Households are supplied with a kitchen caddy and lime-green lid bin to dispose of their food and garden waste. The organics we collect are converted into compost and fertiliser to be used on farms, as well as our parks, gardens and sporting fields.
Phase one of the rollout began in June 2021 for single unit dwellings, followed by multi-unit dwellings up to five storeys. A pilot is currently underway for high-rise residential apartments.
Single-unit dwellings include single houses on a single block. All single-unit dwellings should have their own lime-green lid FOGO bin and weekly collection service.
How to get started
If you’re a new resident and don’t yet have a kitchen caddy, you can order a free Starter PackOpens in new tab (including a kitchen caddy and roll of liners) to be delivered by our team.
Use the caddy to collect food scraps. When full, empty the caddy into your food and garden organics bin (don’t tie a knot) and place the bin out for weekly collection.
How to replenish your liners
We will provide a new supply of liners each year. These will usually be delivered between October to December.
If you have run out of liners you can continue using the caddy without a liner. We suggest it’s emptied regularly and given a quick rinse to reduce odours. If you would prefer to purchase liners, we recommend purchasing online via COMPOST-A-PAKOpens in new tab.
Multi-unit dwellings include flats, units, townhouses and apartments. Some multi-unit dwellings share lime-green lid FOGO bins, others have their own lime green lid FOGO bin.
How to get started
If you’re a new resident and don’t yet have a kitchen caddy, you can register onlineOpens in new tab and collect your free Starter Pack or have it delivered for a $10 postage fee. The Starter Pack include a kitchen caddy and a roll of liners.
After registering, residents can collect their Starter Pack from one of the following locations:
- Kathleen Symes Library
- Melbourne Town Hall
- Kensington Town Hall.
Use the caddy to collect food scraps. When full, empty the caddy into your food and garden organics bin (don’t tie a knot).
How to replenish your liners
Each property is entitled to order one free roll of liners per calendar year.
Due to complexities with delivery and building access of many multi-unit dwellings, replacement liners must be ordered online via COMPOST-A-PAKOpens in new tab. They can be collected for free or delivered for a $10 postage fee.
After ordering online, residents can collect their liners from one of the following locations:
- Kathleen Symes Library
- Melbourne Town Hall
- Kensington Town Hall
We are rolling out the Food Organics Service to high-rise residential apartments across Melbourne.
Selected buildings are undertaking a 12-month pilot program to collect and process food scraps using an on-site organic processor. For more information on the pilot, visit Food organics high-rise pilot.
Text on screen 'Foor and Garden Recycling Program
View of Melbourne from the sky with bouncey music in the background.
Woman's voice says "Kids, come inside" - with two kids playing basketball outside
Mother is cutting vegetables and throwing scraps into a bucket. Text says 'Collect your kitchen scraps"
Kids take bucket outside to thrown in bin.. Text says 'Empty into your food and garden bin'
Kids then put the green bin on the kerbside.
At collection centre waste is seen being processed and then compost used on a garden.
Text says' We're converting your food and garden organics into compost for our parks and gardens'.
Aerial view of Melbourne with text 'Small acts make a big impact. Food and Garden Organics Service no available.'
Closes with City of Melbourne logo
What goes in the lime-green bin
Food
- fruit and vegetable scraps (including citrus, onion, garlic, herbs, spices)
- bread, rice and pasta
- leftover food scraps
- spoiled or rotten food
- solid dairy products (butter, cheese)
- meat, fish and bones
- soft shell seafood (prawns, shrimps, crayfish, lobster)
- loose coffee grounds
- loose tea leaves
- eggshells
- jelly.
Garden
- garden cuttings (twigs, branches - cut to fit neatly in the bin)
- weeds
- grass cuttings and leaves
- cut flowers
- straw and hay.
Tip: Please keep garden waste loose, not bagged
Other items
- wooden icy pole sticks, wooden chopsticks, toothpicks, skewers (no plastics)
- human and animal hair
- dryer lint.
If your food and garden waste bin contains items that we cannot process, it could result in the entire truckload going to landfill.
Do not put these things into your lime green-lid food and garden waste bin:
- plastic or plastic bags
- biodegradable or compostable bags and packaging (only use council approved caddy liners)
- tea bags
- coffee pods, compostable cups and coffee cups (including biodegradable marked items)
- liquids, including cooking oil
- hard seafood shells (mussels, oyster, pipi shells, large crab)
- recyclables (paper, cardboard, aluminium, steel and glass items)
- soft plastics (cling wrap, chip packets)
- bricks and building rubble
- treated and painted timber, treated lattice, other timber building materials
- rocks and pebbles
- garden hoses
- string, twine, ties, rope, metal wire
- plant pots
- cotton wool, cotton wool buds
- pet poo or pet litter
- vacuum dust
- ash (from home fire)
- cigarette butts
- toys.
To find out how you can recycle or dispose of these and other items, refer to our A-Z guide to recycling and waste disposal.
Frequently asked questions
Important: Please do not tie a knot in your liner bag.
Your kitchen caddy is used to collect and transfer food scraps to your lime-green lid bin for collection. You can use the caddy with a council supplied liner bag or without. You may also use newspaper to wrap dry food scraps such as potato and onion peelings.
If using a liner, it is important to use the council-approved compostable liners as this type of bag will break down during the composting process. They are made from plant-based material suitable for the special microbial treatment process that we will use to recycle your food scraps.
Using the wrong type of compostable liner can create contamination and result in the food and garden waste being sent to landfill. Plastic, degradable and biodegradable bags must not be placed into your food scraps bin.
Remember, only food waste needs to go in your liners. All garden waste can go directly into the bin without the use of a liner or bag.
Your council-approved liners should last you until your next batch is delivered. It is recommend to use two to four liners per week if possible. This will ensure your liners last until your next free batch arrives. If you do run out before your next batch arrives, you can purchase a roll of council-approved liners online at Compost-a-PakOpens in new tab
The use of non-approved liners may result in a non-collection notice.
The caddy is made from 100% recycled plastic in Melbourne, Victoria.
Kitchen caddy dimensions are:
- Volume: 7 litres
- Height: 235mm
- Width: 225mm
- Depth: 225mm
We know that 40 to 50 per cent of waste found in our average landfill bins are made up of food and garden waste.
By recycling your food and garden waste in the lime-green bin, you can help reduce greenhouse gases and the amount of waste that goes to landfill.
Your food and garden waste is taken to a purpose-built local composting facility, where it undergoes some very specific processing.
The materials are processed into mulch and nutrient-rich compost that improves soil health, fertility and productivity. It can then be used on Victorian farms and our parks and gardens.
Excellent! Thank you for doing this – please keep up the great work.
The new food and garden waste bin can complement your current composting by taking the meat, bones and dairy products that cannot go into a compost bin. This will help you to divert all your food waste and garden waste material away from landfill.
Businesses in the City of Melbourne are responsible for the implementation and collection of business waste.
We can provide advice and suggestions on waste management practices that can be implemented for businesses. If you would like further information, see Commercial waste and recycling or you can contact us on 03 9658 9658.
Delivery drivers often have difficulty accessing low-rise apartment buildings and, in most cases, there is nowhere safe to leave packages if no one is home. The $10 postage fee covers the cost of a postage provider such as Australia Post or Star Track. If you’re not home, this ensures that you receive a card to collect your caddy from a local post office.
Information in other languages
View of Melbourne from the sky with synthesiser music in the background.
Young woman is cooking in the kitchen and putting waste in small bucket.
Man is on balcony tending to plants and throwing garden waste in his bucket
Women sees him from window and runs downstairs to meet her neighbour where they meet at the communal bin.
Text 'Small acts make a big impact. Food and Garden Organics Service no available.'
Closes with City of Melbourne logo
