Food waste recycling

Recycling food waste is simple! All Casey residents can now put household food scraps straight into their dark red garden waste bin. Council will collect your garden and food waste to create compost.

How to use Casey’s Food Waste Recycling service

To use the service, you must have a dark red food and garden waste bin. If you do not have one, you can order these bins online from Council.
Choose a container or kitchen caddy to collect your household food scraps. Keep this container on the kitchen bench so it is easy to remember to use it.
Put in food scraps and waste. Acceptable items include all fruit and vegetable scraps, meat, bones and seafood, dairy, bread and noodles, leftovers and spoiled food.
Remember, food must be nude! Do not include any packaging with your food waste, including biodegradable bags, as they cannot be processed. Paper towel and newspaper are an exception. These may be used to line your food scraps containers or wrap food to lessen smells. View the full list of unacceptable items.
Take your food scraps container outside and empty it into the dark red food and garden waste bin.
The food and garden waste bin is collected as usual every fortnight.

Acceptable and unacceptable items

Contaminated food and garden waste ends up being sent to landfill. To ensure this doesn't happen, just follow the acceptable items list.

Acceptable food waste	Unacceptable food waste
All food leftovers (including meat, bones, coffee grounds, paper towels etc.) Garden organics (including grass and small prunings) Fruits and vegetables (including citrus and hard-to-compost items) Meat and bones (both cooked and raw) Fish and seafood (excluding hard shells such as oyster shells) Eggs and eggshells All bakery items including bread and cakes Rice, pasta, cereal and noodles Loose tea leaves and coffee grounds (excluding tea bags and coffee pods) Soups, sauces, curries and dips Cooking oil (small amounts only. Pour it in, no containers) Fast food leftovers Plate scrapings Spoiled food Small amounts of used kitchen paper towel, napkins, paper bags, newspaper and tissues Weeds and flowers Grass and leaves Garden prunings (including weeds and rose trimmings) Small sticks, toothpicks, skewers and uncoated chopsticks Food-spoiled papers	Plastic or biodegradable bags (these do not break down in the composting process) Food packaging; including aluminium foil, cling wrap, fruit stickers and containers Nappies (including compostable and biodegradable) Medical waste Coffee pods and tea bags Coffee cups (including compostable) Pet poo and kitty litter (including biodegradable litter) Ash and tree stumps Treated and painted timber Concrete, bricks and rocks Glass Metal Dishcloths or textiles Cigarette butts Drier lint and vacuum cleaner dust Biodegradable and compostable bags, cutlery and paper plates

acceptable items for food waste recycling

All food leftovers (including meat, bones, coffee grounds, paper towels etc.)
Garden organics (including grass and small prunings)
Fruits and vegetables (including citrus and hard-to-compost items)
Meat and bones (both cooked and raw)
Fish and seafood (excluding hard shells such as oyster shells)
Eggs and eggshells
All bakery items including bread and cakes
Rice, pasta, cereal and noodles
Loose tea leaves and coffee grounds (excluding tea bags and coffee pods)
Soups, sauces, curries and dips
Cooking oil (small amounts only. Pour it in, no containers)
Fast food leftovers
Plate scrapings
Spoiled food
Small amounts of used kitchen paper towel, napkins, paper bags, newspaper and tissues
Weeds and flowers
Grass and leaves
Garden prunings (including weeds and rose trimmings)
Small sticks, toothpicks, skewers and uncoated chopsticks
Food-spoiled papers

icons of things that don't go in food waste recycling

Plastic or biodegradable bags (these do not break down in the composting process)
Food packaging; including aluminium foil, cling wrap, fruit stickers and containers
Nappies (including compostable and biodegradable)
Medical waste
Coffee pods and tea bags
Coffee cups (including compostable)
Pet poo and kitty litter (including biodegradable litter)
Ash and tree stumps
Treated and painted timber
Concrete, bricks and rocks
Glass
Metal
Dishcloths or textiles
Cigarette butts
Drier lint and vacuum cleaner dust
Biodegradable and compostable bags, cutlery and paper plates

Plastic bags and bin liners cannot be recycled, including compostable or biodegradable ones. They do not break down in the composting process. To avoid bin smells, line your food waste container with used paper towel or newspaper as these are accepted in your food and garden waste bin.

Pet poo also cannot go into food and garden waste. Australia has strict standards on animal products used for composting. Please dispose of pet poo in your normal rubbish bin.

Download Council's Food Waste Recycling Guide for more details about the service.

Why should I recycle my food waste?

Reducing food waste saves money. The average family in Victoria loses about $2200 a year from wasting food, and almost 250,000 tonnes of food waste is sent to landfill each year. That’s nearly one in five shopping bags per week!

Councils across Victoria are now providing food waste recycling services for their residents. Recycling food waste is good for the environment, returning valuable nutrients to the earth. It also reduces the production of methane and the volume of waste sent to landfill.

Benefits to Casey residents

Currently, the contents of your garden bin are turned into mulch. In August, the food and garden waste will create valuable compost and soil conditioner.

Victorian farmers will use the compost to grow healthy crops and pastures that produce food for everyone. Today’s food and green waste can grow tomorrow’s lunch!

For more information or tips on reducing food waste in your home, visit Love Food Hate Waste or Sustainability Victoria.

Home composting

If you are already composting, please continue! By using your home compost and the council service, you can recycle 100% of your household food waste.

The new service simply allows you to place bones, meat, citrus, onions and other hard-to-compost items in your garden waste bin for commercial composting.

Avoiding bin smells and pests

Suggestions for preventing odours and pests in your food and garden waste bin include:

Keep your food and garden waste bin in the shade.
Line your bin with garden prunings to stop food scraps sticking to the bottom of the bin.
Layer food waste in between lawn clippings or garden prunings.
Wash your bin out from time to time.
Store food scraps in a sealed bucket or container until the night before your bin day. Empty scraps into your food and garden waste bin before it is collected.
Keep seafood, bones, and meat scraps in the freezer until the night before your collection day.
Do not overfill your bin or caddy. Keep the lid securely closed.
Sprinkle some bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) in your caddy and food and garden waste bin to absorb smells.
Clean up any spills or mess around your caddy or bin.
Let hot food cool down before placing it in your caddy or bin.
Line your caddy with a piece of newspaper or wrap food waste in a small amount of used paper towel or newspaper.
Store your caddy in the fridge.
Rinse your caddy regularly. For a thorough clean, wash with detergent or eucalyptus oil or place it in the dishwasher.

Your bin days

Your bin days have not changed. The garden and food waste bin will still be collected every fortnight. You can find out when your bins are collected through our handy online tool.

More information

What you can put in your bins