FOGO

From July 2023, the townships of Coleambally, Darlington Point and Jerilderie will move to a three bin system for kerbside waste collection.  This follows a Council resolution in May 2022. The three streams of kerbside waste collection will be:

1. General waste - now has a dark green lid - will be replaced with the standard red lid
2. Recycling - yellow lid
3. Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) - bright green lid

We aim to significantly improve the way our community manages their waste. We have set these targets for 1 July 2024:

• Reduce the amount of organic waste sent to landfill by 30%
• Increase the overall amount of recycling by 18%
• Reduce the amount of general waste by 52%
• Reduce and where possible, eliminate, single use plastic items within Council (Murrumbidgee Council Single Use Plastics Policy adopted October 2022)

Additionally, we support the NSW Government target to reduce plastic litter by 30% by 2025.

Frequently Asked Questions

 

1. What type of waste will each wheelie bin hold?

1. General waste – red lid
2. Mixed recycling (also called ‘co-mingled’) – yellow lid
3. Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) – green lid

2. When will the FOGO collection start?

The new system will start on 4 July 2023. We will provide a weekly schedule when these details are finalised.

3. What are the benefits to our community?

The introduction of three bins for kerbside collection will allow us all to manage our waste more effectively. It is part of an overall strategy by the NSW Government based around the concept of a circular economy, which works on the principle of using our resources more efficiently and making them more productive. We extend the lifeline of our products by reusing or recycling them. This, in turn, reduces the amount of waste going to landfill or ending up as litter. It ensures our waste does not become a problem for future generations to deal with and allows us to live sustainably in our beautiful natural environment.

4. Why are we moving to a three bin system?

The decision to introduce a kerbside recycling service in Jerilderie township is in response to extensive community feedback. The FOGO bins are a NSW Government requirement that local Councils have until 2030 to implement a household bin service to collect food organics and garden organics (FOGO) from the kerb.

We are aiming to:

• Reduce the amount of organic waste sent to landfill by 30%
• Increase the overall amount of recycling by 18%
• Reduce the amount of general waste by 52%
• Reduce plastic litter reduction by 30% by 2025 (NSW Government target)
• Reduce, and where possible eliminate, single use plastic items within Council (draft Single Use Plastics Policy July 2023)

5. Will there be a charge for new bins?

No, there will be no charge for new FOGO bins. We have received a grant from the NSW Government to cover the cost of the FOGO bins.

6. Will the lid change on my general waste bin?

Yes, our Council area currently has a dark green lid on general waste bins. This will be replaced with a red lid.
 

7. How will I know what goes in each bin?

We will be distributing lots of other information so we can all sort our waste properly. It’s important that we put the correct things in the correct bin so the contents are not contaminated. The rules for what can go into a FOGO bin are set by the NSW Government.

This is what goes in a FOGO bin: 

Materials you can put in your FOGO (Food Organics and Garden Organics) bin

• Food 
• Garden organics 
• Compostable plastic kitchen caddy liners that comply with Australian Standard AS4736-2006 (for commercial composting) used to collect and transfer food waste to the FOGO bin
• Fibre-based kitchen caddy liners (eg paper or newspaper) used to collect and transfer food waste to the FOGO bin

Here's a comprehensive list below:
 

	Item	Where to put it (match the numbers)
CAN'T GO IN FOGO	Adhesive labels  Animal droppings  Baking Paper (compostable) Bamboo, timber or cardboard packaging   Bamboo cutlery, paper towels and serviettes Biodegradable plastic bags Building materials Car parts Cardboard  Cat litter Clothes Ceramics (broken/chipped) Certified compostable cutlery and containers Compostable bags (not AS AS4736-2006) Dryer lint Feathers Glass bottles and jars Hair (human or pet) Household waste Junk mail Kitty litter Leather products - bags, shoes, other Logs larger than 10 cm in diameter Magazines and glossy paper Medical waste (not including sharps) Metal tins and cans Milk and juice containers Nail clippings - human and pets Napkins/serviettes Nappies (flush faeces down toilet first) Needles and syringes Newspaper Paints and poisons Paper - shredded, dirty or oily Paper bags Paper napkins (dirty) Paper plates (dirty) Paper sugar sachets Paper towel (used) Paper towel cardboard inners Pet waste Pizza boxes Pot plants (ie still in pot) Plastic bags  Recyclable items/plastic containers Sand Shredded paper Teabags Textiles - bedding, cleaning clothes, carpets Tissues Toilet roll cardboard inners Vacuum waste Washing machine lint	General Waste General Waste General Waste General Waste/Recycling (cardboard) General Waste General Waste/Home compost Bulky Waste collection Bulky Waste Collection Recycling General Waste 2nd hand store/General Waste General Waste General Waste/Home Compost General Waste/Home Compost General Waste General Waste Recycling General Waste General Waste Recycling General Waste General Waste/2nd hand store Bulky waste collection Recycling General Waste Recycling Recycling General Waste General Waste General Waste Sharps container  Recycling Community Recycling Centre General Waste Recycling General Waste General Waste Recycling, if clean General Waste Recycling General Waste General Waste Plant (FOGO). Pot (Recycle/reuse)  Reuse/General Waste Recycling General Waste/Save for later General Waste General Waste/Home Compost General Waste General Waste Recycling General Waste General Waste
CAN GO IN FOGO	Bones – meat and seafood Branches (broken up) Bread  Cereal slops Charcoal Cheese Chicken bones/skin/scraps Chewing gum/bubble gum Coffee grinds Compostable green liners with Australian Standard AS4736-2006 Cooking oils/fats Corks Curries (best if frozen) Dairy Products Egg cartons  Egg shells Expired food Fish - bones, skin and scraps (store these in the freezer and place them in your FOGO bin the night before collection) Flowers Fruit - peels, cores, seeds and scraps Fish and chips paper wrapping Flowers Food waste Garden cuttings Grains Grass clippings Leaves Leftover cooked food Meat bones and skins Meat scraps (raw or cooked) Milk - small amount absorbed in paper towel or newspaper Mouldy food Nuts Oil - small amount absorbed in paper towel or newspaper Oyster shells Palm fronds and palm tree nuts Pasta Plant cuttings Pruning (<10 cm in diameter) Rice - cooked or uncooked Sauces - cooked or uncooked Seafood and shells Seeds Shellfish Skin - fish and chicken Tea leaves Timber (untreated, unpainted, uncoated, <10 cm in diameter) Twigs and sticks (<10 cm in diameter Vegetables - peels, cores, seeds and scraps Weeds Yogurt

 

8. What happens if waste in the FOGO or recycled bins is contaminated?

If the contents are contaminated, the whole contents of the bin are either sent to landfill or we are charged an additional sorting fee.

9. Will I receive a kitchen caddy for my organic waste?

Yes, you will receive a free kitchen caddy. This is being funded by a grant from the NSW Government. Here's some tips for your kitchen caddy:
 

• Keep your caddy or container close to kitchen work area for convenience – eg on benchtop, in a cupboard or under the sink
• Close the kitchen caddy lid
• Line your caddy with a certified compostable liner or wrap food in newspaper or paper towels
• Store your caddy out of direct sunlight
• Empty every 2-3 days, or as needed
• Take your caddy out to your bin to prevent any spills when emptying it
• Sprinkle bicarbonate soda in the bottom of your caddy
• Clean your caddy regularly with warm soapy water or put it in your dishwasher

10. Can I choose the size of bins I would like?

The FOGO and Recycling bins are 240 litres. Ratepayers have the opportunity to nominate the general waste bin size they would like. We currently have 240 litre bins in our Council area. The options with the new three stream system are:

Type of bin	Bin sizes
FOGO	240 litre
General waste	120 litre or 240 litre
Recycling	240 litre

The default size for a general waste bin is 240 litres. Ratepayers currently own their bins, so if you choose to get a smaller 120 litre general waste bin and keep your currently 240 litre general waste bin, only the 120 litre bin will be collected from the kerbside. 

11. When will my bins get collected?

Type of bin	Collection frequency
FOGO	Weekly
General waste	Fortnightly
Recycling	Fortnightly

12. Do I have to have a green bin if I don’t want one?

Yes, the NSW Government has passed a law that all NSW households must have a FOGO bin for kerbside collection by 2030.

13. Do I have to have a yellow recycling bin if I don’t want one?

At Council, we support the NSW Government’s Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy. Increasing the amount of material that is recycled instead of going to landfill is an important part of this strategy. The kerbside collection service is a simple, convenient way of recycling. Your property will be charged for a yellow bin as part of Council’s fee structure.

14. Where does my recycling go?

Our recycling goes to Kurrajong Waratah in Wagga Wagga. Two trips will be made to Wagga Wagga each collection week. The other news is that Hay Shire Council is proposing to build a Materials Recovery Centre. When this facility is completed, we will send our recycling to Hay, instead of Wagga Wagga.

15. Where will my organics waste go?

The contents of the FOGO bins will be driven to Worm Tech’s Composting Facility (located in our Council area). Council staff will carry out this role. It is likely two trips will be made to the facility each collection week. We will purchase a new larger side load garbage truck to make the process more efficient.

16. Do we have other recycling options in our Council area?

Community Recycling Centres (CRC) are drop-off centres where we can drop off common household problem waste that can’t be collected via Council kerbside waste and recycling collection services (free of charge). Coleambally and Jerilderie Waste Depots have CRC sheds, where you can drop off household quantities of paint, gas bottles, fire extinguishers, motor oils, other oils, car batteries, household batteries, smoke detectors and fluorescent tubes and globes. The car batteries at Coleambally are utilised by the Men’s Shed as a fundraising activity.

Mini stations are located at the Coleambally, Jerilderie and Darlington Point offices household batteries, smoke alarms, light globes, mobile phones and accessories and toner cartridges.

We also take part in the national DrumMUSTER and ChemClear programs.

17. Will rural properties have access to this service?

We are very interested to hear from rural landholders who are interested in any of the services. We will look at it's feasibility and if people are supportive of it.