Inner West Council Introduces New FOGO & Recycling Initiative In Local Parks

The Inner West Council has expanded its Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) program to two public parks with a new trial recycling initiative.

The initiative will see Pioneers Memorial Park in Leichhardt and Enmore Park in Marrickville fitted with FOGO bins and a new purpose-built bin for bottle and cans recycling. 

The FOGO program is part of Inner West Council’s attempt to make recycling more accessible for Inner West residents and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“We know food scraps and drink containers make up a significant portion of park waste,” said Councillor Mat Howard.

“We’re looking forward to working with the Inner West community to minimise contamination in the FOGO waste stream and providing another convenient, accessible way for Inner West residents to recycle, reduce waste contamination and cut greenhouse gas emissions.” 

Both trial parks will now feature green-lid FOGO bins for food scraps such as fruit peels, leftovers, meat bones and seafood shells and bottle and can cages where visitors can drop off or collect containers for a 10-cent Return and Earn refund, with drop-off points located nearby for added convenience,

“The bottle and can cages are a simple but effective way to keep resources in use,” said a spokesperson from Inner West Resource Recovery. “They make it easy for people to drop off containers, bottles, and cans to be recycled or for others to collect and cash in through Return and Earn. This simultaneously provides park users with more ways to recycle and gives back to the community in a small but meaningful way.”

Simple recycling with real impact

In October 2023, the FOGO initiative was expanded to Inner West households in order to reduce household carbon footprints and at the time save ratepayers in the local government area $370,000 in total landfill costs. In just two years, the FOGO rollout has diverted 31,000 tonnes of organic waste from entering landfill, preventing 47,433 tonnes of CO2-e from entering the atmosphere. 

This newest trial initiative will be beneficial and have a significant impact on the nearby environment and the overall sustainability in Sydney.

“Every bit of food waste we keep out of landfill makes a difference. When food breaks down in landfill, it produces greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change and takes up unnecessary space in landfill,” the spokesperson said.

“Having FOGO bins in parks means food scraps can be separated instead of ending up in general waste. That food waste will be turned into high quality compost for farmers to grow food, instead of sitting in landfill and releasing greenhouse gas.”

The new bins will include clear signage, swing lids with locking mechanisms to prevent bulky rubbish, and nearby general waste bins. Council crews will monitor and service the bins regularly to ensure correct use and cleanliness.