What goes in each bin?

This page provides information on what can be placed in your three kerbside bins.

The City of Bayswater was an early adopter of the three-bin system, which includes the following kerbside bins:

FOGO (Food Organics Garden Organics)

• Lime green lid
• Collects food scraps, garden cuttings and food-soiled compostable items.
• 240L capacity; collected weekly

Recycling

• Yellow lid
• Collects the five – paper, cardboard, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles and containers, and aluminium and steel cans.
• 240L capacity; collected fortnightly

General Waste

• Red lid
• Collects household waste (excluding food and garden waste, recycling and hazardous waste)
• 240L capacity; collected fortnightly

Some residents living in a multi-unit development such as a townhouse, apartment or unit have a shared bulk bin collection instead of kerbside bins. If this is your situation, the information below on what goes in your general waste bin may be different for you. If you don't have a FOGO or Garden Organics bin, continue to put your food scraps and garden organics in the red-lidded general waste bin.

FOGO

Your lime green-lidded FOGO bin is for food organics, garden organics and other compostable items, and is collected weekly.

Why did we move to FOGO?

The less we send to landfill, the better for our environment. Right now, up to half the contents of our red-lid general waste bin is organic material that ends up in landfill. Under the FOGO system, we can divert this organic material from landfill and turn it into compost. This will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make a positive and lasting impact on our environment.

The WA State Government requires all local governments in Perth and Peel to move to FOGO by 2025. The City's early adoption of FOGO is part of our ongoing commitment to reduce waste and reduce greenhouse gases. Reducing the amount sent to landfill will also help minimise future landfill charges for disposal of organic waste

Place these items in your lime-green lid FOGO bin:  All food organics including:  Vegetable and fruit scraps  Meat and bones  Seafood  Eggshells  Teabags and coffee grinds  Dairy products  Take away food (no containers). Garden organics:  Grass clippings  Prunings, cuttings, trimmings  Twigs and sticks  Palm fronds  Weeds. Other compostable items, including:  Animal droppings  Kitty litter  Hair  Paper products with food oil on them (e.g. pizza boxes)  Tissues, paper towel and shredded paper.   Certified Compostable Liners to Australian Standard AS 4736 - look for the seedling logo

Do not place these items in your FOGO bin:  No products you currently put in your yellow lid recycling bin   No plastic bags (bread bags, shopping bags or garbage bags)  No plastic packaging (bubble wrap)  No nappies (including both disposable and cloth nappies)  No personal hygiene products  No treated and painted timber  No building products  No metals  No glass  No plastic plant pots, garden hoses, seedling trays or garden tools  No textiles (e.g. old clothing or cloth nappies).

Why is it important to put the right things in my FOGO bin?

Putting non-compostable items in your FOGO bin can reduce the quality of the end product. FOGO materials are processed over 8-12 weeks to assist in breaking down food scraps, garden cuttings and certified compostable liners. Non-FOGO items (particularly plastic and glass) are very difficult to remove, and therefore may end up in the end product used on your garden. If it didn’t live or grow, it’s not FOGO.

See what happens to your FOGO materials once it gets picked up from your verge here.

Recycling

Your yellow-lidded Recycling bin is for co-mingled recyclables, and is collected fortnightly,

Place these items in your yellow lid recycling bin:  Glass bottles and jars - rinsed and lids removed  Paper - not shredded (including newspaper and magazines)  Cardboard - flattened  Plastic bottles and containers - clean, empty and no lids  Steel and aluminium cans - clean and empty.   Keep recyclables: Loose, never in bags Rinsed and free from food residue Lids off

Do not place these items in your yellow lid recycling bin:  No aerosol cans or gas bottles  No batteries or electronic items  No clothes or textiles  No materials in plastic bags  No nappies, hygiene or sanitary products  No soft plastics (e.g. plastic bags and wrappers)  No ropes, cables or hose  No coffee cups  No UHT cartons (e.g. long-life milk, soy milk).

Why is it important to put the right things in my recycling bin?

Once collected, separated and processed, recycled items become valuable materials that can be used to produce new products. Some items are recycled into the same product (like bottles becoming new bottles), while others are recycled into completely new products (like cans into car parts, or glass into roadbase). Recycling produces new jobs so the economy grows, which is great when some materials, like steel and aluminium cans, can be recycled unlimitedly.

Making sure we only recycle the five means that we’re able to create a cleaner stream to sell to market, so that we can continue to recycle and send less to landfill.

See what happens to your recyclable materials once it gets picked up from your verge, here.

General waste

Your red-lidded General Waste bin is for general rubbish items, and is collected fortnightly.

Place these items in your red lid general waste bin:  General rubbish items  Soft plastics  Hygiene products, including face masks  Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) kits  Nappies  Polystyrene, foam and soft plastic packaging  Coffee pods  Meat trays  Disposable coffee cups  UHT cartons with silver linings (e.g. long-life milk)  Unusable lothing and textiles  Garden hose and rope

Do not place these items in your red lid general waste bin:  No food organics or garden organics  No clean recyclables  No hazardous waste including aerosols, light globes, chemicals or batteries  No hot ashes or liquids  No sand or soil  No building products (bricks, tiles etc.).

What if I want to reduce what I put in my general waste bin?

Some of the items listed above can be recycled or reused, but not through your kerbside recycling bin. Here’s where you can take them instead of putting them in your general waste bin:

• Clothing can be donated to charity shops, if it is in good condition (e.g. if it is good enough that you would give it to a friend). Visit https://www.charitybins.com.au/perth/ to find a charity drop-off point near you.
• If the clothing is not in a condition suitable for donation, consider recycling it through textile recycling organisation, UPPAREL.
• Some brands of coffee pods/capsules can be recycled, by dropping them off at a collection point or posting them. Nespresso accepts Nespresso-branded coffee capsules for recycling at various locations. Several brands of coffee pods/capsules offer collection programs through TerraCycle.
• Polystyrene can be taken to the Baywaste Transfer Station free of charge by City of Bayswater residents. This gets transported for recycling, to be made into household items like photo frames.

Treat landfill as the last resort.

FOGO and waste sorting in other languages

Brochures about the FOGO service are available in several languages:

• English
• Easy English
• 中文(Chinese)
• Italiano (Italian)
• Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese).

Find out more

Schedule a FOGO presentation with a waste education officer: The presentation will cover how the FOGO system will help the environment, how the move to FOGO will work, how to use your kitchen caddy, what goes in your FOGO bin and other kerbside bins, and will provide opportunities for your questions to be answered. 

• Email fogo@bayswater.wa.gov.au
• Phone the City's Waste Education Officers on 9272 0964.

Recycle Right

Want more information? Download the Recycle Right WA app or visit recycleright.wa.gov.au for an A-Z guide for your recycling, FOGO and general waste bins, plus find your nearest drop off point for items that don’t belong in any bin.