Reducing landfill together: managing red lid bins during Coolbinia FOGO Trial
Coolbinia residents are now almost five weeks into their Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) trial, with 535 households helping to inform the future of waste services in the City of Stirling.
The 24-week initiative is seeing residents settle into using their lime green lid bin for FOGO, with less reliance on the red lid bin. This shift is designed to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and improve how materials are recovered and reused.
A strong starting point
Before the trial began, the City undertook a range of engagement activities to help prepare households and gather perspectives. This included a pre-trial survey, face-to-face pop-ups in the community and the establishment of a dedicated Facebook group for participants.
These activities saw strong participation and pre-trial survey results showed mostly positive sentiment towards the introduction of FOGO. The Facebook group has also seen solid uptake, providing a space for residents to stay informed, ask questions and share perspectives as the trial progresses.
We’re continuing that approach, with ongoing dialogue supported through the Facebook group, upcoming mid-trial workshops and an evaluation survey at the end of the trial.
Adjusting to fortnightly red lid collections
As with any change to household routines, some residents are finding the transition takes time. For some households, particularly larger families or those managing nappies, adjusting to fortnightly red lid bin collections is a challenge. This isn’t uncommon where FOGO is introduced and is part of why the City is running a small, time-limited trial with support available.
Other residents are already reporting positive changes, including making better use of their FOGO bin and seeing a reduction in the amount of waste placed in their red lid bin, which is key aim of the trial.
Like most other WA councils with FOGO, the City’s trial follows the WA Government’s better practice approach by maximising bin capacity for recoverable materials in recycling and FOGO, while minimising capacity for non-recoverable general waste. This helps divert more material from landfill and into more sustainable processing streams, including composting FOGO material.
Support is available
For households needing additional support, the City offers one-on-one assistance from a Waste Engagement Officer.
This includes phone calls or home visits, where practical, tailored advice can be provided on how to sort waste, use each bin effectively and manage concerns such as capacity, odour or pests.
This has already helped some households and is the first step we recommend for those finding the change challenging, as small adjustments can often make a big difference to how much fits in the red lid bin.
To access this support, residents can contact the City using the general enquiry form or by calling (08) 9205 8555.
If additional capacity is still needed, there is an option to upgrade to a 240L red lid bin for a fee, with medical exemptions available where applicable. At the end of the trial, when weekly red lid collections resume, households can return to a 140L bin if the larger size is no longer needed. In this case, only a pro-rata fee will apply for the time the larger bin was in use, rather than the full annual cost.
What’s coming next
We’ll continue sharing information as the trial progresses, including where waste is going, how FOGO is processed, and early insights from the trial. This will help show how the system is performing in practice.
If they haven’t already, Coolbinia residents are encouraged to join the Facebook group and check the project webpage for updates and further opportunities to get involved.
