In March 2025, the NSW government introduced the Protection of the Environment Legislation Amendment (FOGO Recycling) Act 2025 (FOGO Act), amending the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW). The FOGO Act mandates the collection of food organics and garden organics (FOGO) waste. The FOGO waste services are aimed at reducing food waste, reducing landfill volumes, recovering nutrients for reuse within a circular economy, and addressing national and international obligations.

This amendment will change the way households and businesses dispose of food waste and will require local councils to change the existing collection practices and contracts. There will also be additional reporting requirements for large supermarkets.

What does this mean for your household?

Changes to household waste mandates will take place from 1 July 2030. From this date, local councils will have to provide households who are provided with residual (red lid) waste collection services, with a separate FOGO collection bin suitable for holding the amount of food and garden organic waste generated by that household type. FOGO waste will be collected from households at least once each week, or as considered appropriate by the local council.

What does this mean for your business?

Changes to business waste mandates will commence operation in stages depending on the volume of waste generated and collected by the business each week. The roll out of the FOGO Act will apply to businesses from 1 July 2026 for the largest residual waste generators, followed by 1 July 2028, and then finally on 1 July 2030 all remaining businesses and relevant premises will be mandated under this legislation.

Under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act, executive liability under s169A will extend to the offences relating to non-compliance with FOGO waste mandates. This means that directors or other individuals involved in the management of the corporation who are in a position of influence can be held personally liable for offences of non-compliance. This applies to local council corporations; however, in this instance the penalties are halved.

Maximum penalties for business non-compliance are $500,000 for businesses and $250,000 for individuals, with an additional $50,000 or $25,000 respectively per day of a continuing offence.

Additional reporting requirements for supermarkets

Large supermarket operators (gross floor area of at least 1,000m2) must keep a record of the food donations made from the supermarket each month under the following categories:

  • Baked goods
  • Meat and fish
  • Fruit and vegetables
  • Chilled food
  • Frozen food
  • Non-perishable food
  • Another category of food prescribed by the regulations

If no food donations are made in the month, then this must be specified in the business records. Failure to record donations will carry penalties for each category of food to which the failure relates.

The maximum penalty for non-compliance with record keeping for large supermarkets is $250,000 for businesses, or $125,000 for individuals.

Responsibilities of Councils

By 1 July 2030, local councils will be required to provide households with FOGO bins suitable for household types. They will additionally be required to organise collection of FOGO waste at least once each week, or as otherwise considered appropriate. Councils will also be required to ensure organic wastes generated by households are not mixed with non-organic waste during transportation.

Maximum penalties of non-compliance are $500,000, with an additional $50,000 for each day of a continuing offence.

Key Takeaways

The existing waste management services will need to be updated by 1 July 2030 for most households and businesses. Larger businesses and supermarkets may have earlier dates for mandatory compliance.

There are significant penalties which are attracted to offences of non-compliance. Given these penalties, councils and businesses should review their obligations and should consider changes to be made in order to comply with this legislation.

References

Protection of the Environment Legislation Amendment (FOGO Recycling) Act 2025 (NSW)

Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW)

https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/Your-environment/Recycling-and-reuse/business-government-recycling/Food-organics-and-garden-organics

https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-02/25p4576-nsw-guide-to-best-practice-fogo-v15c.pdf