Penrith Council praises rural communities for quick adoption of Penrith’s progressive bin service

Friday, 30 April 2021

Penrith City Council congratulates Penrith’s rural communities for adopting Council’s progressive 3-bin waste service 21 months ago.

In July 2019, Penrith Council introduced the green-lidded Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) bin to rural communities in Penrith as an important step in the community’s journey to improving resource recovery. By sorting waste correctly, residents continue to contribute to Penrith’s reputation for being progressive leaders in waste.  

Penrith Mayor and Sustainability Champion Karen McKeown OAM praised the community for their positive response and quick uptake of the FOGO service.

“It’s an incredible achievement for our rural communities to adopt FOGO so quickly and lead the way in progressive waste management,” Cr McKeown said.

“In just 21 months, the community has diverted 4,251,000kg, or 567 FOGO truck loads, of FOGO material from going to landfill, resulting in a significant decrease in negative environmental impacts and managing the cost of disposal to landfill.

“By FOGOing, communities are improving Penrith’s overall resource recovery and sending FOGO material to be processed into nutrient-rich compost, which is then used on farmlands, sportsgrounds, parks and gardens.

“The FOGO bin is for all organic material that naturally breaks down, such as fish and chip paper, pizza boxes, tissues, meat and bones, pet fur and droppings and garden waste. Since these organic items are commercially composted, it means the FOGO bin can take more diverse items than regular household composting,” she said.

The compost is given back to the community in various ways, one including a project Council is coordinating where FOGO compost will be donated to all Council run childcare centres across the region. All children at the centre will receive a tree to plant at home or in an outdoor spot near the centre. The project aligns with Council’s intentions to increase tree canopy cover in Penrith as part of the Cooling the City project which aims to improve liveability and prioritise protection from heat.

The rural communities who adopted FOGO 21 months ago include Agnes Banks, Badgerys Creek, Berkshire Park, Castlereagh, Cranebrook, Kemps Creek, Llandilo, Londonderry, Luddenham, Mulgoa, Orchard Hills, Regentville, Mount Vernon and Wallacia.

Find out more about Penrith’s progressive 3-bin service, including FOGO, and what goes where at penrith.city/3bins.

Information contained within this news release was correct as at Friday, 30 April 2021.