Food organics and garden organics (FOGO) project
Food organics and garden organics (FOGO) waste, such as food scraps and garden clippings, make up nearly half of all waste in our domestic general waste bins.
FOGO is a resource recovery project with the potential to reduce waste and increase our city’s recycling rate from 45% to over 60% by adding a new lime green lidded bin for organic material made up of food and garden waste.
Organic material can be recovered to produce valuable resources such as compost, biogas or electricity instead of being disposed to landfill where it takes up space and produces harmful greenhouse gases.
Council currently produces electricity from landfill gases at its three landfill sites, powering up to 7,000 homes in City of Moreton Bay. Find out more about how we are turning landfill gas into energy.
Introducing a FOGO service to our residents will complement our existing waste collection services. This aligns with our commitment to the SEQ Waste Management Plan and Queensland’s Organics Strategy 2022-2032.
As part of the FOGO project, Council is introducing a kerbside garden organics (GO) collection service. The collection service will start in December 2024 with bins being distributed to households from September to November 2024. Find out more about the garden organics (GO) collection service.
Steps to get there
This is a major project comprising of several steps and the funding support of Queensland and Federal governments.
A detailed business case to process all food and garden waste was completed in 2023. The business case identified and evaluated processing options, informing the next steps and investment decisions.
Council continues to work with the South East Queensland Council of Mayors and the Queensland Government on the various components of the project. Our advocacy and engagement will help inform our next steps. Securing funding for a food and garden waste processing facility is one of the main goals.
State and Federal governments have announced funding through various programs. The Queensland Government has announced a $2.1 billion waste package, and all levels of government have signed off on the SEQ City Deal, which includes several waste initiatives.
Once funding is secured, we can proceed with our tender process to construct a facility to process all food and garden waste within our city. The site would be responsible for processing an estimated 60,000 to 120,000 tonnes of organic waste annually.
Stage 1 will be the implementation of a garden organics (GO) collection service. The collection service will start in December 2024 with bins being distributed to households from September to November 2024. This initiative received funding from the Queensland Government’s Growing the Recovery of Organic Waste via Food Organic Garden Organic (South-East Queensland) (GROW FOGO) Fund.
Stage 2 will then transition the garden organics service to a food organics and garden organics service. This will occur when Council secures access to a food and garden organics processing facility that meets the capacity needs of our region. This aligns with the Queensland Government's waste strategy.
We will incorporate feedback from trials being conducted in other local government areas (LGAs) across Queensland, and the 21% of LGAs already providing a FOGO service in other states.
Council currently processes approximately 45,000 tonnes of garden waste at our waste management facilities. We encourage you to make use of this service to help build a more sustainable future for City of Moreton Bay. Find out more about how you can manage and dispose of green waste.
We will keep you informed
Updates will be provided as the project progresses. Council will deliver communication and educational campaigns that will keep residents informed throughout both the GO and FOGO stages and promote awareness of the need for our own FOGO processing facility.
More information
View the frequently asked questions for more information about the project.