FOGO is changing

Published on 29 July 2024

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.

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!