Your green waste bin is now a food and garden waste bin. All types of food scraps, including meat, fish, bones, cooked food and dairy products, can now go in the same bin as your garden clippings and green waste.

A general rule of thumb for what can go into your food and garden waste bin is: Anything that grows in your garden, or you can eat.

You’ll receive a kitchen caddy as part of the Food and Garden waste trial, so you can easily collect your food scraps as you prepare meals and clean up leftovers.

Simply place your caddy on your kitchen bench and once it is full, empty the contents into your food and garden waste bin.

You can use your caddy as it is, without any lining, or you can line with one to two pieces of newspaper or paper towel. Please do not place plastic of any kind including bags and liners (even compostable ones) in your kitchen caddy or food and garden waste bin, as these cannot be processed through our facilities.

Your kitchen caddy is made of 100% post-consumer recycled materials and is dishwasher safe.

The trial will start on 4 October and run for 8 weeks, ending on the 26 November 2021.

All the information collected will inform us on how to best support the community for a smooth transition to the new waste service in the new year.

Once the trial has finished your bin collection frequencies will return to the pre-trial schedule. However, you will be able to continue to put food in your green bin. You also get to keep your new 140L landfill bin.

Food waste makes up around 40% of Banyule’s household waste to landfill. When food breaks down in landfill it generates methane, a greenhouse gas contributing to climate change. Introducing food waste recycling is one of the single biggest opportunities for us to quickly reduce its carbon emissions. In addition, food waste can be used to create valuable compost.

Food and garden waste from households will be composted and used as soil conditioner in our residential and natural environments.

Food waste can easily be composted, a process that significantly reduces methane emissions. In addition to the greenhouse gas benefits, compost reduces the need for chemical fertilisers and enhances water retention in soils. Currently, our bins contain around 40% of food waste that all ends up in landfill. By allowing residents to put food waste in with their garden waste for composting, all households will help the environment.

Your food and garden waste is taken to the Veolia organics facility in Bulla where it is processed and transformed into valuable compost used by farmers and in parks and gardens across Victoria. Visit backtoearth.vic.gov.au to find out more.

Plastic and glass can not be placed in your food and garden waste bin.

If there are incorrect items in your bin, it may not be collected. Incorrect items cannot be composted at the processing facility and affect the quality of the compost product. We may conduct audits of food and garden waste bins to ensure we are all recycling correctly.

Do you already compost at home? Great!

You can use the food waste recycling service to complement your home composting. Any food waste you may not add to your compost, bokashi or worm farm, including meat, seafood, dairy, citrus, bones, eggshells, and leftover food, can be added to your food and garden waste bin.

Pests are not a common problem if food is kept in closed bins and containers. Keep your food and garden waste bin lid closed so it does not attract pests.

Your food and garden waste bin is not likely to smell any worse than your general waste bin.

Prevent odours by emptying, rinsing and washing the container you collect your kitchen scraps in frequently. Remember your kitchen caddy is dishwasher safe!

You can sprinkle a little bicarb soda in the food and garden waste bin as you add food, or wrap food waste in a sheet of newspaper or paper towel.