Major change coming for food scrap bins as landfills reach capacity

A weekly compost collection is coming to almost every household and business in NSW by 2030 to encourage food waste recycling and reduce waste in landfills, despite outcries to not mandate the collection due to smells and inconvenience. Last month, NSW Environment Minster Penny Sharpe made a second reading of the Protection of the Environment Legislation Amendment (FOGO Recycling) Bill, arguing the proposed legislation of weekly collections of food scraps – either separately or in a small “food organics garden organics” (FOGO) bin – would help reduce waste in landfills. It come as Greater Sydney and some regional areas like Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour are projected to run out of landfill capacity by 2030 or earlier. “We have to move quickly, and we have to move together,” Ms Sharpe said. “We know that Greater Sydney is rapidly running out of ways to safely manage residual waste — the waste we put into our red bin every day.” On average, food waste makes up more than one third of the contents of a NSW red bin, which manages general waste. According to the Environment Minister, applying the weekly mandate to the NSW Households would divert nearly 950,000 tonnes of FOGO waste away from landfills every year. Organic food that is left to rot can produce methane, which is over 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide, therefore more likely to trap heat in the atmosphere. The announcement of weekly FOGO bin collections come after calls to scrap weekly mandates by the NSW Local Government Association, who argued the introduction of weekly FOGO collections would “be a significant change to their bin services” and would require extra effort to separate food scraps from household waste. As such, the FOGO bins may produce an odour if the composition process begins before bins are collected, leaving some households apprehensive about participating in the food waste collection. The Environment Minister said the introduction of mandated weekly FOGO bin collection would help address the issue. “We are aware of the smell issues,” she said. “This mandated collection frequency aims to address that. I know that many councils across the state have this well and truly underway.” As of November 2024, 43 councils in NSW have implemented FOGO bins, including Forbes, Liverpool, Parkes, Parramatta, Penrith, Wagga Wagga and Wenworth. According to the Bill, councils must organise a weekly collection of FOGO bins and to ensure there is no contamination during transportation starting from July 2030. Failure to comply may result in a fine of up to $500,000, with an additional $50,000 a day while the offence continues. Households will not be subjected to penalties. Ms Sharpe said she recognised the mandate may not work in all areas of the state, including very remote communities, in some multi-unit dwellings where food contamination is possible due to infrastructure design and in some aged-care facilities. “We want to work with everyone to make FOGO work everywhere that it can,” Ms Sharpe said. “We do not want it to be draconian. It will not be applied in a draconian way.” NewsWire has contacted the NSW government for comment.