We are committed to delivering a food and garden waste service for our city. We want to understand the experience of using the service for those that have already received it, so we can continue to refine the delivery of the service and also inform future roll out to multi-unit dwellings and apartments.

The City of Melbourne began rolling out the new service in June, with waste collections from 9,000 homes across the municipality. With the completion of stage 1 the focus is now on delivering the service to apartments and townhouses (stage 2) across the municipality. Council is currently developing plans for the best ways to introduce this service and are hoping to commence the roll out of the food and garden waste service to stage 2 properties commencing early 2022.

If your food and garden waste bin contains items that we cannot process, it could result in the entire truckload going to landfill.

Do not put these things into your lime green-lid food and garden waste bin:

• plastic or plastic bags
• biodegradable or compostable bags and packaging (only use council approved caddy liners)
• tea bags
• coffee pods, compostable cups and coffee cups (including biodegradable marked items)
• liquids including cooking oil
• hard seafood shells (mussels, oyster, pipi shells, large crab)
• recyclables (paper, cardboard, aluminium, steel and glass items)
• soft plastics (cling wrap, chip packets)
• bricks and building rubble
• treated and painted timber, treated lattice, other timber building materials
• rocks and pebbles
• garden hoses
• string, twine, ties, rope, metal wire
• plant pots
• cotton wool, cotton wool buds
• pet poo or pet litter
• vacuum dust
• ash (from home fire)
• cigarette butts
• toys.

To find out how you can recycle or dispose of these and other items, refer to our A-Z guide to recycling and waste disposal.

For more information about the new food and garden service, including more Frequently Asked Questions visit Food and garden waste.

• Three lucky participants will win a $100 Queen Victoria Market voucher by simply having their say.
• Every person who has contributed their views via the Participate Melbourne survey or ideas wall on our new food and garden collection service and provided their contact details will be entered into a database.
• Your chances of winning do not depend on any of the answers and feedback you provide.
• Winners will be selected at random from our contact database after the consultation has closed on 1 November 2021 and notified by phone, email or mail.
• Melbourne City Council employees (and their families) who are directly connected with this consultation are not eligible to win prizes.
• Any prizes that fail to be claimed within eight weeks of the draw date will be redrawn.
• The prizes are not transferable, exchangeable or redeemable for cash.