Golden Plains Shire Council is actively working towards introducing a Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) bin (lime green lid). This initiative will help Council comply with the Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021, which requires Councils to provide a four-bin system to households.
The Recycling Victoria Policy (2020) sets ambitious targets to reduce the volume of organic materials going to landfill by 50% and increase waste recovery to 80% (for all materials that can be recycled or reused).
FOGO covers all the organic waste usually generated at home in the kitchen and the garden, and FOGO collection helps divert food and organic waste from your general waste bin. This saves space in your bin and reduces the amount (and cost) of landfill needed.
A bin audit of Golden Plains Shire conducted in 2025 revealed that around 41% of the general waste bin is made of garden waste and food waste.
The audit showed that urban garbage bins have a higher proportion of garden waste (18.52%) than the rural bins (2%). The quantity of food waste was similar for both urban (32.09%) and rural (29.7%) areas.
Golden Plains Shire Council is partnering with Barwon Water and other three local councils in the Regional Renewable Organics Network (RRON) project, which involves the construction of an organics processing facility to turn food and garden organics into energy and other useful products.
For further details and updates on this project, we encourage you to visit The Regional Renewable Organics Network at Black Rock - Your Say Barwon Water.
Food Organics Garden Organics Survey
In June 2025, Golden Plains Shire Council invited residents to have their say on the future Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) service through an online survey which attracted 870 responses. The results of this survey provided valuable insights into how residents currently manage food and garden waste, identified challenges, and will inform strategies for effective communication and education.
You can download and read the survey report by clicking the button below.
Thank you to everyone who provided a survey response.
Under Victorian Government legislation, all Councils must move to a standard four-bin system: red for general waste, yellow for mixed recycling, purple for glass and lime green for combined food and garden organics.
Introducing a FOGO service will enable Golden Plains Shire residents to significantly reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.
Currently, food and garden organics account for approximately 41% of household waste that ends up in landfills. As these materials decompose, they produce methane - a greenhouse gas that is around 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. By diverting organic waste from landfills, we can help lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduce our dependence on landfill disposal.
Council is committed to introducing the new Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) service as part of Victoria’s standardised recycling system. At this stage, the estimated timeline is for 2027/2028.
Golden Plains Shire Council is partnering with Barwon Water and three other local councils in the Regional Renewable Organics Network (RRON) project, which involves the construction of an organics processing facility.
The RRON facility will take household food and garden waste, local commercial and industrial organic waste and biosolids (organic materials from wastewater treatment) and safely convert it into products that enrich compost, soil and capture carbon for high value use in agribusiness and sustainable manufacturing, and at the same time produce renewable energy.
To learn more, visit The Regional Renewable Organics Network at Black Rock | Your Say Barwon Water.
If you're already composting, that's fantastic! Thank you for your efforts and keep up the great work!
The FOGO system can work well alongside worm farms and home composting. Your FOGO bin can take some of those hard to compost items and things that worms do not like to eat, such as citrus, meat, bones and dairy. These items won’t break down through home composting systems as they require high temperatures of industrial composting.
The first service standard and regulations under the Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021 will inform the future FOGO service requirements and what options might be available to residents. These are expected to be finalised and published in 2026.
Learn more here: Setting the standard for better recycling at home.