Lithgow City Council has endorsed the addition of an organics ‘green bin’ to the kerbside domestic waste and recycling service. The new green bin will be a FOGO bin. FOGO stands for Food Organics and Garden Organics.
The FOGO bin will be used to collect household food scraps as well as green waste such as garden cuttings and lawn clippings. This will increase the diversion of waste from landfill, preserving local landfill capacity.
The collected household food scraps and garden cuttings will be recycled into high-quality compost and soil conditioner for use on farms, parks, sporting fields and gardens.
Mayor Maree Statham said, “Lithgow Council is excited to introduce this new service to the community. We have listened to our community who have indicated strong support to expand our current two-bin kerbside service to include a green bin. The FOGO service has many benefits including preserving landfill capacity, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and turning waste into a valuable product for agricultural use.”
“Given the many benefits of the FOGO three-bin service for the environment and our community, it is exciting to introduce the service well ahead of the NSW Government mandate in 2030.” Mayor Statham said.
The NSW Government’s Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy proposes a new mandate that all Councils provide a FOGO service to households. Lithgow City Council has successfully applied for $439,450 in funding from the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA)’s Go FOGO grants to assist with roll-out costs.
Under the three-bin system, existing kerbside services will stay the same. Residents will still receive a weekly collection of their 240 litre red bin, for their domestic waste, and a fortnightly collection of their 240 litre yellow bin, for their recyclables.
The FOGO service is scheduled to commence in March 2024.
Further information and education will be provided prior to the FOGO roll-out to assist residents in using the service.