Managing food waste

Food and garden waste can go in the green bin. You can also wrap food scraps in newspaper or paper towel.

Items that can go in the green bin include:

• fruits and vegetables
• bread, cereal, rice, pasta and noodles
• meal scraps
• meat and fish scraps including bone
• dairy and egg shells
• coffee grounds and tea leaves
• leaves and twigs
• garden prunings, grass and weeds
• cold ash

You cannot put bags of any kind into the green bin, even if they are compostable or biodegradable.

• Bin liners, including compostable or biodegradable ones
• Nappies or sanitary pads
• Animal faeces, including dog poo
• Cat litter
• Tea bags (paper/silk/biodegradable) and tags – but the tea leaves can go in
• Coffee pods – but the coffee grounds can go in
• Stickers (e.g. fruit stickers)
• Elastic bands
• Food packaging, even if it's compostable or biodegradable
• Plastics and glass
• Textiles including wool and cotton

Tea bag tags and fruit stickers contain plastic that will not break down in the composting process.

Yes, in limited amounts.

The compost facility can accept small amounts of paper towel or newspaper (that are used to wrap loose food scraps).

Larger quantities of paper should go in the recycling (yellow) bin.

Yes. This includes noxious weeds.

Nillumbik’s kerbside green waste is taken to Veolia processing facility where it is composted in large containers at high temperatures (up to 60 degrees Celsius) for approximately two weeks.

This process kills any weeds, seeds, harmful bacteria and other pathogens. 

No.

While some cat litter is made from paper, it is not accepted in the green waste bin as it can reduce the quality of the compost.

Only small amounts of paper are accepted for the purpose of wrapping loose food scraps.

Pet poo is also not accepted as animal faeces may contain harmful pathogens. The composting process at Veolia compost facility involves a manual sorting process and could potentially expose people to these hazards.

No.

Compostable plastic bags including ones marked 'degradable' or 'biodegradable', are not accepted at the compost facility as it reduces the quality of compost created.

Nillumbik’s green waste is taken to Veolia compost facility. The composting process happens over a short time-frame. This means farms and gardens can receive the compost not long after it was a food scrap in your kitchen.

There's not enough time for compostable plastics to completely break down. Understandably, farmers do not want plastic pieces (or what looks like plastic pieces) on their crops.

Veolia services most councils in the north-west region of Melbourne, so we are not alone in not being able to accept compostable plastic items.

We take them to Veolia compost facility in Bulla.

The material is processed in large in-vessel composters where the temperature and humidity are carefully monitored to create the ideal composting environment to meet Australian composting standards.

The process takes about 10-14 days. The material is then taken to mature in mounds outside and sold to farms across Victoria.

View the process.

Green waste bins are collected weekly.

To find out what day your bins are collected, see check my bin day.

Before 2003, audits of Nillumbik's landfill bins showed that almost half of the contents were food waste.

When food breaks down in landfill it releases methane, a harmful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Saving food waste from landfill and turning it into compost instead is a much better outcome for the environment.

Also, the cost of disposing waste to landfill is continually increasing.

When food is removed from the landfill bin and collected weekly in the green waste bin, there is no longer a need for a weekly landfill collection. 

Under Victorian Government legislation, all councils across Victoria are required to provide a food waste recycling service by July 2027. 

We understand that fortnightly collection of the landfill bin can be difficult for some households, particularly larger families or families with young children in nappies.

Landfill bin options:

Households can upsize to a 140L, order an extra landfill bin or have a weekly collection for the time needed.

These options attract a charge due to the landfill disposal costs.

Green waste bin options:

If you have a small 120L green waste bin, you can upsize to a larger 240L bin for free.

Households can have up to two 240L green waste bins. There is an added cost for this option.   

Find out your bin options.

Before 2003, audits of Nillumbik's landfill bins showed that almost half of the contents were food waste.

When food breaks down in landfill it releases methane, a harmful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Saving food waste from landfill and turning it into compost instead is a much better outcome for the environment.

Nillumbik was one of the first councils in Australia to include food waste in the green waste bin.

Since 2003, we've sent off around 10 million kilos of food waste to be turned into compost for use on farms, vineyards and community gardens across Victoria.

Under Victorian Government legislation, all councils across Victoria are required to provide a food waste recycling service by July 2027.