Households across Maitland will start receiving kitchen caddies and compostable liners this month as Maitland City Council looks to equip the community with everything it needs ahead of the start of its new Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) service on 30 June.
Maitland residents will soon place all food scraps, including meat, bones, dairy, and leftovers, into their existing green organics bin along with their garden waste.
Green bins will then be collected weekly and turned into professionally treated compost. Council’s Manager Environment and Sustainability, Catherine Pepper, said the delivery of kitchen caddies is part of making the transition to FOGO as simple as possible.
“Using your caddy is easy. Keep it somewhere handy near where you prepare food, and when it’s full, or every couple of days, tip the contents, liner and all, into your green bin,” she said.
“We’re also supplying compostable liners to help keep things tidy and we’re including an info pack with everything you need to know about how to FOGO, including what can and can’t go in the bin.”
Introducing FOGO supports Maitland’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy target to divert 80 per cent of waste from landfill and aligns with NSW Government requirements for all councils to provide a FOGO service by 2030.
“It’s a big step forward in creating a more sustainable future for Maitland,” said Ms Pepper.
“We know many people are already doing their bit to reduce waste, and FOGO takes that one step further by giving everyone a practical way to keep food waste out of landfill.”
From 30 June, weekly collections will include the red general waste and green organics bins while yellow recycling bins will continue to be collected fortnightly.
Households with low general waste needs will be able to register from August to move to fortnightly red bin collections, with a reduction to their Domestic Waste Management Charge. The fortnightly collections will come into effect from 1 September.
Neighbouring Cessnock City Council and Singleton Council are also introducing weekly FOGO collections from 30 June, with residents in both communities receiving kitchen caddies and liners before the service starts.
