If it grows, in GREEN it goes!  Meaning that anything that grows (or once grew) belongs in the green FOGO bin, most importantly food!

This includes:

• all food waste (including meat, fish, bones, dairy/egg shells, fruit, tea bags, coffee grounds, vegetables and bread)
• soiled paper products (shredded paper, paper towel, tissues, and pizza boxes)
• pet waste (including paper-based cat litter, newspaper, straw)
• Australian certified compostable packaging (AS4736 or AS5810)
• all garden organics (e.g. leaves, prunings, weeds, branches and grass clippings)

Material placed in the green FOGO bin is collected by East Waste and taken to a commercial composting facility where it is turned into compost for growing our food and improving our soils in South Australia.

The Trial will cover the whole of the Thursday bin collection zone.  This includes approximately 3,900 residential properties and businesses in the following areas:

This is partly because people don’t want organic waste sitting around and potentially becoming smelly for up to two weeks. Collecting the green FOGO bin weekly helps reduce odours and makes people more likely to put food waste in the right bin.

When food and garden organic waste is sent to landfill it rots and releases methane, a harmful greenhouse gas with 25 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.

At the City of Unley we are committed to reducing waste that goes into blue landfill bins and we need your help do to that. Recovered food and garden organic waste can be turned into valuable nutrient rich products (compost and mulch) which help increase soil quality and water retention. Diverting these items from landfill also creates jobs and reduces disposal costs.

If your property doesn't have a green FOGO bin, please contact us to arrange for delivery of one: weeklyfogo@unley.sa.gov.au or 8372 5111

A weekly FOGO collection means you can send all your food scraps to be composted without having to worry about smell or waiting another week for  collection.

If you’re worried about the smell of nappies and other hygiene products:

• Dispose of as much solid waste into the toilet as possible
• Wrap dirty nappies and hygiene products in a tightly closed plastic bag
• Try reusable nappies or hygiene products, even for part of the time
• Store your blue landfill bin the shade
• Make sure the lid closes properly
• Rinse food containers before placing in the recycling bin
• Place a small amount of odour control in the bottom of your bin such as vinegar, eucalyptus or mint oils.

Your blue landfill bin should only be used for items that cannot be recycled or composted. Make sure you are recycling and composting everything you can. These items should go in your landfill bin:

For any other item, check the A-Z of Recycling to see if it should go in the yellow recycling or green FOGO bins: Recycling from A-Z | Which Bin SA.

Check out our ‘Tricky Waste’ page to find alternative disposal options for items that cannot be recycled through your yellow bin, but can still be recycled: Tricky waste | City of Unley

Dispose of bulky waste by booking a free annual hard waste collection: Hard Rubbish - City of Unley - East Waste

Soft plastics may take up a particularly large space in our bins, to reduce this, squish down into a bag until you can tie the bag closed. This also helps prevent them flying out of the bin when it is emptied.

Try to avoid soft plastics by purchasing unpackaged items where possible, using compostable or reusable bags and buying items in recyclable packaging (i.e. paper, metal, glass or hard plastic).

We'd love for you to give the Weekly FOGO collection a go and we're here to support you.

We recognise that not all households are the same, and if at any time during the Trial you have concerns, please contact us on 8372 5111, so that we can discuss options and work out a solution for you.

One option is that we can upsize your landfill bin from 140L to 240L at no cost to you. This has shown to assist households with lots of family members, nappies and/or medical issues. By upsizing to a larger landfill bin, participants can remain in the Trial, allowing food waste, garden waste and other compostable materials to be collected weekly.

If you really don't think this service is for you right now, you can choose to ‘opt-out’ to have a weekly landfill, fortnightly FOGO and fortnightly recycling collection.  However, you can choose to join again later if you wish.

You will automatically be included in the Trial. We'd love for you to give the Weekly FOGO collection a go and we're here to support you. Contact Council to receive your free kitchen caddy (if you don’t have one) and welcome pack to help get you started. If you would like to chat through your options, please contact our friendly staff via email on weeklyfogo@unley.sa.gov.au or call 8372 5111.

Participant feedback, environmental outcomes, waste tonnage data and financial implications will be evaluated and presented to Council to assess the success of the Trial.

If you're able, please return the new kitchen caddy to the Civic Centre or Council Works Depot (75 King William Rd), or drop us an email and we can come and collect from your doorstep.

weeklyfogo@unley.sa.gov.au

It’s great you support weekly FOGO, however, we are currently unable to expand the Trial area due to logistical and cost challenges.

Please continue to put all your FOGO waste into the green bin and encourage others to do the same. If you or a neighbour needs a kitchen caddy or compostable bags drop into the Council Works Depot (75 King William Rd) or Unley Civic Centre to collect them.

If you are interested in helping promote weekly FOGO we would love to have you on board. You can:

• Talk to your neighbours, friends and family about why you support weekly FOGO.
• Be involved in our promotion to help spread the word. This could be a photo opportunity, interview or short video on why you support FOGO.

If you are interested in showing your support, please contact us.

The Weekly FOGO Trial will provide an additional 240 litres of disposal capacity for organics per week.  If this is now adequate for your needs and you no longer require an additional bin service, you will not need to renew the permit for your additional organics bin collection.

Please fill out the Additional Bin Cancellation Form Cancellation or Transfer of Additional Bins - East Waste or contact East Waste Ph:  8347 5111 

If you wish to keep your additional green bin permit, you can have it emptied weekly during the Trial.

The Weekly FOGO Trial includes all properties, including eligible businesses who already use Council’s kerbside collection service.

If you are using Council’s kerbside collection service and don’t already have a green FOGO bin we can provide you with one. Please contact us to discuss your options or concerns, call 8372 5111 or email weeklyfogo@unley.sa.gov.au

If your business produces organic waste and you have space to store one, please contact us to order one.

All landfill bins within the Trial area will be collected fortnightly. If this doesn’t work for your business please contact us to discuss upsizing your landfill bin.

Phone 8372 5111 or email weeklyfogo@unley.sa.gov.au if you have questions or concerns.

Yes. A member of our Climate & Sustainability Team can visit your premises to support the correct use of bins. Please call 8372 5111 or email weeklyfogo@unley.sa.gov.au to enquire.

No. Your business will not be part of the Trial and there will be no change to your current service.

Unley is a compact, high-density city with a significant proportion of multi-unit dwellings (MUDs) in the Trial area (approximately 56 medium and large MUDs). These range in size and total approximately 550 properties receiving Council kerbside collection. MUDs which receive Council kerbside bin collection are included in the Trial to provide an accurate representation of issues for weekly FOGO collection in Unley.

Waste management at MUDs is complex as each MUD has a different site and building design and number of properties. To enable the inclusion of MUDs in the Trial, staff are working with residents of MUDs to determine the best method to enable their participation in the Trial.

Please call 8372 5111 or email weeklyfogo@unley.sa.gov.au to discuss any issues.

Please call 8372 5111 or email weeklyfogo@unley.sa.gov.au to discuss any issues.

We are happy to discuss options with you, such as upsizing your landfill bins and providing additional green or yellow recycling bins to help reduce what is going into your blue landfill bins.