After two years of trialling a new approach to bin collections, City of Charles Sturt Council has announced its Weekly FOGO (Food Organics and Garden Organics) trial will officially wrap up on 1 May.
Since May 2023, selected households in Seaton and Tennyson have taken part in the trial, which involved weekly green bin (FOGO) collections, and fortnightly landfill (blue bin) and recycling (yellow bin) collections.
The Council says early findings from the trial have been overwhelmingly positive:
- Households involved in the trial diverted 61% of their food waste into the green bin, compared to just 8% in non-trial areas;
- That’s a significant increase in food waste being composted rather than sent to landfill;
- Participation was strong throughout the trial, with 54% of households in Tennyson and 58% in Seaton actively engaging with the weekly FOGO system.
The trial will conclude on 1 May, after which households involved will return to the standard bin collection schedule.
Given the success of the early trial, the Council is proposing that an expanded trial commence from July next year.
