FAQs

Containers for Change is Western Australia's container deposit scheme for eligible drink containers. Eligible containers have a 10c mark on them. When returned to a participating refund point, each container is worth 10c, allowing you to accumulate funds for your own projects, or donate to a charitable organisation, school or community group. Find out more information on the City's website or at https://www.containersforchange.com.au/.

FOGO materials undergo a 10–12-week composting process, to turn food and garden waste into an Australian certified compost. To ensure that the bags we line our caddies with will break down during this process, they need to be certified compostable to Australian standards. 

If purchasing FOGO liners, look for the Australian certification symbol, known colloquially as the 'seedling logo'. This means that it has been tested for FOGO composting conditions (and even in home composting settings), and successfully breaks down into nothing over the 10–12-week process. 

Liners with this symbol can be collected from the City's Civic Centre or any City library free of charge (2 per year) or purchased from major supermarkets and hardware stores. 

Your lime green-lidded FOGO bin is for food organics and garden organics. This includes:

All food organics including:

• Vegetable and fruit scraps
• Meat and bones
• Seafood
• Eggshells
• Teabags and coffee grinds
• Dairy products
• Take away food.

Garden organics:

• Grass clippings
• Prunings, cuttings, trimmings
• Twigs and sticks
• Palm fronds
• Weeds.

Other compostable items, including:

• Animal droppings
• Hair
• Paper products with food oil on them (e.g. pizza boxes)
• Tissues, paper towel and shredded paper. 
• Certified Compostable Liners to Australian Standard AS 4736 - look for the seedling logo

Your yellow-lidded recycling bin is for items that we can make new items out of - recycle just the five (5). This includes:

• Glass bottles and jars - lids removed.
• Paper (including newspaper and magazines) - not shredded.
• Cardboard - flattened.
• Plastic bottles and containers - lids removed.
• Steel and aluminium cans.

To help us make the most out of our recyclables, keep recyclables:

• Loose (not in bags).
• Rinsed and free from food residue.
• Lids off.

Please don't put these items in your recycling bin:

• Aerosol cans or gas bottles
• Batteries or electronic items
• Clothing or textiles
• Materials in Plastic bags
• Nappies, hygiene or sanitary products
• Soft plastics (e.g. plastic bags, wrappers)
• Ropes, cables or hose
• Coffee cups 
• UHT cartons (e.g. long-life milk, shelf stable juice cartons)