The City of Kalamunda introduced the three-bin Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) system to approximately 20,000 households in September–October 2024. This initiative aims to divert organic waste from landfill, transforming it into compost and soil conditioners.

Community Engagement

Prior to the rollout, the City conducted a comprehensive community engagement campaign, including surveys and social media outreach. The survey revealed that 86% of respondents supported the FOGO system, citing environmental benefits and improved waste management. Concerns raised included potential costs and bin sizes.

Outcomes

Since implementation, the City has observed a 4% increase in recycling rates, reaching 39% in the 2023–24 period. Contamination rates in FOGO bins have been reported as low as 1–3%, indicating strong community compliance.

A formal review began in February 2025 to support ongoing improvements and education initiatives.

Background

At the 27 October 2020 Ordinary Council Meeting Council confirmed that the City of Kalamunda will provide its Food Organic / Garden Organic waste to the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council for processing subject to an acceptable outcome to the City of Kalamunda of the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council Food Organic / Garden Organic Tender process.

This is an ongoing, multi-staged project. It is expected to be ongoing until 2022-2023.

The City of Kalamunda is considering moving to a three bin waste and recycling system, in order to divert more waste from landfill and to improve the recovery of materials.

This system, known as FOGO (Food Organics Garden Organics), will provide residents with a third waste bin for organic waste for kitchen scraps and garden debris like lawn clippings and small branches.

A FOGO system ensures a significant increase in the recovery of materials from the household waste collection and valuable compost can be created from the organic materials diverted from landfill. Where implemented, FOGO has on average, doubled recovery efforts.

This is a green, environmentally friendly approach to waste disposal and resource recovery, resulting in a more sustainable City of Kalamunda.

The aim of this survey is to understand your future requirements and aspirations for waste and recycling services within the City of Kalamunda. In addition, your feedback will assist the City with their development of a waste management and recycling strategy.

The FOGO system is part of the state government's 'Better Bins' initiative in its Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery (WARR) strategy 2030 that aims to improve waste recovery and recycling in the links section of this page.

Have Your Say

Your feedback will help the City understand your current and future requirements and aspirations for waste and recycling within the City of Kalamunda, as well as inform the development of the waste management and recycling plan.

Feedback can be provided via the online survey below or alternatively, download the survey from the document library and submit your feedback via option provided in the survey.

Feeback closes Thursday, 2 April 2020 at 5pm