Let's Go FOGO

The three bin FOGO system consists of:

  • 240L lime green lid FOGO bin, collected weekly
  • 140L red lid general waste bin, collected fortnightly
  • 240L yellow lid recycling bin, collected fortnightly
  • 7L kitchen caddy & certified compostable liners 

What goes in the FOGO bin?

The 240L lime green lid FOGO bin is for kitchen food scraps and organic garden waste.

The Town provides a kitchen caddy & certified compostable liners as part of the three bin system to residents free of charge. The caddy with compostable liners can be placed in your kitchen or other preferred location for collecting food scraps.

All food waste including the following can go into your lime green FOGO bin:

  • Fruit and vegetable scraps
  • Cooked food
  • Bones
  • Meat
  • Dairy e.g. cheese, eggs shells
  • Bakery items e.g. all bread types & pastries
  • Tea leaves & bags (no synthetic tea bags)
  • Loose coffee grounds (no pods)

Other organics that can go into the FOGO bin include:

  • Organic garden waste
  • Pet poo
  • Kitty litter
  • Soiled paper, soiled cardboard (sticky tape or stickers removed), napkins and tissues

Wrapped food and plastic or polystyrene packaging will contaminate the FOGO bin and cannot be easily removed during the composting process. Before placing any food in the kitchen caddy or FOGO bin ensure that all the food packaging and labels are removed. These should be disposed of in your red lid general waste bin.

The contents of your FOGO bin is sent to a composting facility where it is recycled into soil improver. By ensuring that only organic waste goes in the FOGO bin the Bassendean community is assisting the Town to divert this valuable resource from landfill.

Recycling FOGO diverts waste from landfill, reduces disposal costs and allows the Town to meet the State Governments Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery targets.

Some Bassendean residents are already utilising their food and garden waste at home by keeping chickens, worm farms, Bokashi & compost bins. The Town encourages these residents to keep doing this and invites other community members to consider at home waste diversion practices.

What goes in the red lid General Waste bin?

The 140L red lid General Waste bin is for household waste that cannot be recycled or composted, the contents of the red lid bin is sent to landfill.

Items to be placed in the red lid General Waste bin include:

  • old textiles & shoes
  • Nappies, hygiene & sanitary items
  • Polystyrene
  • Plastic bags & soft plastics
  • Ropes, straps and hoses

For an A-Z list of what waste should go where please visit https://recycleright.wa.gov.au/ or download the Recycle Right app.

Recycle Right Website

What is a kitchen caddy?

The Town supplies a 7L kitchen caddy along with certified compostable caddy liners. to each household/business with a waste service. The caddy can be used to collect food scraps before taking out to the FOGO bin. The liners can be placed inside your caddy to provide a barrier between the caddy and food waste. Newspaper or no liner can also be used. Every 3-4 days the caddy liner can be tied off and placed into your FOGO bin.

If you choose to purchase additional liners please ensure they are certified compostable and display this symbol

The kitchen caddy can be placed in your kitchen to collect food waste i.e., all food leftovers/scraps including bones, out of date food (unpackaged), tea leaves and coffee grounds, used paper towel, napkins and tissues.

But I have my own compost heap/ worm farm/ bury my organic waste/ have chooks...

Thank you! You are doing a great job and we need more people like you!  Have you heard about our Earth Carers course? Click HERE to find out more.

The FOGO bin can complement your compost heap as it can take the things that your compost heap can’t – like weed seeds, excess lawn clippings and leaves, meat, bones and dairy products.  Compost heaps need the right blend of ‘green’ and ‘brown’ materials so if you’ve got excess of one type, you can add it to the lime green FOGO bin, knowing that it will still be composted. Branches that are too thick for the compost heap can also be put in the lime green FOGO bin.

Worms can be fussy eaters and often do not like onions, citrus, eggshells and potato peels. You can put the things they don’t like in the lime green FOGO bin.

Feel free to continue burying your organic waste as it is great for adding nutrients to the soil. If there are some things that you do not bury, they can be put in the lime green FOGO bin.

Chooks are great at turning organic matter into fertilizer. There are some things that chooks won’t eat so they can also be put in the lime green FOGO bin.

How will the new Three Bin FOGO system benefit the community?

There are many benefits to adopting the FOGO system including:

  • Less organic waste to landfill, which will reduce the landfill levy incurred by the Town as FOGO waste is not subject to the landfill levy.
  • When organic waste breaks down in landfill methane is released (a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon), it also releases moisture and in combination with rain & condensation it mixes to create a harmful leachate. FOGO will significantly reduce this environmental impact.
  • Soil improver is produced from the FOGO waste which can then be put back on the land assisting with nutrient cycling.

How is the three bin FOGO system different to a two bin system?

Town of Bassendean residents have three separate bins:

  • 240 litre lime-green lid FOGO bin, for all your food scraps and garden clippings, which is turned into soil improver. This bin is collected weekly
  • 240 litre yellow lid Recycling bin, which is collected fortnightly.
  • 140 litre red lid General Waste bin for items that can’t be recycled or turned into soil improver. This bin is collected on the alternate fortnight to your yellow lid Recycling bin. If you find your household is struggling with capacity issues after you start using the new bins, contact us to see if a solution can be provided to you.

I have children in nappies, which bin do these go in?

Nappies should be placed in the red lid General Waste bin. Emptying the contents of the nappy into the toilet and securing the nappy in a plastic bag will minimise odours.

Research has shown that nappies smell progressively worse for four days then do not smell any worse (or better) after that. A waste bin containing nappies smells no worse after 14 days than after 7 days. Read more about how to manage nappy waste here

Managing Nappies

The Town encourages residents to look at ways to avoid waste and provides a rebate for the purchase of Modern Cloth Nappies and reusable sanitary items. Click here to read more about cloth nappies and apply for the rebate.

Do I have to use compostable bags?

If you do use bags, they must be certified compostable. You don’t have to use bags – you can put things straight in the bin or wrap them in newspaper. 

All households are provided with a roll of compostable liners and a kitchen caddy to help your household use your FOGO bin. Residents can collect compostable liners free of charge by visiting the Customer Services Centre 35 Old Perth Road or the Bassendean Memorial Library 46 Old Perth Road and providing proof of address.

I've heard there were changes to recycling recently? What are they and why?

Changes in global markets and tighter restrictions on recyclables now mean that some materials previously accepted have now been excluded to create a standard approach to recycling across WA. This will help everyone better understand what goes in what bin regardless of what area you live in. The aim of these changes is to reduce contamination and create cleaner recyclables for processing.  

There are three main changes to what you can now put into your recycling yellow-lidded bin. Aerosols, soft plastics and meat trays are no longer to be placed in the yellow-lidded bin.

  • Aerosol cans cause fires in trucks and facilities. These should be taken to your nearest Household Hazardous waste drop off location for recycling https://www.wasteauthority.wa.gov.au/programs/view/household-hazardous-waste 
  • Meat trays should be placed in your general waste bin due to contamination and the mixed use of materials used to make them
  • Soft plastics (scrunchable) can be taken to any RedCycle drop off point to be recycled into new products, redcycle.net.au or place in your general waste bin.

What if 140L red lid General Waste bin is not large enough?

The Town is aware that some households have large families or unique requirements and may still require the 240L General Waste bin. Rate payers can opt to have a larger 240L General Waste bin, an additional annual fee will apply.  To discuss this option please contact the Town on 9377 8095.

How Can I Reduce Bugs & Maggots in my FOGO Bin?

  • Be sure to put your FOGO bin out every week, even if it’s not full.
  • Don’t overfill your compostable caddy bags, to prevent breakage.  Tie them off tightly. Keep caddy lid closed tightly.
  • Wrap and place any odourous food scraps (seafood, meat etc.) in the freezer until collection day.
  • Any food contaminated cardboard/paper eg pizza boxes, paper kitchen towel, tissues, shredded paper can all go in the FOGO bin and will help absorb moisture.
  • Layering cardboard, newspaper or green waste at the bottom of the bin can help absorb liquids and prevent waste sticking to the inside of the bin. (Remove all plastic/sticky packaging tape from cardboard)
  • Make use of small cardboard boxes for dog poo/kitty litter, so sides of bin aren’t soiled. (tape removed from boxes)
  • If possible, allow lawn clippings and garden cuttings to dry out to prevent moisture build up.
  • Keep your bins in the shade with the bin lids tightly closed.
  • Sprinkle baking soda, kitty litter, vinegar, oil of cloves or lemon juice in the bin after empty to reduce odours.
  • Clean your bin after empty with soapy water.

How do I find out more information?

For further information, please contact the Town’s Recycling & Waste team at wasteservices@bassendean.wa.gov.au or call 9377 8095.