P5.1Continue to implement the FOGO program

In May 2020, Council introduced a new Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) kerbside collection service. The means residents with the new bin can now put both food and garden waste in the same bin, reducing the amount of waste going to landfill. The roll out to residents has been staged over three financial years by dwelling type, with all single dwelling households and multi-unit developments serviced by Council now having access to a FOGO service.

The food and garden waste collected via the FOGO service is taken to a organics processing facility where it gets turned into a high-quality compost to be used on farms, parks, and gardens.

Highlights

Since the introduction of FOGO, Council’s diversion from landfill increased from 49 per cent to almost 72 per cent, making Boroondara one of the state’s highest performing councils for diversion from landfill. This great effort also supports the State government commitment to divert 80 per cent of waste from landfill by 2030.

Residents are now diverting more than 200 tonnes of food waste from landfill per week by putting it into their lime-green lidded FOGO bin. This amount is expected to increase as more residents adjust to the new system.

What else can I do?

While using your FOGO bin is a great way to reduce waste to landfill, avoiding waste in the first place is even better! Australian households throw away an estimated 5 million tonnes of food every year. This is around one in 5 bags of purchased food. By switching a few habits, you can reduce your waste and your household budget. Learn more about reducing your food waste by visiting our website (Reduce and recycle your waste | City of Boroondara).

Don’t have a FOGO bin?

Some properties in Boroondara have private waste collection services and so are not eligible for kerbside collection services from Council. Just because you’re not serviced by Council, doesn’t mean you can’t compost your food and garden waste though. Many private waste collection services also provide FOGO services to their customers. Council also provides subsidised access to a wide range of home composting and worm farming systems through the Compost Revolution. City of Boroondara Council's Compost Revolution | Home. Another great option is to donate your food and garden waste to others composts in your local community, the ShareWaste free online community is a great way to give your waste a second chance, meet likeminded neighbours all while regenerating local soils ShareWaste - Give your waste a second chance!

Looking for ways to support business

Council is exploring options to see how we can further expand the FOGO service and support local businesses to compost their food waste. This research is being undertaken with the support of grant funding from Sustainability Victoria’s Circular Economy Councils Fund.