Council has introduced a new organics recycling service called 'Kitchen to Compost' which now allows food scraps to be placed into your green garden bin along with garden organics. This new service will reduce greenhouse emissions as well as help to reduce the amount of waste we are sending to landfill by almost half!

The following links will provide all the information you need to know about how to use the service and the related environmental benefits.

Kitchen to Compost brochure (PDF File)

Frequently Asked Questions (PDF File)

How does this service work?

We will collect food scraps from your green bin as part of our weekly waste service. All you need to do is place food scraps into your existing green garden wheelie bin along with garden organics for recycling. Food scraps may be wrapped in newspaper if preferred.

Wrapping food scraps in newspaper

What we collect in your green bin

• Grass clippings
• Leaves
• Flowers
• Weeds
• Small prunings and branches
• Fruit and vegetable scraps
• Meat, fish scraps and bones
• Dairy products (cheese, yogurt)
• Egg shells
• Tea bags and coffee grounds
• Bread, rice, pasta, cereal
• Out of date and spoiled food
• Left overs from your plate and take away food

• DO NOT overfill your bin, make sure the lid is closed to avoid spillages and pests
• Garden materials must be cut into pieces that fit inside your bin
• Consider layering the bottom of your green bin with newspaper or leaves/twigs to absorb liquids from food scraps

What we don’t collect

• Tree stumps or branches thicker than 150mm
• Fence palings, timber and building materials
• Sawdust, soil and rocks
• Plastic plant pots
• Plastic bags full of garden organics
• Plastic bags full of food scraps
• Pizza boxes, nappies, polystyrene, plastic, glass

Kitchen tidy bin

Council will be providing each household with a small kitchen tidy bin to collect food scraps in the kitchen, then transfer from the kitchen to your green wheelie bin. If you have not received yours, please phone Pamela Mina, Waste Projects Coordinator on 9391 7966 to order a new one.


Food scraps being tipped into kitchen tidy bin

Recycling food and garden organics

In the Woollahra municipality, almost half the waste in our garbage bins is made up of food scraps (approximately 40%). Food scraps can easily be recycled, but instead we send them to landfill where they create Methane (a powerful greenhouse gas) and leachate (toxic liquid that contaminates groundwater) as they slowly rot.

Recycling our organics is vital if we are serious about reducing our eco-footprint and managing our waste more sustainably. As part of our Kitchen to Compost service, food and garden organics will be recycled together and turned into valuable compost. This compost will be used to replenish and remediate eroded soils in the Sydney area. As you can see, unlike landfill, this is a sustainable waste management alternative which results in more positive, long term environmental outcomes for our community and environment.

Composting and worm farming are also great alternatives for managing your organic waste. See our page on composting and worm farming to learn how you can create your own compost at home.

Free bulk garden organics pick up - up to three times per year

We will pick up additional garden refuse, up to three times each calendar year, should you make this request. We will collect this refuse on the same days as the regular garden organics service. The following requirements apply to this additional service.

Green waste must be:

• Tied in easy to handle bundles
• Tied with compostable twine or string
• No more than 1 metre in length,
• No more than 11 bundles,
• Left neatly on the kerb for collection
• NO plastic bags or cardboard boxes - leaves and smaller items must be presented in a sturdy, weather proof receptacle (plastic crate or container), otherwise cannot be collected.

We must be notified of your request before the collection day - please call our Customer Service Centre on 9391 7000.