Meander Valley Council is steadily expanding its Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) service, offering households a way to keep food scraps and garden waste out of landfill.
When the service was expanded in 2022 across Hadspen, Prospect Vale and Travellers Rest, the logistics were significant. Waste Services Project Manager, John Chrispijn, said “We had to deliver more than 3,600 bins and caddies, create new collection routes, increase our collection truck fleet, and deliver an extensive outreach campaign.”
One key challenge was making sure that only food and garden waste went into FOGO bins. To get this right, Council invested in a clear and practical education strategy. Residents received educational collateral and had access to a helpline. The result was very low contamination rates—3 per cent or less—across the new service areas.
In the service’s first year, over 1,200 tonnes of organic waste were collected through the kerbside FOGO bins. That’s 43 per cent of all kerbside waste no longer ending up in landfill. Instead, it’s turned into compost that’s used in parks and gardens, or sold in local Tasmanian stores.
The introduction of FOGO is particularly important for Meander Valley, where both the Deloraine and Westbury landfill sites are nearing capacity. FOGO reduces the strain on these facilities and helps avoid landfill levies. It also aligns with the state’s goal to cut organic waste to landfill in half by 2030 and supports the shift to a circular economy.
Following strong community support in a recent survey, Carrick is set to join the FOGO family in July 2025. Around 300 households will be added to the service area. Council has already begun outreach to help ensure a smooth start, holding community forums and delivering updated educational collateral to residents.
For Meander Valley, FOGO is more than just a new bin. It’s a story of working together to create change from the ground up… and back again.
