FOGO FAQ

FOGO stands for Food Organics and Garden Organics. This green-lidded 240L bin is provided for you to put in your garden waste, as well as all your food scraps.

About 40% of all the general waste produced by our households is food waste. If that food waste is placed in the red-lidded bin and sent to landfill it degrades and generates greenhouse gases. In fact, food organics and garden organics (FOGO) can be a beneficial resource, if collected and processed appropriately it can be turned into compost to be used on farms, parks and sports fields. FOGO has huge environmental benefits and helps maintain our beautiful suburbs, parks and reserves for everyone to enjoy.

Food waste degrades in landfills and produces harmful greenhouse gases like methane which is 25 times stronger than CO2.

When FOGO waste is collected separately, FOGO can be processed into nutrient rich compost that can be used for food production, parks and sports fields to enhance growth.

• Garden waste – Flowers, leaves, grass clippings, prunings, etc.
• Food waste – Leftovers, bread, vegetable scraps, meat, bones, milk, cheese, etc.
• Council-provided green compostable bags are the only bags that can be put into the FOGO bin as they are specifically designed and tested to break down during the commercial composting process

For a full list of items that can and cannot be placed in the FOGO bin, please visit our 3-bin sorting webpage or download the Penrith Waste Champion App.

Please keep plastics or biodegradable plastics, plastic bags, cling wrap, glass, tins and cans, foil, Tetrapaks, nappies, treated timber, gravel, rocks or building material OUT of your FOGO bin. Separate food waste from containers so only food waste goes in FOGO. If the container is recyclable, then it can go into the yellow bin after a quick rinse. Council-provided green compostable bags are the only bags that can be put into the FOGO bin as they are specifically designed and tested to break down during the commercial composting process.

For a full list of items that can and cannot be placed in the FOGO bin, please visit our 3-bin sorting webpage or download the Penrith Waste Champion App.

The contents collected from our FOGO bins are taken to ANL’s FOGO processing facility at Badgerys Creek where it is inspected for incorrect items (plastic, wrappers, non-organic material). FOGO materials are then shredded and placed in large piles. The material in piles are mixed and aerated regularly. Microorganisms, like bacteria and fungi, are naturally present in this FOGO material. These organisms eat this nutrient-rich material. After a few weeks, all that organic waste is broken down into a nutrient-rich, soil-like substance called compost. To find out more about ANL’s process and FOGO in Penrith, watch our segment on Gardening Australia.

FOGO is the one small thing that you can do with your waste that will make a big difference for the environment. However, reducing food waste in the first place is crucial. A lot of energy, water, financial and natural resources go into the production of the food that we buy and waste. Reducing your food waste in the first place will not only help the environment but also save you money. Here are more ways to reduce food waste:

• Make a list - Check your fridge and pantry supplies, make a list before shopping and stick to it.
• Plan ahead - Plan meals and plan what to do with leftovers - like turning it into tomorrow's lunch or freezing it to use later on.
• Freeze leftovers - Next time you're cooking, blanch and freeze any leftover diced veggies. It only takes a few minutes, reduces your food waste and can be used for extra flavour later!

For more food waste avoidance ideas, visit our Love Food, Hate Waste webpage.

The service will soon be available to all residential households in Penrith City Council, including multi-unit dwellings and apartment blocks. The rollout of FOGO bins to apartment blocks and households on a collect and return service has commenced. Please be patient as we continue this roll out as different buildings will be brought on to the new service at different times throughout this period.

The FOGO service is included as part of a property's domestic waste charge.

Your FOGO bin can be used for items that you might not currently compost, such as dairy, bones, meat/fish scraps and weeds.

Your kitchen caddy is a small container that Council will provide to you free of charge with your new FOGO service and is designed to be placed on your kitchen benchtop. This means you can easily put in food scraps during meal preparation and any leftover scraps when cleaning up after your meal. Once your caddy is full, empty it into your large green-lid FOGO bin, put a new liner in your caddy and start collecting food waste again!

Caddies are provided to the property you live in as part of Council's waste collection service. Please leave it at the property if you move.

Council-provided green compostable bags are the only bags that can be put into the green-lidded FOGO bin as they are special liners specifically designed and tested to break down during the commercial composting process. These bags line the kitchen caddy organics bin and should be the bags used for these bins as they have been specifically designed for Penrith’s FOGO composting process.

Council-provided green compostable bags are delivered free of charge to every letterbox on the 3-Bin Waste Service each quarter (four times a year) to collect food waste. If you run out of liners before then, additional bags can be picked up for free from any of Council's Offices or library branches.  Alternatively, you can place your food scraps wrapped in newspaper or paper towels directly in the caddy or bin.

No. Council provided green-compostable bags are the only ones specifically designed and tested to break down in our commercial composting process. Alternatively, you can place your food scraps wrapped in newspaper or paper towels directly in the caddy or bin.

No. Ordinary plastic bags and other types of ‘degradable’ or 'biodegradable' bags are not acceptable as they are not compostable. Biodegradable plastic bags break down into tiny pieces of plastic which are harmful to the environment and our health. For that reason, plastic bags, ‘degradable’ or 'biodegradable' bags are not accepted by the FOGO processing facility. Alternatively, you can place your food scraps wrapped in newspaper or paper towels directly in the caddy or bin.

You can be a FOGO Champion – a group of passionate residents and Council officers who will help spread the word to residents around Penrith City about this fantastic service. Raise a general enquiry at The Waste Spot to receive more information about becoming a FOGO ambassador.

Raise a general enquiry at The Waste Spot to receive more information about becoming a FOGO ambassador.

Become a Champion for your building, helping spread the message and providing additional information or resources to your neighbours. Contact Council by raising a general enquiry at The Waste Spot and our waste education team will work with you to help encourage all residents to correctly sort their waste and to improve the waste management in your building.

You can be FOGO Champion, a group of passionate residents who lead the change in their buildings and help spread the word about FOGO. Raise a general enquiry at The Waste Spot to receive more information about becoming a FOGO ambassador.

Educational materials can be downloaded from our website. We can also provide hardcopies of any materials to you. Please raise a general enquiry at The Waste Spot and send us any specific queries you have.

• Keep your caddy or container close to the kitchen work area for convenience – e.g. on the benchtop, in a cupboard or under the sink
• Completely close the kitchen caddy lid when finished using it
• Wrap food in newspaper or paper towels inside the caddy or line the bottom of your caddy with shredded paper or paper towel to absorb liquids and odours
• Store your caddy out of direct sunlight Empty every day if possible, or every 2-3 days
• Take your caddy out to your FOGO bin to place the caddy liner in to prevent any spills when emptying it
• Sprinkle bicarbonate soda in the bottom of your caddy to absorb odours
• Clean your caddy regularly with warm soapy water
• Place shredded paper or paper towel on top of the food scraps

There are things you can do to minimise any odours from nappies such as:

• Consider reusable nappies.Disposable nappies are convenient but they must go into your garbage bin. With the average child going through 6000 nappies before they are toilet trained, that’s a lot of nappies going to landfill.
• Even a partial switch to modern cloth nappies can make a difference. There are compact, easy to use and stylish options available.
• Dispose of as much of the nappy contents as you can into the toilet
• Wrap the disposable nappy tightly into itself and use the tabs to secure. Bag the wrapped nappy, making sure to remove any air and tie the bag before placing it into your red-lidded bin
• Store your red-lidded bin in the shade
• Make sure the lid can close properly and the bin has no cracks nor splits (if your bin is broken or damaged, raised a “Damaged bin” enquiry at The Waste Spot Using scented nappy bags and odour neutralisers, such as bi-carb soda in your bin can also help minimise smells

More information can be found on our website.

Still looking for more information? Please raise a general enquiry at The Waste Spot to send us any specific queries you have.

To find out your collection day, visit our waste collection schedules webpage or download the Penrith Waste Champion App.

Your green-lid FOGO bin is collected weekly for houses, apartment blocks and collect and return services.

The rollout of FOGO bins to apartment blocks and households on a collect and return service has commenced. Please be patient while we continue this roll out as different buildings will be brought on to the new service at different times throughout this period.

For more information on the collection frequency of each of your bins, visit our waste collection schedules webpage.

If your collection is missed, please raise a “Missed service” enquiry at The Waste Spot.