Council
23 February, 2026
The pressure of not forgoing FOGO
The recent decision by Hindmarsh Shire Council to implement a Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) kerbside collection service highlights the ongoing adoption of State Government recycling policies and the unique waste management challenges faced by rural authorities compared to metropolitan areas.
The government mandated that all 79 councils implement the four-bin system by July 1, 2027, under the Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021, and for most councils across Victoria, the system has been in place for years.
The four bins are distinguished by lid colour: red for general waste, yellow for mixed recycling, purple for glass, and lime green for FOGO. This system aims to reduce the about 1.4 million tonnes of material Victorians send to landfill each year.
At its February 4 meeting, the Hindmarsh Shire Council announced it will provide fortnightly FOGO collection for urban properties, based on results from a community survey.
However, the first collection date has not been set as the council continues to address operational details, as noted by Cr Roger Aitken.
“Note that the costing provided during the consultation was calculated ... with an assumption that the local processing facility would be established, and the final costs of the service will be communicated to the community closer to the implementation date,” he said at the meeting.
Costs remain a concern for some regional councils.
For example, the West Wimmera Shire Council has not yet announced a FOGO service, despite the deadline being less than 17 months away.
A spokesperson for the WWSC told the Mail-Times they were aware of the issue.
“Council is required to plan for the introduction of the collection and processing of waste food and garden organics, known as FOGO, under new State Government waste service standards, and is aware there is strong community interest in when this may occur locally,” the spokesperson said.
“At the moment, the State Government’s waste service standards and regulations that will determine how FOGO must be delivered are still being finalised.
"Council is currently assessing what would work best for our widely dispersed communities, what infrastructure would be needed, and how to keep costs manageable for residents.
“As part of this work, council intends to undertake community consultation so local views and practical considerations can help inform how this State Government initiative is rolled out in our area.
“Once the state requirements are confirmed and the council has a clear and practical plan in place, more information will be shared with the community about timing and how the service would operate.
"Until then, existing waste and recycling services will continue, and residents who already compost at home are encouraged to keep doing so.”
Many regional councils are conducting surveys to identify practical and cost-effective ways to meet the State Government deadline.
The Northern Grampians Shire Council ran a survey of their constituents in Spring last year in conjunction with a FOGO trial in St Arnaud.
This month, the Yarriambiack Shire Council requested community feedback after announcing several changes to its waste collection services, scheduled for mid-year.
The council cited “rising operational costs, ageing facilities requiring significant investment, and the need to move towards full cost recovery.”
“With a small population spread across a large geographic area, current charges no longer cover service costs,” chief executive Tammy Smith said.
Yarriambiack Shire Council has not yet started a FOGO service, and determining collection frequency will be addressed in the survey.
The recently launched Container Deposit Scheme also affects waste management by providing residents with financial incentives, either for personal benefit or to support community organisations.
As a result, recycling bin volumes have decreased.
Therefore, each council’s implementation will likely differ, despite the goal of statewide consistency.
Dimboola resident La Vergne Lehmann welcomed the move forward by her local Hindmarsh Shire to implement a fortnightly FOGO bin collection.
With about 15 years of experience in waste management, she noted that decisions about collection frequency involve multiple factors beyond budgetary constraints.
“It's a really hard one, because the bin that will smell the most into the future will be this one,” La Vergne said.
“So ideally you'd like it weekly, but the trade-off on that is that it costs, because the council is charged a rate per bin lift.
“So while there would be a proportion of people that would prefer to see that bin go every week at the moment, until you get people understanding that what's going to go into your general waste bin is not going to be so smelly, and you won't have anywhere near as much material going into it.
"They're used to a weekly garbage service, and it is hard to convince people of that until they actually see it in action.”
Asked by the Mail-Times about other shires, such as Southern Grampians, altering their FOGO collection frequency during Spring to weekly collection, La Vergne said, “that’s reasonably unusual, because people get into habits”.
“They like to know which week their bin’s got to go out on and if you start changing it – it kind of throws them out a bit,” she laughed.
“But I think that sounds like a really great solution. I think down at Surf Coast Shire they change the frequency of their bin collections over Summer because of the increase in population.
“So sometimes you've got to look at what frequency works at different times of the year, and it's about educating your community with all of these things. It's how you work on it.”
Shires helping their residents adjust was definitely on the mind of Rainbow resident Barbara Young, who said she and her husband had moved from a north-east town that had implemented a FOGO service many years ago.
“The thing we had in Wangaratta was there were these little green, compostable bags that the council gave us – they petered out, and then you bought your own,” Barbara said.
“They were used to – if people are concerned about smell – you used these bags to then bag up kitchen waste that you could then put in the bin.”
Collaboration among regional councils also looks likely as a cost reduction measure, with Hindmarsh having explicitly said they “will continue to work with neighbouring councils to establish a local processing facility for the FOGO waste to be transported to.”