What goes in your food and garden waste bin

Your food and garden waste bin (green lid) is for food scraps, garden prunings and some organic material. The bin is collected every week (see Bin collection days)

• Yes – these items can go in your food and garden waste bin
• No – these items cannot go in your food and garden waste bin
• What happens to your food and garden waste?

Yes – these items can go in your food and garden waste bin

Garden prunings

Before cutting down or trimming trees (large branches), check if you need a permit or if your property is located within the Vegetation Protection Overlay. For more information see Vegetation Protection Overlay.

Put garden prunings loose in your bin.

• Grass clippings
• Flowers, leaves, weeds
• Plants, small shrubs
• Small branches, sticks (no longer than 40cm, or 10cm in diameter)
• Straw, hay

Food scraps

Food can go in the bin loose or wrapped in paper towel or newspaper. No other food packaging is accepted. You can also use certified compostable bin liners – look for this logo:

• Fruit, vegetables
• Avocado stones
• Meat and bones (raw and cooked)
• Seafood (such as fish, crab, shellfish, oysters, mussels)
• Baked goods, bread, pastries
• Eggshells, dairy, cheese
• Rice, pasta, cooked leftovers
• Mouldy, out-of-date food
• Takeaway and fried foods
• Cereals, nuts, grains
• Chocolate, lollies
• Coffee grinds, tea leaves, tea bags (remove the label from tea bags. Fabric/silk tea bags not accepted)

Other organic material

• Compostable liners with the certified compostable logo
• Paper towel, tissues, serviettes
• Shredded paper (small amounts only. Large amounts can be taken to the Monash Recycling and Waste Centre)
• Paper (smaller than postcard size)
• Cardboard bread tags, popsicle sticks
• Human hair, animal hair, animal feathers
• Newspaper (1 or 2 sheets only, used to line the caddy)
• Cardboard (single sheet only, used to line the bottom of the bin; remove any staples or sticky tape)

• Pizza boxes (1-2 only, ideally they should go in your recycling bin)

No – these items cannot go in your food and garden waste bin 

• Plastic bags
• Food packaging (such as bread bags, cling wrap)
• Compostable packaging (e.g. coffee cups, baking paper, delivery satchels, takeaway containers)
• Pet waste including dog poo and cat litter
• Plastic containers or plastic bottles (these can go in your recycling bin)
• Glass bottles and jars (these can go in your recycling bin)
• Aluminium foil and cans (these can go in your recycling bin)
• Steel cans (these can go in your recycling bin)
• Rubber bands, fruit stickers
• Magazines, junk mail, envelopes (these can go in your recycling bin)
• Nappies, wet wipes
• Cigarette butts
• Coffee pods (including compostable pods)
• Vacuum dust, dryer lint
• Wood-fired ash
• Gardening tools, equipment
• Plastic pot plants, plant tags
• Soil (small amounts of soil attached to plants is acceptable)
• Rocks
• Building materials/ building rubble
• Landscaping materials (including treated timber, sleepers, shade cloth, weed matting)

Any item marked degradable or biodegradable cannot go in your food and garden waste bin. Please put these in your landfill (red lid) bin.

Posters

To request posters, please contact the Sustainability team on 9518 3555 or email sustainability@monash.vic.gov.au

What happens to your food and garden waste? 

Food and garden waste is taken to a composting facility where it is shredded and processed through an indoor composting vessel to become compost. The compost is then used to help plants and food grow on farms and gardens around Victoria.

Watch the below video to find out what happens to your food and garden waste!