Canada Bay Council to rollout controversial FOGO bin initiative ‘slowly’ after Inner West Council backlash

A Sydney council has revealed a ‘go-slow approach’ to the rollout of the controversial FOGO bin initiative, following backlash over bungled plans in neighbouring councils.

Canada Bay Council is set to go slow on its rollout of the controversial FOGO bin initiative, in the wake of neighbouring Inner West Council’s chaotic launch of the program last year – sparking “bin anarchy”.

Over a 12-month, $314,000 trial period, which began in October 2022, Canada Bay undertook testing with 1,750 households across 20 buildings in Rhodes and Concord West in preparation for the criticised program.

The recycling initiative must be rolled out across all NSW councils by 2030, with plans to increase sustainablity by reducing landfill by focusing on biodegradable waste.

Overfilled bins in the Inner West

But previous rollouts of the scheme in neighbouring council saw a rocky start, as residents hit out when bins weren’t collected, resulting in overflowing bins and rats, alongside what was described as a lack of information to residents.

Canada Bay will now look to slowly integrate the program over several years through continued trials in order to obtain as much information as possible.

“The trial results and user feedback revealed that the ongoing supply of compostable caddy liners is a crucial component for the success of the FOGO service,” a council agenda said.

FOGO bin explainer stamp

In Canada Bay, the trail found that while the original land fill reduction target was not met, that council’s trial did show that residents involved understood information given to them.

However, the same couldn’t be said be residents in the Inner West.

“(Inner West Council) failed to accommodate elderly and second language speakers who don’t understand what goes where,” a Facebook user said.

“the whole show is a disaster... total disrespect from council to its rate payers, it’s a disgrace,” another said.

FOGO bin example for Townsville

To continue the trial, Canada Bay Council is set to spend a further $94,000 to extend the current FOGO participants and $96,000 to expand to properties outside of the current trial boundaries.

A Canada Bay spokesperson said that council is looking to undertake more research before introducing its council-wide roll out in a “phased” approach from 2026

“Council will also be extending its FOGO trial to another 1,500 households over the next year and the expanded trial will consider education and rollout options to inform our future FOGO service implementation,’ the spokesman said.