Get to know your Caddy

With the transition to FOGO (Food Organics Garden Organics), a kitchen caddy can be a useful tool to help you sort your waste inside your home.

Details About Our Caddies

Your caddy can take up to seven litres and can be lined with one of the Council supplied caddy liners, or you can supply your own as long as it is AS4736 certified compostable.

The caddies have been made in Braeside, Victoria from up to 100 per cent recycled materials. The colours chosen also have a purpose — to allow the maximum amount of material to be reused.

Features:

• A sturdy handle that doubles as a locking mechanism to avoid spills and reduce odours.
• A lid that flips back to create a full opening for plate scraping.
• A rear mounting tab so the unit can be attached to a wall or under-sink door.
• Smooth inner walls for easy cleaning.
• A handy label to tell you what can go in your caddy.

Caddy Liners are being provided by Council (created by BioBag) and are compliant with the Australian Standard 4736. AS4736 means that the material will break down under exposure to heat and moisture within a few months.

If you decide to use your own liners, it is vital that you also use AS4736 certified compostable liners to ensure our FOGO material isn't contaminated.

A handy tip: don't tie knots in your liners once they're full. A knot can end up contaminating the compost as it will take longer to break down.

We encourage you to only keep enough liners for a 12 month period and keep them in a cool, dark and dry place to avoid them degrading.

When will my caddy and liners be delivered?

Deliveries are taking place in June. You will receive your caddy, two rolls of 100 compostable liners and an information pack. More details can be found here.

Will I receive more liners?

Yes. You can collect more for free from Council's main office (9 Smith Street, Leongatha), Transfer Stations, Coal Creek in Korumburra or the Visitor Information Centre in Foster.

Do I have to use the kitchen caddy provided by Council?

No, this is optional. You can use any container that suits you, but one with a lid would be best. Caddies can be stored on the bench, under the sink or in a cupboard. If you don't want your caddy, you can return it to us, unused.

I can't get to a collection point, is there another way to get them?

You will receive 200 liners when you get your caddy. Let's say you use three per week, the liners delivered initially will last you 66 weeks (more than a year). When you are getting low, you, a family member, friend or neighbour can collect them from the locations listed above.

Is there an alternative to using the liners?

Yes. You can go without liners altogether and pop your food scraps straight into your FOGO bin. You could also line your caddy with one or two sheets of newspaper, butcher's paper, deli paper or paper towel (non-glossy only).

Plastic bags, including those labelled bioplastic, degradable, biodegradable and compostable without the AS4736 certification are not allowed in your FOGO bin as they will contaminate the compost.

Why is AS4736 certification important?

Many products use terms like 'compostable', 'biodegradable', 'degradable' or 'bioplastic without meeting recognised standards. Only liners certified AS4736 can be trusted to break down properly in commercial composting facilities. Uncertified products may leave behind plastic fragments and contaminate the compost with microplastics.

I provide short-stay accommodation, how can I help guests correctly use the caddy, liners and bins?

The kitchen caddy lid features a coloured label with correct usage prompts. Leave the caddy with a liner in a visible place along with a copy of the 'How to FOGO' brochure, which you can download here.

Correct sorting can also be supported by providing waste information to your guests in your booking confirmation or welcome pack, explaining how to use South Gippsland's three bin system. You could also provide other internal bins — one for Recycling and one for General Waste to align with the bin system. 

Council's Collection Calendar also has a handy 'in and out' list for each bin that you can download here and have available.