FOGO Is Changing

Kiama Council

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Kiama – you’re a good sort!

Kiama Council is proud to announce our community has once again scored top marks for their waste and recycling habits.

Our recent waste audit shows more than 99% of households have their food organics and garden organics (FOGO) sorted – knowing what to put in their green bins.

It’s a great result, but not surprising, given our municipality has always led the way when it comes to reducing waste.

In fact, we were one of the first councils to adopt FOGO more than a decade ago.

FOGO is changing

While FOGO is working well, there’s always room for improvement.

The NSW Government’s EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has new FOGO guidelines to prevent contamination from polyfluoroalkyls (PFAs).

PFAs (a group of more than 4000 chemicals) can be found in a range of household products including paper towel, tea bags and tissues.

Keeping our FOGO contamination-free ensures efficient collection, processing and a quality finished compost.


Food and garden organics cartoon graphics of not accepted items - newspaper, cardboard, vacuum dust, pet poo and kitty litter, tea bags, bamboo and compostable packaging, paper, paper towels and tissues.

You can still put most of your old favourites in the green/FOGO bin:

  • Fruit & vegetable scraps
  • Meat and bones
  • Seafood and shells
  • Takeaway food and leftovers
  • Pasta, bread, rice and cereal
  • Loose leaf tea and coffee
  • Eggs and dairy

But the following items now need to go into your red or yellow bins:

  • Paper (yellow)
  • Cardboard (yellow)
  • Newspaper (yellow)
  • Bamboo and compostable packaging (red)
  • Paper towels and tissues (red)
  • Tea bags (red)
  • Vacuum dust (red)
  • Pet poo and kitty litter (red)

Kiama Council is implementing these changes from 1 August.

Thanks in advance for continuing to be good sorts!

/Public Release. View in full here.