Waste Management Strategy Consultation

The NSW State Government recently released announced a target of 80 per cent of waste diverted from landfill across the state as well as the introduction of Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) bins to all households by 2030. In response, Council is seeking your feedback to develop a Waste Management Strategy to set the framework for the delivery of waste services that not only meets the State Government targets but also our community needs and expectations, but also guarantee reliability, affordability, and sustainability.

Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) is a kerbside collection service that all Council’s in NSW must implement by 2030, allowing for food scraps to be added to your green kerbside bin.

When we introduce FOGO to Singleton, there may be a change to the kerbside collection service.

The size and number of bins collected from households each week will remain the same, though green bins will be collected weekly, and red (general waste) and yellow (recycling) collected fortnightly. Residents will have the option to opt-in to a weekly red bin collection, but this will incur a small additional service charge.

About a quarter of the waste placed in red (general waste) kerbside bins are food scraps, which can be recycled into compost.

Councils in NSW are bound by the NSW Government waste target of diverting 80% of waste from landfill. Currently, Singleton is achieving 36% diversion across green and yellow kerbside bins, which will increase to approximately 60% upon the successful implementation of FOGO.

In response to the State Government mandate that all households in NSW are to have access to a food organics and garden organics (FOGO) kerbside collection service by 2030, Council will be implementing a weekly FOGO service in the coming years, which will utilise the existing green lid bin. We would like to gain an understanding of our residents’ waste habits to allow Council to make this change in a way that best suits our community.

Managing your waste is one of Council’s most important jobs. Each household in the Singleton local government area has an average of 22 kilograms of waste collected through their kerbside bins per week – only a third of which is recovered or recycled with the rest sent to landfill.

About a quarter of the waste placed in red (general waste) kerbside bins are food scraps, which can be recycled into compost. The introduction of a FOGO collection services will reduce the amount of waste in the red lid bin significantly by up to a half of its current volume depending on the circumstances of each household, as it will allow you to dispose of all your food organics, including vegetable and fruit peelings, bread, rice, pasta, meat and seafood, in your green lid bin. 

Council is not taking away services from any residents, and residents will have a choice in their level of service. Each service level will have different costs associated with it.

Based on the evidence from other Council areas that have already introduced FOGO, this reduction in the waste volume within the red lid bin has meant most households no longer require a weekly red lid bin collection.

Council understands that all households are different and therefore the option to maintain a weekly red lid bin service will be available to residents. However, as the provision of kerbside waste services is a user pays service via the Domestic Waste Service Charge, residents electing to maintain a weekly service will have a higher annual charge than those who elect to receive a fortnightly red lid bin collection.

The draft Singleton Waste Management Strategy will be placed on public exhibition for community feedback later this year.