Yarra is introducing a new food and garden organics (FOGO) service in 2024.

Council’s new FOGO waste collection service will provide our community with a new avenue to reduce waste and recycle more materials. This service will reduce emissions from landfill and contribute to Victoria’s circular economy. 

Each year, Yarra City Council collects around 15,500 tonnes of material from residents and organisations that is sent to landfill, with approximately 40% made up of food and garden organic materials. These materials in landfill break down over time, releasing large volumes of methane into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change.

Residents and organisations that receive a kerbside collection service from Council will receive a new lime green-lidded bin prior to 1 July 2024 that will collect food and garden organic (FOGO) materials. The FOGO collection service will begin on 1 July 2024.

This material will be collected and turned into valuable materials like compost and used primarily on farms to grow fresh local food, as well as in parks and gardens. 

By finding new uses for our materials and keeping them in circulation, we can reduce the volume of material sent to landfill. This will create new jobs, keep valuable resources in the system, reduce harm to our climate, protect our natural environment, and build a more sustainable future.

The composting process will be handled by our contracted material processing partner RepurposeIT, who was officially endorsed by Council at this week’s Council Meeting.

Council’s introduction of a FOGO service is in line with the Victorian Government’s Circular Economy legislation which includes a requirement for all councils to provide households with a four-stream waste service (glass, recycling, FOGO and rubbish). 

In 2019, Council introduced a four-bin waste trial with FOGO in Abbotsford. The trial has been overwhelmingly successful, with a 60% rate of diversion from landfill and strong support from the community.

Our community has been advocating for the introduction of municipality-wide FOGO for a long time through many Council strategies. The most notable of these are the Council Plan, Community Vision and our engagement on the circular economy strategy.

Council will share more information about the FOGO service in the lead-up to the 1 July 2024 introduction. 

For more information about the upcoming FOGO service including collection frequencies and which materials will be accepted, visit our FOGO website page.