The NSW government issued a statewide mandate for Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) recycling to stop tonnes of food waste heading for landfill.

Parliament passed legislation to legally require households to have a third bin for FOGO by July 2030, while businesses and institutions only have until July 2026.

Local councils will be made to provide all households in NSW who have a red-lid collection service with a FOGO bin by the deadline in 2030.

Companies, including supermarkets and restaurants, will also be required to have a separate bin for food waste.

“Without action, NSW is on track to run out of landfill space by 2030. Recycling organic material – and diverting it from landfill – is the way of the future,” NSW Climate Change Minister Penny Sharpe said.

“The transition to statewide FOGO is the biggest change to household kerbside services in a generation. 

“We know this will be a challenge, but we also know from the many councils that already have FOGO, that communities have welcomed it, contamination can be minimised with good education and the majority of people use services well.”

Many Australian councils operate under a two-bin system – a recycling bin (yellow) and a rubbish and general waste bin (red).

Until now, having the third green bin wasn’t legally enforced.

Green bins are already found in plenty of households and apartment complexes.

The green-lidded bin is for household garden waste and is collected fortnightly.

A large green FOGO bin will be collected weekly, yellow bins fortnightly and red bins fortnightly on an alternating basis.

Some Sydney councils, including the Inner West, already rolled out a FOGO pilot in 2016.

The government’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it will begin sending out the new bins to every household one to four months before the mandate kicks in.

FOGO starter kits will include a kitchen caddy for kitchen waste, caddy liners, an information booklet and information about collection schedules on a fridge magnet, calendar or QR code.

The legislation is backed by $81 million in state government funding.

This includes a $9 boost for apartment and multi-unit FOGO bin use.

Are FOGO bins mandatory in other states and territories?

In Victoria, a roll-out of FOGO bins is already under way, with a similar timeframe of giving one to every household by 2030.

Elsewhere in Western Australia, Tasmania, Queensland and the ACT, residents have access to FOGO bins but it is not mandatory.

There is no specific FOGO collection service in the NT or South Australia.