Food organics and garden organics (FOGO) that are collected separately can be processed into high quality compost for use in parks, sporting fields and agriculture instead of emitting harmful greenhouse gases when it rots in landfill.

The future of our organic waste

We sought feedback on the Food and Garden Organics Mandates Proposal paper. The Paper outlines proposals for three new mandates including the collection of source-separated food and garden organics waste for households and businesses and reporting on food donations by supermarkets.

The NSW Government has set out goals under the Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041 of halving organics, including food organics, going to landfill. To achieve this, the NSW Government proposes to mandate food and garden waste collections, known as FOGO collections, for all NSW households from 2030 and food waste collections for select businesses from 2025.

The proposed mandates include:

1. Certain businesses, including large supermarkets, institutions and hospitality businesses will be required to have a source-separated food organics collection from 1 July 2025.
2. All NSW households will be required to have a source-separated FOGO collection from 1 July 2030.
3. Large supermarkets will be required to report on surplus food donations to food charities from 1 July 2025.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) consulted with the community, local councils, food businesses and charities before finalising the FOGO mandates and exemptions.

Your views on the application and exemptions in the Food and Garden Organics Mandates Proposal paper are highly valued and will inform how the mandates are implemented.

We sought your feedback on:

• If the mandate should apply to all types of households in NSW
• The suitability of a 1 July 2030 start date for all NSW households
• The suitability of the requirements for the food donation mandate for business and charities
• If exemptions to the mandates, both household and business, should be available.

Public consultation is now closed.

Please note, your feedback may include ‘personal information,' including your name, address, email, internet protocol address and any other personal information contained in your feedback.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (the EPA) must comply with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998. Visit the EPA’s privacy page and the Privacy Policy for further information on its online consultation platform.

The EPA may publish all or part of your feedback on its website, on its online consultation platform or in a consultation report. In providing us with your feedback, you consent to the EPA publishing all or part of your submission. If you would like all or part of your feedback to be withheld from publication, please let us know when making your feedback.

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All information held by the EPA is subject to the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.