By July 2030, every home in New South Wales should have its own food organics and garden organics (FOGO) bin.
Many already do, but there is still widespread confusion about exactly what should go in the green bin.
Pizza boxes, tea bags, cardboard, timber and bamboo utensils were initially allowed when FOGO started in 2013, but the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has since revised its advice.
Now only food or garden waste should go under the green lid.
Of the 128 LGAs in NSW, 57 have introduced FOGO bins, with the rest to follow by 2030. (Supplied)
“We want to keep things out like plastics and anything that might allow for microplastics to break down into the FOGO,” EPA executive director of programs and innovation Alexandra Geddes said.
“Some of those containers that you might get [from a takeaway shop] that have plastic lining in them … are billed as compostable when they’re actually not.”
Other problem items include pet faeces and poo bags, paper towels, vacuum cleaner dust and lint from tumble dryers.
FOGO contamination is a serious issue, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimating 45 per cent of all organic waste still ends up in landfill.
Many councils collect FOGO waste to turn into compost they either buy back or sell to farmers. (ABC Central West: Emily Middleton)
There are 128 local councils in NSW and, according to the EPA, 57 already have a FOGO service.
Another 13 have FOGO plans in place, 32 have green bins to collect garden waste only and 26 offer no organic collection.
At this stage, it is up individual councils to implement and enforce rules about what can go in the green bin, although the EPA does provide “guidance”.
“That’s because what we really want is [pure] organic matter that comes out of the process,” Ms Geddes said.
It is also up to the individual councils to determine how they collect and process FOGO material, with many opting to send it to composting facilities and then buy it back for their fertiliser regimes.
Dan Nicholson says householder education on FOGO has a way to go. (ABC Central West: Emily Middleton)
From FOGO to farmers
Dan Nicholson, director of Topsoil Organics, is acutely aware of confusion around FOGO.
The FOGO generated by 186,000 residents in Sydney’s Inner West LGA are trucked to his composting facility at Forbes, in the NSW Central West, a round trip of more than 700 kilometres.
“We try to really harvest every bit of organics possible that comes on site … it’s a circular economy,” he said.
“We’re still obviously getting the wrong things going into the bin, from drink bottles and milk cartons [to] the whole packet of bread still with the plastic around it.”
Pickers sort the food and garden waste by hand to eliminate as much contamination as possible. (ABC Central West: Emily Middleton)
Mr Nicholson said he employed 10 people to pick through FOGO and remove contamination.
Anything that comes in a green “compostable” bag is separated in the picking station and eventually processed using black soldier flies to harvest residual organics.
Black soldier fly maggots harvest the organic waste from containers and other FOGO contaminating material. (ABC Central West: Emily Middleton)
“We still need a lot more education and people need to understand that FOGO is a material that’s being used in the agricultural sector,” he said.
“We’ve got to get that material spotless so it fits the order and exemption to be able to go back into land.”
Organic alternative to synthetic fertiliser
Clint Neville, a third-generation mixed farmer from Forbes who is using organic fertiliser produced by FOGO composting, said increasing organic carbon levels in the soil boosted its water-holding capacity while adding macro-nutrients.
Clint Neville has been using organic fertiliser for years. (ABC Central West: Emily Middleton)
“Every 30 years, your soil organic levels halve,” Mr Neville said.
“We had one paddock where it was 0.5 per cent organic carbon [with 2 to 3 per cent being where we want to be] and we got about 600 tonnes of compost, and within 12 months we saw it bounce up to 1.7 per cent.”
Mr Neville said his aim had been to build more resilience within his farming system and do more with less.
