New green bin service to recycle food and garden plant waste starts on 4 March 2024

A green ‘FOGO’ kerbside bin collection service will start on 4 March 2024. ‘FOGO’ stands for food organics and garden organics and the green ‘FOGO’ bin will collect both food scraps and garden plant waste. 

The green bin will be collected weekly, together with the red bin. The food and plants collected in the green bin will be processed into compost and soil conditioners so that, instead of being wasted in landfill, the nutrients and energy can be returned to productive use in agriculture, horticulture, gardens and parks.

All food scraps, including raw and cooked food, dairy food, meat, seafood and bones can go in the green bin along with all types of garden plant waste including leaves, grass clippings, weeds, twigs and small branches.

In the Lithgow Local Government Area, it is estimated that by providing all households with a comprehensive composting service, the green bin will help halve the amount of waste going into the red bin and being sent to landfill. For the households that already compost food and plants, the green bin will complement their home composting system by taking any items that can’t go into the home compost, such as bones or weeds.

The new service is supported by Go FOGO grant funding from the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA). All Councils will be required to provide a food and plant collection service by 2030. Using a green bin to recycle food and plants is an easy way to reduce our waste and make a positive difference to the local environment and economy.

For more information visit Council’s website https://council.lithgow.com/waste-recycling/fogo/.