Garden organics (GO) collection service
City of Moreton Bay's new garden organics (GO) collection service starts from 2 December 2024. Eligible residents receive a 240-litre garden organics bin with a lime green lid.
Why a GO bin is important for our city
This service contributes to a more sustainable future for City of Moreton Bay.
It diverts 15,000 tonnes of material from landfill each year.
It reduces greenhouse gas emissions, supporting our goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2039.
It moves us towards a circular economy model of reuse, reduce, and recycle.
Who receives a GO bin?
All houses in our city with a land area between 300 to 2,000 square metres receive a 240-litre GO bin.
We have delivered approximately 122,000 bins during initial GO service establishment - one of the largest bin rollouts in Australia to date.
Residential properties with a land size smaller than 300 or larger than 2,000 square metres will be able to opt in to the service from 1 March 2025.
What can I put in my GO bin?
Items you can put in your GO bin include:
- tree, shrub or plant branches (cut down to fit in the bin)
- leaves and other garden trimmings
- grass clippings, weeds, plants and flowers.
Garden organic material can go directly into your GO bin. The material should not be in bags, boxes, or any other type of container.
GO bin hints
To help prevent garden organics from sticking to your bin, you can:
- line your bin with shrubs and sticks first to stop grass sticking to the sides and bottom of the bin.
- cut branches to fit in the bin, don't squash them to fit.
- ensure your bin load is not too heavy, it should be less than 40 kilograms.
What cannot go in your GO bin
Do not put these items in your garden organics bin:
- plastic or plastic bags
- general waste or food scraps
- compostable packaging and containers
- soil or potting mix
- gravel, bricks, concrete or rocks
- potted plants
- garden tools and accessories like plant pots
- treated timber
- asbestos containing material
- animal waste such as droppings or manure
- materials other than garden organics.
Contaminants reduce the quality and value of the mulch produced from garden organic waste, which increases processing costs. This results in additional costs to ratepayers.
When is my GO bin emptied?
Starting from 2 December 2024, your GO bin is emptied on a fortnightly basis, on the same day as your general waste bin, on the alternate week to your recycling bin. Find your bin collection day.
How to identify your kerbside bin by lid colour
The Australian Standards for wheelie bin lid colours are:
- red for general waste
- lime green for garden organics
- yellow for co-mingled recyclables.
Some residents currently have a general waste bin with a pale green lid. With funding support from the State Government, we will roll out a general waste bin replacement program in 2025 and 2026.
Some bins will have the pale green lid replaced with a red lid while other older bins with pale green lids will be completely replaced with new red-lidded bins. Below is an example of a general waste bin with pale green lid:
Apply to opt out of the GO service
GO bins are a standard service for all residential properties with a land size between 300 and 2,000 square metres.
Please note that the criteria for opting out of the GO service have recently been updated.
Property owners or authorised real estate agents can apply to opt out of the garden organics service if they:
- use a professional gardening service that removes the garden organics from the property, or
- use a commercial garden organics collection contractor
- compost garden organics on site, or
- have less than 25 square metres of greenspace at their property.
If you are a tenant, please contact your property owner or authorised real estate agent to apply.
Residential properties with a land size smaller than 300 or larger than 2,000 square metres do not need to opt out. They will only receive a GO bin if they decide to opt in.
To lodge a GO service opt-out application please use the link below. Council may request additional information from applicants. Please note general waste and recycling bins are not intended for garden organics and are monitored for presence of this material.
Please note that if your residential property has a land size between 300 and 2,000 square metres, even if your application to opt-out is approved, you might still have received a bin. Please store it safely and do not use it. We will contact you to advise how and when the unused bin will be collected.
Apply to opt out of the garden organics service.
Apply to opt in to the GO service or order additional bins
Property owners or authorised agents of residential properties with a land size smaller than 300 or larger than 2,000 square metres can apply to opt-in to the GO service from 1 March 2025.
Residential property owners or authorised real estate agents will be able to request additional GO bins from 1 March 2025.
If you are a tenant, please contact your property owner or authorised real estate agent to apply.
The service charge for each 240-litre GO bin is $67 per year. 240 litres is the only size bin available.
More information
To find out more view the Garden Organics (GO) collection service frequently asked questions.
If you have any further questions, contact Council.
This initiative is supported by the Queensland Government’s Recycling and Jobs fund.