FOGO stands for Food Organics and Garden Organics. It refers to the weekly collection of food scraps and garden organics. This material is then taken to a facility to be turned into compost.

Waste audits have revealed that approximately 56% of material in the general waste bins is organic. The introduction of a FOGO bin will divert organics from landfill where they can be composted.

The introduction of FOGO is supported by the State Government, Federal Government, and the City of Belmont. Western Australia’s Waste Strategy includes the goal of introducing a FOGO bin in every local government area in the Perth and Peel region by 2025.

The City is currently going out tender for FOGO processing and will be able to provide more detail on the dates that FOGO will come once the contract is awarded.

The FOGO material will be taken to a composting facility. The material will be screened, and contamination will be removed before the material is composted.

The Recycle Right website has a great A-Z guide on what can go in every bin. Materials A-Z – Recycle Right

Composting, worm farms and feeding scraps to chickens are all fantastic options for the environment and we encourage residents to continue to use these options. Residents can still use their FOGO bin for organic materials not suitable for composting such as meat, seafood and excess gardening waste.

The FOGO bin is collected weekly and the recycling and general waste bins are collected fortnightly. You will only be presenting two bins for collection each week. One week will be FOGO and recycling and the other will be FOGO and general waste.

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The majority of waste the City collects is food and garden organics, an estimated 56% of the waste bin.

Providing an additional bin increases the total waste disposal capacity by 70 litres per household per week, assuming the waste is properly sorted.

The new general waste bin is a smaller 140 litre size with an additional footprint of approximately 50cm.

If you are concerned there won’t be space on your property, give the City a call or send them an email for advice and assistance.

Most smelly items that attract pests are organic materials that go in the FOGO bin, which will be collected weekly.

There are also a number of ways to reduce bin odours, which will be available on the City’s website in the lead up to FOGO.

There will likely be a process to request a bigger bin for households who need it. How this will work will be communicated closer to the FOGO rollout.

Here are some tips to reduce odours from nappies:

• Switching to cloth nappies can reduce odours and free up capacity in your waste bin. The City provides a subsidy for cloth nappies – available on the website.
• Empty hard contents of nappies into the toilet before placing in the waste bin.
• Place a small amount of baking soda or kitty litter in the waste bin after it is emptied to reduce odour.

Most multi unit dwellings with a shared service will be excluded from the initial FOGO rollout. Instead a waste education officer will engage with each Multi Unit Dwelling individually and find individual solutions for each property.

At this time, commercial properties are not being considered for a FOGO service.