supply, delivery and collection of the bin/s associated with the service.

Unfortunately, the contractor doesn’t have the resources to collect rubbish when it isn’t your rubbish week nor can they collect extra bags of rubbish left on the kerbside.

Other options available are:

• Ask friends or family if they can fit some in their bin - often neighbours have space and this is a great way to get to know your neighbours.
• Cleanaway, 80 Wellington Rd, Lysterfield are able to accept general household waste (minimum charge is $120).

You may find some other useful tips on reducing your waste on the following websites:

A residentially rated property over four (4) hectares may apply in writing to Council for an exemption from all waste services and charges. Council officers will review the proposed alternative waste arrangements.

Applications should detail an alternative waste management system on a residential property over four (4) hectares, covering alternatives to the Council services including:

1. a food and garden organics bin and regular collection
2. a rubbish bin and regular collection
3. a recycling bin and regular collection
4. hard waste collection
5. bundled branches collections.

An exemption, if granted, would remove all Council waste services and therefore charges from the property.

This includes all kerbside services, hard waste, and bundled branches collections.

Exemptions will not be granted for only one bin, or one part of the whole waste service provided to a property.

Apply for your four (4) hectares exemption 

Thanks for taking steps to compost some of your food scraps at home.

The FOGO service can complement your current composting, as it can take the things people often don’t like to add to their compost bin, including large prunings, environmental weeds, excess lawn clippings, meat, bones, seafood, shells, paper towel, excess citrus and dairy products. 

If you want to start home composting there are rebates of up to $40 available from Council when you purchase an eligible composting system. You can apply for the home composting rebate on our Council website.

The contents of your FOGO bin will be taken to a regional composting contractor called Bio Gro.  Due to the large scale of Bio Gro’s operations, the site can process more items and break organics down much quicker than a worm farm or compost bin. It also hot composts the material at a consistent 55-70 degree temperature to kill off any weed seeds or pathogens - something that is very difficult to do with a home composting system, particularly in cooler weather.

The compost produced from the collection of FOGO materials is screened to remove contamination and can be used to improve soils in parks and on farms.

To enable the roll-out of the FOGO service:

• Single residence properties that did not already have a garden organics bin have been allocated a 240 litre FOGO bin.
• Multiple unit developments and subdivided properties that did not already have a garden organics bin have been allocated a 120 litre FOGO bin.

A property owner can choose to change the size of their FOGO bin, if it better suits their needs.

If you would like to change the size of your FOGO bin you can:

• complete a change bin size form, or
• call us on 1300 368 333, or
• visit one of our Community Links

Please note.

• There may be a delay in processing these bin size change requests.
• • You can continue to use the FOGO bin you have at home until the changeover occurs.
  • We will be in contact to let you know when the changeover will take place.
• Only the property owner or authorised agent can request a change to bin sizes.

Once you receive your new FOGO bin, please do not start putting food organics in this bin until the week commencing 25 September 2023, as collection of this service will not commence until 2 October 2023.

From 2 October, please place your lime-green lidded bin out for collection weekly as per your new collection schedule.

All Councils must start a FOGO collection service before 2030 as part of the Victorian State Government's Circular Economy Policy.

This new collection is for all properties, including businesses and community organisations, that use our waste and recycling services.

Adding your food scraps to your new lime green lidded FOGO bin will allow us to:

• Turn food scraps into nutrient-rich compost for gardens and farms.
• Stop food going to landfill, reducing our impact on the environment.
• Free up space in your garbage bin.

What happens to my food and garden organics?

The contents of your FOGO bin are taken to a composting facility and processed to create nutrient rich compost to help improve soils on farms and gardens.

Today's food and garden waste will help grow tomorrow’s fruit and vegetables. 

How will this help?

Up to 45% of the material in a typical Yarra Ranges household rubbish bin is food waste.

If we put all our food scraps in the FOGO bin, instead of the rubbish bin, we'll save 13,500 tonnes of food waste going to landfill every year.

This will significantly reduce our impact on the environment.

Watch our Webinars to learn more about Councils three bin waste services: