Keep rubbish out of your food and garden organics bin

Creating high-quality compost for community gardens and farms across Victoria starts with you. Help turn your food scraps and garden clippings into recycled compost which improves soil quality and helps our food grow. You can help by keeping rubbish out of your food and garden organics bin.

On average, over 667,000 tonnes of scraps are collected from household organics bins in Victoria every year. That’s enough recovered materials to fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) twice.

Most Victorians already have a food and garden organics bin. By 2030, all Victorians will be able to recycle their food scraps and garden clippings in their own lime green bin or at a drop-off location.

How to use your food and garden organics bin

Follow these tips to help create high-quality compost.

Keep rubbish out of your lime green bin

Keep contaminants such as plastic packaging, fruit stickers and other rubbish, out of your food and garden organics bin. Contaminants can damage equipment at processing facilities and risk the safety of workers. They also reduce the quality of recycled compost. Only put accepted items in the food and garden organics bin to avoid contamination.

Check your council website

If you are unsure what goes into your food and garden organics bin, visit your council's website to find out. Councils have a list of what can and cannot go in each bin which is specific to your area. If you are staying with a friend or on holiday, remember to check the council website in that area too.

Collect scraps in a kitchen caddy

Make it easy to sort and collect your food scraps by setting up a small container (like an ice cream tub) in your kitchen. You can also check if your council provides kitchen caddies. Empty the container into the food and garden organics bin when it is full. Give it a rinse and then it is ready to collect your veggie and meat scraps again.

Avoid bin smells

Keep your lime green bin pest free and smelling rosy by using these simple tips:

• store your bin in a shady spot with the lid closed
• freeze smelly food scraps and put them in the bin the day before collection
• layer garden clippings between food scraps.

What happens to your scraps

Your food scraps and garden clippings become nutrient rich compost which plants love. Farms and community gardens across Victoria use this compost to improve soil quality and grow our delicious fresh food.

Processing organic materials into compost follows strict regulations and standards in Victoria. Operators must meet policies set by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA).

The contents of the food and garden organics bin go to a licensed composting facility. These facilities undertake a series of quality assurance processes and tests. They remove contaminants from the materials before processing. Recycled compost products undergo routine testing to ensure product safety.

Why recycling your food scraps and garden clippings is important

Food thrown into your general rubbish bin ends up in landfill. There it produces harmful greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. This is dangerous for the environment and public health. It is also costly as councils (and ratepayers) pay more to send waste to landfill.

When you put food scraps into the food and garden organics bin, you help:

• reduce the amount of material going to landfill
• reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• create valuable new products used across Victoria.

The Victorian Government is making large investments into organics processing facilities. These facilities will help to recycle more of your food and garden scraps here in Victoria.

Do you have a question about food and garden organics services in your area? Check your local council website to find out more.