Food and garden bin

Your food and garden bin has a green lid and is collected fortnightly.

✅ What CAN go in the food and garden bin?

Note: Food waste can be wrapped in a single sheet of newspaper or paper towel. Newspaper and paper towel on their own cannot go in this bin.

	✅ Meat and bones (cooked and raw)
	✅ Seafood
	✅ Eggshells
	✅ Dairy e.g. butter, cheese, yoghurt
	✅ Fruits
	✅ Vegetables and tofu (cooked and raw)
	✅ Onions and garlic
	✅ Bread and Rice
	✅ Pasta
	✅ Cereal
	✅ Tea, loose
	✅ Coffee grounds (not pods)
	✅ Garden clippings e.g. branches and twigs
	✅ Grass cuttings e.g. weeds and flowers
	✅ Leaves
	✅ Small branches (under 30cm)

❌ What CAN’T go in the food and garden bin?

	❌ Plastic bags
	❌ Compostable and biodegradable bags
	❌ Food containers and packaging
	❌ Coffee pods
	❌ Tea bags
	❌ Fruit stickers
	❌ Pet poo and litter
	❌ Nappies and wipes
	❌ Bricks, concrete and rubble
	❌ Garden tools and pots
	❌ Large logs (larger than 30cm)
	❌ Treated wood
	❌ Ash and soil

What happens to the bin contents?

Your food and garden waste is taken to Veolia organics facility in Bulla. It goes through screening to remove contaminants, followed by in-vessel composting using aeration which pasteurises the material in line with Australian Standard 4454. The resulting compost and mulch are used in commercial agricultural settings. 

Paper food scrap bags

To make it easier to use your food and garden bin, Council has designed and developed paper food scrap bags you can use to line your compost caddy or wrap your food scraps. You can pick up paper bags for free from the front desk at any Council+ location, which includes all Hobsons Bay libraries and the Altona Civic Centre. Residents can collect a maximum of two packs of paper bags per day. 

Residents are reminded to only use Council-provided green bins, with the Hobsons Bay logo on the front and the light-green lid. This helps the right truck collect the right bin every time.