Food Organics, Garden Organics (FOGO) Kerbside Collection Trial

The FOGO trial began as a 12-month initiative with the support of the Queensland government and was extended by Council at its own expense to further assess its long-term viability. Council determined to end the trial in July 2025 owing to the following reasons:

• Relatively high levels of contamination from non-compostable materials (such as plastic containers, plastic bags, nappies, beverage containers, etc) were consistently found in the FOGO wheelie bins. This contamination increased processing costs to remove the contaminants and affected the production of making a usable compost product.
• Increased regulation of the processing of compost material. The production of compostable material is required to meet Council’s Environmental Authority issued by the Queensland government and comply with the Australian Standards (such as low levels of PFAS, which can be introduced by non-compostable contaminants) to be considered a usable product. Meeting these requirements adds costs and complexity to the composting process.
• Community feedback from residents expressing a preference for the return of weekly general bin collection cycle, which had been reduced to fortnightly during the trial period.

• In 2021, Council was successful in receiving a $320,000 grant from the Queensland government to trial a FOGO kerbside wheelie bin service and gather data on organic waste management within the region. The trial aimed to assess the viability of diverting organic material from landfill, with the intent of developing more sustainable and cost-effective waste solutions for the Lockyer Valley community.
• FOGO is the organic material that commonly makes up almost one-third of the waste placed in general waste wheelie bins, that ultimately ends up in Council's landfill.
• In the Lockyer Valley region, general waste collected through the kerbside service is deposited in the Gatton Landfill. Diverting organic material away from the landfill helps to extend the capacity and lifespan of the facility. Once the landfill reaches its full capacity, landfilling may no longer be a viable option within the Lockyer Valley. At that point, Council may need to transport general waste to a commercial landfill outside the region, which will incur higher transportation costs and gate fees for disposal. Such additional costs would most likely need to be recovered through rates.

• The FOGO wheelie bin waste was collected by Council's waste collection contractor and treated at Council's Gatton Waste Disposal Facility, where it underwent an aerobic treatment process to create nutrient-rich compost.
• Following treatment, the compost was mechanically screened to remove foreign solid contaminants such as general waste. The resulting product was used in a range of applications across the Lockyer Valley region.
• Contamination from non-compostable materials significantly increased both the cost and time required to produce a compliant compost product. This ultimately reduced the viability and practicality of continuing this scale of compost production under the trial conditions.

While the FOGO trial has come to an end, Council remains committed to improving waste management practices for our region and will continue to explore feasible options to reduce the amount of organic waste going into landfill, where it is practical and cost-effective to do so.

Green waste that was previous disposed of in the FOGO wheelie bin can be taken to one of Council’s waste disposal facilities, disposed of in the general bin or composted on your property.

Large amounts of food are wasted across the nation every day. Check out our page on Reducing Food Waste for tips and tricks on reducing the amount of food waste around your household.