FOGO - Food Organics and Garden Organics

FOGO stands for Food Organics and Garden Organics.

Currently in Port Stephens our green lid bins only accept Garden Organics (GO). In July 2027, the Port Stephens Council area will flip to FOGO!

When FOGO begins, you can place both food and garden waste in your green lid bin. Your green lid bin will move to a weekly collection once FOGO starts.

We'll process all collected food and garden organics into nutrient‑rich compost to improve soils across the region.

This is an important way for us to protect the environment and reduce unnecessary landfill waste.

FOGO collection service will initially be provided to all Port Stephens residents in:

• Houses
• Duplexes
• Townhouses
• Unit buildings with 30 or fewer dwellings.

The NSW Government requires all councils to provide a food organics recycling service to households by 2030 to help stop food waste going to landfill.  It also makes sense to divert a useful resource from landfill and use it to preserve and improve our soils.

From July 2027, households in the Port Stephens Local Government Area will be able to add food waste to their green lid bin, which will then be collected weekly.

Households will receive a free FOGO starter pack, featuring a kitchen caddy to collect your food scraps, a starter supply of compostable liners, and easy to understand information and guides about the new service.
Your green lid bin will transition to weekly collection to ensure food waste is collected regularly for continued health and safety reasons.

There will be no change to the general waste (red lid) bin, this will remain a weekly service. This decision was made based on survey responses from the community, collected in early 2026.

This switch will occur from July 2027. Houses, duplexes, townhouses and unit buildings under 30 dwellings will be the first to receive the service.

We will introduce higher-density housing arrangements in stages between July and December 2027. This will allow for proper consultation on the number of bins supplied to each property.  We will continue to update you as we progress through this process.

The change will significantly reduce the amount of food waste going to landfill.

Across the state, we estimate we will stop around 950,000 tonnes of FOGO waste from going to landfill each year. This is the equivalent weight of over 24,000 humpback whales!

It also supports a circular economy, where products once considered waste are recycled into valuable products such as compost. It will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfills.

No. Your current garden organics (green lid) bin will become your FOGO bin.

You’ll be able to place both food scraps and garden organics in your green lid bin once the FOGO service starts in July 2027. Until then, your green lid bin is for garden organics only.

Yes. Before the service begins, each household will be delivered a free:

• Kitchen caddy to collect your food scraps;
• Starter supply of compostable caddy liners; and
• Information pack on how to easily use the service

Replacement liners will also be available after the service rollout.

Only the following materials will be allowed in the FOGO (green lid) bin:

• Food waste, such as scraps and leftovers, including meat, bones and dairy.
• Garden waste such as grass clippings, leaves and pruning.
• Compostable kitchen caddy liners that comply with Australian Standards for composting.

Yes. Once FOGO begins, your red lid bin will still be serviced every week.

When FOGO launches in mid 2027, your bin collection frequency will be:

• FOGO bin: Collected WEEKLY (food scraps and garden waste)
• General waste bin: Collected WEEKLY (no change)
• Recycling bin: Collected FORTNIGHTLY (no change)

Home composting is fantastic and we encourage you to keep doing it!

Standard backyard compost bins typically can’t process bones, meat, seafood, dairy or large amounts of citrus without attracting pests.

The commercial composting facilities used for Council’s FOGO service operate at much higher temperatures meaning you can safely use your FOGO (green lid) bin for the heavy food items your home compost can't handle. So hopefully a win-win.

NSW has a statewide mandate for Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) recycling, to reduce food waste and stop food waste going to landfill. As part of this, businesses or institutions that sell or handle food, like supermarkets, cafes, schools and hotels will be required to separate food waste from general waste.   

While these changes formally begin across NSW on 1 July 2026, our local business community qualifies for an automatic temporary exemption. Because Port Stephens LGA is outside Greater Sydney and Council does not yet provide a household residential FOGO service, local businesses are exempt from the mandate until at least 1 July 2028. 

Even with the exemption in place, we encourage local businesses to start considering food waste initiatives to reduce landfill and save on waste costs. Visit the NSW EPA website for more details and resources. We recommend contacting your commercial waste provider for more information as many already have or are developing the capacity to provide food organics collections.

General Rates and Waste Charges are separate fees on your council bill.

• General Rates: This money pays for shared public spaces, like roads, parks, libraries, and footpaths.
• Waste Charges: These include both direct "user-pays" fee that cover the cost of providing waste and recycling services to your residence, as well as broader waste services to the community.

Because these two budgets are kept separate by law, changes to waste services have no impact on your general rates. This means the costs of providing a FOGO service will not impact your general rates.

Your annual Waste Charges cover the entire ecosystem of Council providing waste and recycling services to the community, including:

• Kerbside bin collection services (waste, recycling and organics bins)
• Kerbside bulky waste collection service
• Disposal or processing of all waste and recyclables collected from kerbside services
• Public litter bins and cleaning
• Special waste drop-off days and events
• Salamander Bay Transfer Station

Waste Charges are determined based on the costs of providing these waste services to the community and are communicated as part of Council's annual review of Fees & Charges.

The FOGO service will utilise residents' existing green-lid organics bin. The green-lid organics bin is part of the standard package of three waste and recycling bins, plus two bulky kerbside collections that Council provides to every residence.

Council is required to charge for and make this service available to all residents, whether they choose to utilise all aspects of the service or not. The Waste Service Charge cannot be adjusted to reflect the use of all or part of the waste service.

In the lead up to July 2027, we will be raising awareness and providing information and advice so this change can be as easy and convenient as possible for you. We know you have enough to worry about and so we want to make it easy.

Our team will also be available at pop-up stalls at community events, markets and other public places, providing an opportunity to learn more about FOGO and have your questions answered.

We will also provide information through our website, mailouts, media and social media.