Go FOGO

Going FOGO helps households live more sustainably by reducing general waste going to landfill, producing composts and reducing greenhouse emissions.

Photo courtesy of City of Subiaco

Avoiding food waste

Around 50 per cent of all household waste is organic, and in houses without FOGO, most of it ends up in landfill and accounts for about 3 per cent of Australia’s greenhouse emissions.

Ensuring you don’t waste food in the first place is the best solution and can save households on average up to $2,500 per year through meal planning, shopping for what you need, and using up leftovers. Find out more. 

However, for the inevitable food scraps, putting them in the FOGO (Food Organics and Garden Organics) bin with your garden green waste ensures they are turned into compost for use back in the community.

Avoiding food waste in the home is one of the most accessible and impactful ways for households to fight climate change.

As most greenhouse gas emissions from landfill come from decomposing organic matter, going FOGO is an easy way to reduce landfill, tackle climate change and live more sustainably.

Food scraps that can’t be used up can be composted through the FOGO bin system or by composting at home.

What is FOGO?

This is the green lid bin that accepts food waste and garden waste and is emptied weekly.

Many local governments have rolled this service out to their residents already, and many more are planning to, with our State Government aiming to move all Perth and Peel local governments to the three-bin FOGO system by 2025.

Your collected food organics and garden organics are made into high-quality compost or soil conditioner for use in the community.

So what goes in the FOGO bin?

One way to think about it is: “If it didn’t grow, or it wasn’t alive it’s not FOGO!”

All of your food scraps can go in the FOGO bin, including fruit, vegetables, bread, meat, bones and leftovers. So can grass clippings, flowers, weeds, herbs, small branches and leaves.

FOGO bin contents will be composted, so you can also put small amounts of paper and cardboard in (such as used kitchen paper towels and pizza boxes with food residue). It is essential to keep all plastic, aluminium, glass and anything labelled ‘biodegradable’ out of the FOGO bin.

How FOGO works

Going FOGO is easy and starts in the kitchen with setting up a caddy for collecting food scraps.

How to FOGO

What can I use as a kitchen caddy?
A caddy is supplied along with compostable bags when you receive your FOGO bin, or you can use whatever works best for you, like:

  • simply rinsing the container
  • keeping the container in the fridge or freezer until FOGO bin day

What can go in my FOGO bin?
All of your food scraps including fruit, vegetables, bread, meat, bones and leftovers. So can grass clippings, flowers, weeds, herbs, small branches and leaves.

It is very important to keep all plastic, aluminium, glass and anything labelled ‘biodegradable’ out of your FOGO bin.

And don’t forget to empty out packaged food into FOGO and dispose of the packaging in the appropriate bin.

What happens at a FOGO processing facility?

What are the benefits of FOGO-derived compost?

  • Reduces amount of organic waste going to landfill
  • Reduces greenhouse gas emissions
  • Helps tackle climate change impacts by reducing water usage and increasing productivity of soils where used
  • Compliant with Australian Standards
  • Manufactured to be safe, effective, and weed-free
  • Manufactured and sourced locally, supporting local jobs

Where can I buy the compost?
FOGO-derived compost is available from the following outlets:

  • Bunnings
  • Woolworths
  • Coles
  • IGA
  • ALDI
  • Big W