FOGO Trial

FOGO is an acronym for Food Organics and Garden Organics.  Food organics refers to all types of food waste such as those generated during meal preparation, plate scrapings and food past its use-by-date.

Garden organics (or ‘green waste’) refers to materials generated in the garden, such as grass clippings, leaves, twigs, pruning’s, weeds etc. So all the normal things that you might be putting in your green bin during a garden clean up. 

Food and garden waste accounts for almost half of the waste materials in an average Burwood household red lid general waste bin.  This material takes up limited landfill space and creates harmful greenhouse gases when it breaks down. 

The NSW Government has mandated that all Council’s adopt a FOGO collection service by 2030.

For those residents who have been invited to participate in the trial, using the green-lid bin for food and garden waste will turn the waste into a valuable resource instead.

Council has committed to extend its FOGO trial for a further six months. The trial is being undertaken in a select area and aims to divert food scraps from the red lid bin, which goes to landfill.

From 13 September 2023, in the trial area pictured below, the red lid bin will be collected fortnightly while the green lid bin will be collected weekly.

From 13 September 2023, residents who have been invited to participate in the trial will be able to place all their accepted food waste in addition to their garden waste into their current green lid bin. During the FOGO trial extension, the green lid bins in the trial area will be collected weekly.

Not all Burwood residents will be involved yet, during in this initial trial period. But following the trial Burwood Council will be looking to adopt the service across Burwood. 

The FOGO trial extension will commence 13 September 2023 and will run for six months.

The FOGO trial is an important initiative for our community and being part of the trial will greatly assist Burwood Council in planning, educating and implementing a future FOGO collection service across the Burwood Council area.

During the FOGO trial extension period the red lid bin will be collected on a fortnightly basis. However, all food scraps can be thrown away in the green lid bin, which will be collected weekly. 

The FOGO trial will only include select households that have their bins collected on a Wednesday. These households will be notified by letters sent directly to their household. They will also have a resources and information pack delivered to their door to assist with the separation of food from general waste during the trial. 

If you have not been notified directly, your household will not be involved in the trial.

No. This is why residents who are not in the trial area must not put food waste in their garden organics bin.

The normal garden organics material will continue to be taken to a Veolia site in Greenacre, where it is turned into a mulch product.

The FOGO material collected from the trial areas will be taken to the Veolia Clyde Transfer Station first, where it is checked and anything that shouldn’t be in there is removed.  After this, it will be sent for treatment at an advanced waste treatment facility at Woodlawn.

The product will then be used for mine site rehabilitation works at the Woodlawn mine as approved by the EPA.

In June 2021, the NSW Government mandated that all councils must provide a FOGO kerbside collection service by 2030, as part of their 20-year ‘NSW Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041’.  

The FOGO trial extension is assisting Council to plan, educate and implement future FOGO collection services in the the Burwood Council area.  

For further information, contact The Sustainability Team on 9911 9911 or email council@burwood.nsw.gov.au