By now, you would have had a notification from your council about the changes to what can and can’t go into your green bin.
The green bin changes are state-wide – all councils are obliged to implement the changes to the Food and Garden Organics (lime-green lid) roadside bin service.
This is the change – your green bin should only be used for food scraps and garden waste.
Fibre-based products including paper towels, cardboard or paper packaging, tissues or pizza boxes can no longer go in the green bin.
The exception to this rule is paper used to wrap food scraps such as a kitchen caddy lined with newspaper. The bright green Australian Certified Council-approved compostable kitchen caddy liners used to contain food scraps can be put into the green bin.
You would have been issued with these bags when you first got your kitchen caddy for scraps.
Why do we have to change what we put in the green bin?
The directive has come from the Environmental Protection Authority.
Recent testing found that many fibre-based products claim to be compostable but contain chemicals and substances that can harm the environment and our health.
Keeping those potentially harmful items out of our green bins means that we can create high-quality commercial compost to support food production and soil health.
So you’re absolutely clear here is what can and can’t go into your green bin each week.
YES – here are the things that can go in the green bin
Fruit and vegetable scraps
Meat and bones
Seafood and shells
Pasta, bread, rice and cereal
Eggs and Dairy products
Loose tea leaves and coffee grinds
Garden waste (leaves, clippings, weeds etc)
Council approved compostable kitchen caddy liners that comply with AS 4736-2006 and paper used to wrap food scraps such as newspaper.
Note: All other non-soiled paper should go in your yellow-lid recycling bin, and any other bags that don’t meet AS 4736-2006 belong in the red-lid bin.
NO – these things should not go in the green bin
Fibre-based products (bamboo, cardboard, paper etc)
Paper towels, serviettes, tissues, napkins and shredded paper
Compostable or biodegradable products (excluding AS 4736-2006 kitchen caddy liners )
Vacuum cleaner dust
Washing machine and dryer lint
Pet poo and poo bags
Tea and coffee bags
Treated wood and timber
Your green waste is taken to a composting facility where it is broken down into nutrient-rich compost, which is supplied to local farms, landscaping businesses and backyard gardens.
For more info visit https://newaste.org.au/scrap/
Councils advise residents to put their green bin out every week, even if it isn’t full as the green waste attracts pests and odour.
To help keep your green bin odour:
● Keep your bin in a shady area
● Keep the lid firmly closed so pests don’t get in – make sure you cut tree branches & palm fronds to size so your lid is not left ajar)
● Store smelly food scraps such as meat and seafood scraps in a compostable bag in your freezer until bin day.
● Cover food scraps in your bin with a layer of garden waste to stop pests from getting to the food.
Kyogle Council will have a stall at the Kyogle Bazaar at Amphitheatre Park on Saturday, March 23 from 9am-12:30pm to discuss how to use your 3-bin system.
Residents will have the opportunity to win a $50 Ritchies IGA gift card simply by showing the council you know how to sort your waste correctly. Plus you can pick up another roll of liners for your kitchen caddy for FREE (limit one per household).
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