Food Waste

• Food Waste flyer

• How-to Guide for using Food Waste Service(PDF, 688KB)

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Recognising the issue of food and organic waste in landfill, the NSW Government has passed legislation requiring all households in NSW to have food and garden organics services by 1 July 2030.

In Lane Cove, food waste makes up approximately 43% of the material collected in our red lid general waste bins. When sent to landfill, food waste takes up already limited landfill space, contributes to leachate, and becomes a significant source of methane - a harmful greenhouse gas.

Collecting food waste separately means it can be processed into a nutrient rich soil improver (that is sold back to the agricultural industry to help grow more food) and renewable energy. Creating valuable resources rather than contributing to environmental issues. 

CAN

• Fruit and vegetables 
• Bread, rice, and cereals  
• Coffee grinds and tea leaves 
• Meat, bones, and fish  
• Dairy products, eggs and eggshells 
• Cakes, biscuits and sweets

CAN'T

Anything that is not food. That includes:

• Packaging 
• Garden waste such as leaves, branches, flowers. 

Garden waste from the green lid bins in Lane Cove goes to a facility where it is composted into high grade compost product. This composting facility does not accept food waste. 

Keeping food waste out of this bin ensures that we maintain the high quality of this waste stream and keep the processing costs for our green waste low. Collecting the food waste separate to the garden waste also means we can make use of low emission processing technologies.

With rain and warm weather, pests can be more of an issue. If you are experiencing maggots, flies or other bugs in your kitchen caddy or food waste bin, here are a few simple tips to keep them at bay:

• store meat and dairy wastes in the fridge or freezer until the night your bins go out
• drain excess liquid from food waste (maggots thrive in moist environments)
• keep the caddy lid closed and place your caddy in a cool dry place (i.e. in a cupboard or under the sink) 
• spray the top and inside of your caddy or bin with vinegar, or a natural repellent such as eucalyptus or tea tree oil
• clean your kitchen caddy regularly using warm water and soap and dry thoroughly (the caddy is dishwasher safe).

A fruit fly trap is simple and effective - watch our quick how-to video below.

1. Grab a cup or a jar
2. Combine some apple cider vinegar with a drop of dish soap
3. Cover with a lid with holes (glad wrap works great)
4. Change over the mix every few days.

• Rinse your caddy and food waste bin each time it is empty. Give it a scrub using detergent and / or bicarbonate soda (i.e. bicarb) to remove any food particles off the plastic. For your wheelie bin, using a small-head broom to easily scrub inside the bin works well. Rinse it out and leave upside to drain and dry out.
• Your kitchen caddy can be put into the dishwasher as well.
• Change your caddy liner every 1-2 days.  
• Place full liners in your fridge or freezer until the night before bin day, then place in food waste bin.
• Sprinkle bicarbonate soda (i.e. bicarb) into the wheelie bin on top of the food liners to help soak up any liquid and absorb any smells.

  

 

The compostable liners are made of all natural materials as they are designed to break down along with the food.

This means that the liners can be tricky to open if they get moist or the humidity is high. 

The liners that Council provide are flat-packed in a bag and folded in half. You need to open them twice before they can fit inside your caddy. Council has developed an instructional video (below) to demonstrate how to open the liners. 

Council provides caddies and caddy liners to all households with a Food Waste Service.

A new supply of liners will be delivered to participating households every 6 months. 

If you run out of liners in-between the 6 monthly delivery, you can collect 1 pack of liners from Council's Civic Centre (front counter) or Library (from May 2026). You will need to provide your address so that we can understand household behaviours and ensure that the supply of liners is managed appropriately.  

It is best to use the liners provided by Council, as the processing facility is expecting the food waste to be in these. 

Each load of food waste delivered by to the processing facility can contain thousands of liners filled with food waste. With so much food waste to sort though, anything that looks different to the Council supplied liner could be picked out of the pile and disposed of as general waste.  Also, if there are significant numbers of 'different looking' bags in the load, we run the risk of the whole load being rejected.  

If you must use a different liner as an interim measure while waiting for more from Council, please make sure they are the same lime green colour and are marked with the symbol for the Australian Standard for commercial composting AS 4736. 

Yes - Council understands that some people may not generate a lot of food waste or may prefer to put their food waste straight into the food waste bin. If you would like to opt-out of receiving the 6 monthly delivery of caddy liners, simply complete this form.

If your kitchen caddy is damaged (e.g. missing or cracked lid or handle, or a cracked body), please contact Council for a replacement.

You can either drop it off at the front counter in Council's Civic Centre (48 Longueville Rd, Lane Cove) or create a service request here.

We love composting and encourage our local composters to keep their home compost systems running. You can still use your food waste bin for items such as dairy, bones, meat and fish scraps that are generally best kept out of home compost systems.  Every little bit diverted from landfill makes a difference. 

Also, under the legislation set by the NSW Government, the service must be provided to all households. There is no option to opt-out of the service. 

Collecting food waste separate to the garden waste means we can make use of low emission processing technologies and maintain the quality of our garden waste stream. It is also more cost effective. 

Food waste bins will be collected weekly, on your normal bin day.

No. All other waste services will remain exactly the same.

Council is taking a staged approach to rolling out the Food Waste Service to townhouses and units, with these types of households able to join the service from 2027 onwards.

This is because the types of complexes across Lane Cove can vary significantly in size, layout and age. Rolling the service out to these types of developments over a number of years means that we can work closely with individual buildings to understand what works best for different building types.

If you live in a townhouse or unit and would like to join the service, please complete this Expression of Interest form. 

The Waste team will contact the building manager or strata to begin the conversation around how to best roll out the Food Waste Service for that particular building.

All households in Lane Cove Council will have the Food Waste Service by July 2030, as required by the NSW Government mandate.