What's a no go in the FOGO (your green bin).

Published on 23 March 2023

a lady standing next to a bin

Food scraps and garden waste are the only things now accepted in your green bin, sometimes called the Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) bin.

New regulations from the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) have changed what you can now put in your green bin.

What can go in your FOGO

Only food waste, garden waste and the supplied cornstarch bags for your kitchen caddy are allowed in your green bin.

Food scraps and waste like

  • Loose tea leaves
  • Loose ground coffee
  • Seafood shells
  • Bones
  • Oil and fat
  • Egg shells
What's a no go in your FOGO

Sorry but cardboard, shredded paper and pizza boxes, will now have to find a new home.

You’d be surprised what else we find in the green bin collections at times.

Food and garden waste from the green bin is recycled into premium quality compost. When the green bin is contaminated with things that don’t belong this recycling can’t happen.

So what's a no go in your FOGO? These things are a no go - 

  • cardboard packaging and paper bags
  • tea bags, coffee filters or capsules
  • tissues, serviettes or paper towel
  • baking paper
  • timber or bamboo
  • nappies
  • pet poo or poo bags
  • plastic bags or plastic food containers
  • hoses, shade cloth or pots from your plants

To find out what goes in which bin and what’s a no go, check the Kempsey Waste App or the A-Z Guide to Waste 

 

 

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