NSW Regulation Guide
NSW Food Waste Separation 2026 — What Every Venue Needs to Know
NSW has introduced mandatory food organics separation for hospitality venues under the FOGO Recycling Act 2025. From 1 July 2026, larger venues must separate food waste from general waste and have a dedicated collection service in place. The threshold drops in stages until 2030, when most cafés and small restaurants will be captured. Here is your complete compliance guide.
📅 Published May 2026
🗂 NSW regulation
⏱ 8 min read
✓ Sourced from NSW EPA, Hospitality Magazine, Staff Canteen
What is FOGO and what does it mean for hospitality?
FOGO stands for Food Organics and Garden Organics. The NSW Government has passed the Protection of the Environment Legislation Amendment (FOGO Recycling) Act 2025, which makes it mandatory for businesses that handle, prepare or sell food to separate their food waste from general waste and have it collected by a dedicated organics service.
The reason is stark: food waste is the single biggest material going to landfill from NSW businesses, with the state generating approximately 1.7 million tonnes of food waste per year. Greater Sydney's landfill capacity is projected to be exhausted by 2030 if current disposal patterns continue. The legislation is designed to divert at least half of that waste into composting and anaerobic digestion instead.
For hospitality venues, this is not a distant policy. The first compliance date is 1 July 2026 — weeks away for larger operations. Smaller venues will follow in 2028 and 2030.
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This applies to you if your venue: prepares, cooks, serves or sells food or drink, including restaurants, cafés, pubs, bars, clubs, hotels, motels, takeaway shops, food trucks, food courts and catering businesses. There is no exemption for size on the 2030 deadline. The only question is which phase applies to you.
The compliance timeline, which phase applies to your venue?
Whether you need to comply now, in 2028 or 2030 depends on your weekly general waste bin capacity, not the volume actually in the bins. Measure the total capacity of all your general waste bins combined.
1
1 July 2026 — NOW
First wave — large operations
Venues with weekly general waste bin capacity of 3,840 litres or more. That is roughly 16 standard 240L wheelie bins, or six 660L bins, or two small skip bins. This covers most hotels, registered clubs, large restaurants, food courts, high-volume pubs and catering operations.
≥3,840L per week — or 6 × 660L bins
2
1 July 2028 — Two years away
Second wave — mid-size venues
Threshold drops to 1,920 litres per week — roughly three 660L bins or eight 240L bins. This captures most mid-size restaurants, busy cafés, clubs and medium-volume pubs. Start planning now even if you're in this phase.
≥1,920L per week — or 3 × 660L bins
3
1 July 2030 — Four years away
Third wave — almost everyone
Threshold drops to 660 litres per week — a single 660L bin, or three 240L bins. At this level virtually every café, restaurant, takeaway and food truck in NSW is captured. If you run food, you will need to comply by 2030 regardless of size.
≥660L per week — most venues
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How to check your threshold: Count every general waste (red/black lid) bin your venue uses per week. Multiply the number of bins by their capacity in litres. If you use two 660L bins and four 240L bins, your total is 1,320 + 960 = 2,280 litres, meaning you'll be captured in the 2028 wave, not 2026. The NSW EPA has a free waste calculator at epa.nsw.gov.au to help you check.
Penalties for non-compliance
The NSW Government has made the penalties significant. This is not a gentle advisory. It is enforced legislation administered by local councils under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act.
$500k
Maximum business fine
$50k
Per day for ongoing offences
$5k
On-the-spot fine from council
Local councils will oversee compliance for hospitality venues. The current approach is education-first for the early phase of the rollout. But the enforcement framework is already in place and the on-the-spot fine power is active from 1 July 2026.
What actually needs to be separated?
Food organics that must go into a dedicated FOGO bin include everything that was once food or food-producing. In a commercial kitchen, this covers the full waste stream from prep through to plate clearing.
| ✓ Goes in the FOGO bin | ✗ Does NOT go in FOGO |
|---|
| Fruit and vegetable peels, offcuts and trimmings | Packaging — plastic, cardboard, foil, cans |
| Meat, poultry, seafood and bones | Napkins and paper towel (unless council approves) |
| Dairy products, eggs and shells | Compostable packaging (varies by council — check) |
| Coffee grounds and tea leaves | Liquids — oils, sauces, beverages |
| Bread, pastry and baked goods | Single-use cutlery and containers |
| Cooked food waste and plate scrapings | Non-food contaminated materials |
| All prep waste generated during service | Garden waste (check your service — some FOGO accepts it) |
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Contamination matters: FOGO collection fails if the bin has too much non-organic contamination. Composting and anaerobic digestion facilities reject contaminated loads, which means your waste goes to landfill anyway and you lose the compliance benefit. Staff training on what goes in the FOGO bin is the most operationally critical part of implementation.
What venues need to do — step by step
Your FOGO compliance checklist
1
Check your phase. Calculate your total weekly general waste bin capacity in litres. Determine whether you're in the July 2026, 2028 or 2030 phase. If you're unsure, call your local council waste team — they are set up to help with exactly this question.
2
Contact your current waste provider. Ask whether they offer a food organics collection service and what the additional cost is. Most major commercial waste providers in NSW (Veolia, Remondis, Cleanaway, Solo) now offer FOGO collection for commercial customers. Your council may also have a commercial FOGO service — check the NSW EPA's council FOGO map.
3
Arrange your bins. You'll need dedicated food organics bins in your kitchen — at a minimum, one caddy or container near the prep area and one larger collection bin that goes out for pickup. The bin colour and lid colour varies by provider — confirm with your service provider. Ensure bins have tight-fitting lids for hygiene and pest control.
4
Work out bin placement. Kitchen space is tight. Work with your kitchen team to identify the optimal location for FOGO bins that doesn't disrupt workflow. Common solutions: a small caddy at the prep bench, a larger collection bin near the back door, separate from general waste to avoid accidental contamination.
5
Train your staff. This is the most important step. Every kitchen staff member needs to know what goes in the FOGO bin and what doesn't. Create a simple laminated poster for the kitchen wall. Cover it in the next staff meeting and induction for all new kitchen hires. The bin separation only works if every person using it does it correctly.
6
Schedule collection. Food organics must be collected at least weekly. In summer or high-volume periods, more frequent collection may be needed for hygiene. Lock in a collection schedule with your provider before July 2026 — providers are getting busy as the deadline approaches.
7
Check for exemptions if relevant. The NSW EPA is developing an exemption framework for venues with genuine infrastructure constraints (no space for extra bins, building access issues, no FOGO service available in your area). Even if you think you might qualify, start planning now — the exemption application process takes time and is not guaranteed.
What does it cost?
The cost of FOGO compliance varies significantly by location, bin size and collection frequency. Based on available data from NSW councils offering commercial FOGO services, a rough benchmark is $150–$300 per bin per year for a weekly collection service — approximately $3–$6 per week per bin.
Dubbo Regional Council, for example, publishes its commercial food organics collection service charge at $162.80 per bin per year for weekly collection. Metro Sydney providers typically charge more.
There is a genuine offset to factor in: if FOGO reduces the volume of general waste your venue generates each week, you may be able to reduce the size or frequency of your general waste service, which reduces that cost. Some venues find the net additional cost is lower than expected once general waste savings are factored in.
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The margin angle: Better food waste tracking naturally surfaces food cost opportunities. Venues that measure what's going into their FOGO bin consistently find patterns — overproduction of specific items, prep waste that signals portion sizing issues, end-of-service waste that indicates demand forecasting problems. FOGO compliance, done well, becomes a food cost reduction tool as well as a compliance requirement.
What about venues outside NSW?
NSW is the first Australian state to set a hard legislative deadline for commercial food waste separation. No other state has passed equivalent mandatory legislation yet. But the direction is clear across all states and territories.
| State/Territory | Current status | Action required |
|---|
| NSW | Mandatory — July 2026 (large venues) | Comply now if ≥3,840L/week |
| VIC | Policy framework developing | Monitor — likely to follow NSW within 2–3 years |
| QLD | Consultation underway | Monitor — no hard deadline yet |
| WA | Early planning stage | No immediate action required |
| SA | FOGO rollout for households underway | Commercial mandate being evaluated |
| ACT | FOGO household rollout advanced | Commercial mandate likely near-term |
If you operate outside NSW, now is still a good time to understand the framework — because what is law in NSW today is typically policy in other states within two to three years. Getting your waste separation infrastructure in place proactively avoids the rush that NSW venues are experiencing now.
Frequently asked questions
Does FOGO apply to small cafés in NSW?
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Not immediately. Small cafés with fewer than three 660L bins of general waste per week are not captured until the July 2030 deadline. The July 2026 mandate applies to venues with 3,840L or more of weekly general waste bin capacity — roughly 16 standard 240L bins. Most independent cafés sit below that threshold now. However, by 2030 the threshold drops to 660L (a single large bin), capturing virtually every food-handling business in NSW. Start planning even if you're not in the first wave.
What bins do I need to buy?
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You'll need at minimum a small kitchen caddy (10–20L) at your prep area and a larger outdoor FOGO collection bin that your waste provider services. Bin colours and specifications vary by provider — confirm what's required when you set up your collection service. Some waste providers supply the outdoor collection bin as part of the service contract. Kitchen caddies need tight-fitting lids and should be lined with certified compostable liners (if your provider accepts them) or newspaper for easier cleaning.
Can I put compostable packaging in the FOGO bin?
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It depends on your collection service and the composting or processing facility they use. Some facilities accept certified compostable packaging (AS 4736 certified), others do not because contamination is difficult to verify at scale. Check specifically with your FOGO service provider before putting any packaging in the food organics bin. When in doubt, compostable packaging goes in general waste rather than risking contamination of the FOGO load.
What happens if I can't get a FOGO service in my area?
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The NSW EPA is developing an exemption framework that includes consideration of limited access to food organics collection services. If there is no FOGO service available in your council area, you should document this and contact your local council to discuss your situation. The EPA's council FOGO map shows which councils currently have or are planning FOGO services. Even if your council doesn't have a service yet, a commercial waste provider (Veolia, Remondis, Cleanaway, Solo) may service your area independently of the council.
How often does food organics need to be collected?
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The legislation requires food organics collection at least weekly. During summer or high-volume periods, more frequent collection may be necessary to meet hygiene standards — food waste can generate odour and attract pests quickly in warm weather. Discuss your collection frequency needs with your waste provider when setting up the service. Some providers offer twice-weekly pickup for high-volume kitchens at an additional cost.
Do food trucks need to comply with NSW FOGO laws?
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Yes — mobile catering businesses (food trucks) are included in the FOGO mandate under the NSW legislation. The requirement is that food waste is separated at the point of generation. For food trucks, this means having a separate food organics container on the vehicle during service and ensuring it's disposed of through a compliant collection service. The practical implementation for mobile operators is more complex — speak to your local council or the NSW EPA for guidance specific to mobile food businesses.
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