Food and garden waste (green waste)
Key points
- The food and garden waste bin is a paid, optional service, collected every 2 weeks.
- If you don't have a food and garden waste bin, you can order one online.
- Food and garden waste collected in this bin gets turned into compost for Victorian farms and gardens, instead of creating harmful greenhouse gases in landfill.
Your food and green waste bin has a lime-green lid
The optional food and garden waste bin has a lime-green lid and is collected every 2 weeks, on the alternate week to your recycling bin.
What you can put in your green waste bin
- Food scraps and leftovers, including meat, seafood and dairy
- Garden waste, including grass clippings small pruning's and weeds
- Other organic material, including paper towel, tissues, serviettes, shredded paper, hair and animal feathers, soiled cardboard.
For a more detailed list visit What you can put in your bins
Compostable liners for your caddy
Food scraps can go in the bin loose or wrapped in paper towel or newspaper. Certified compostable caddy liners are also accepted (must be lime green with the AS4736 logo pictured below).
Please visit our customer service centre to pick up free compostable liners.
If you can't visit in person, liners can also be ordered online - please allow 2-3 weeks for them to arrive via Australia Post. If this link doesn't work for you, please email mail@cardinia.vic.gov.au with your name and postal address
- You won't be charged for the liners supplied by council.
- 75 liners will be supplied, which should last approximately 6 months.
- Limited to one order per household every 6 months.
- The liners are made from corn starch and break down fully during the composting process, as per the AS4736 standard.
Order a green waste bin
- All green bins come with a free benchtop caddy, to help collect food scraps.
- Green bins are available in 2 sizes, the standard 240-litre (same size as your yellow lidded recycling bin) and a smaller 120-litre size.
- If you are a ratepayer, submit the online service request form below to order a green waste bin. If you rent, please contact your landlord or property manager to request this service.
Visit Order a bin to view fees and place your order.
Tips for using your food and green waste bin
Kitchen caddy tips
Odours and smells are common with food, but following these tips can minimise smells and put all your food and garden waste to good use with confidence.
- Let hot food cool down before putting it in your caddy.
- Keep your caddy closed and out of direct sunlight.
- Empty your caddy frequently, every 2-3 days and rinse after each use.
- Freeze smelly or rotten food until the night before your collection.
- Wrap food scraps in paper towel, newspaper or line your caddy with compostable liners, AS4736 standard (look for the logo pictured to the right) available from our customer service centre.
Green waste bin tips
- Add garden waste before food waste, to stop food sticking to the bottom of the bin.
- Each bin must not weigh over 70 kilograms.
- Layer food waste in between garden waste. This will help to reduce smells.
- Put your green bin out for collection each fortnight, even if it isn’t full.
- Keep your green waste bin in the shade.
- Do not overfill your bin; make sure you can close the lid properly.
- Let us know if your green waste bin lid is damaged, as a damaged lid won’t contain smells properly.
- Wash your bin out from time to time.
What happens to my food and garden waste?
Your food and garden waste is taken to Cleanaway’s South East Organics facility where it is shredded and later processed through in-vessel composting. These controlled conditions allow material to decompose efficiently, becoming compost and soil conditioner. The compost is used on Victorian farms and gardens, returning nutrients back to earth.
Why using a green waste bin is good for the planet
If green waste goes to landfill, it decomposes without oxygen and produces gases including methane, which has a global warming potential 25 times greater than carbon dioxide.
Decomposition in this way also produces a liquid called leachate, which contains harmful substances and must be carefully managed.
More info: Back to Earth website
Other options to manage your food and garden waste
Composting and worm farms
Composting your food and garden waste is one easy way to reduce landfill and protect the environment. Plus, you will get to enjoy the benefits of using your own compost, and your garden will thank you for it! Cardinia Shire residents can start their home composting with the help of rebates and workshops.
Share waste
If you don’t have space for a composting system, or home composting isn’t for you, but you want to keep food out of landfill, you might have a neighbour who is composting or has animals to feed and is willing to take your food scraps.
Visit ShareWaste to find someone in your neighbourhood who's willing to accept food scraps , or register to start accepting food scraps.
Hard waste collection
You can get rid of larger amounts of garden waste using our bookable hard waste collection. Households in Cardinia Shire can book 2 free collections per calendar year. Garden waste must be bundled for these collections.
Green waste drop-off days
We offer free green waste drop-off days at recovery centres on selected dates.