Food and garden organics

The following items can go in your food and green waste bin:

• bones, meat, meat scraps or seafood
• branches (up to 10 cm in diameter and 40 cm long)
• bread, cakes or pastries
• Christmas trees (cut up)
• citrus, onion or garlic
• coffee grounds, coffee beans or loose leaf tea
• compostable lime green liners (look for the code AS4736 on the liner)
• dairy and egg products (including shells)
• fruit and vegetable scraps and waste
• hair (human and animal)
• lawn or grass clippings
• leaves
• leftovers
• expired food
• newspapers (small amounts, soiled or wet)
• paper towel
• pasta or rice
• tissues
• shredded paper
• toothpicks, skewers, cutlery and chopsticks (uncoated, wooden or bamboo).

The following items can't go in your food and green waste bin:

• compostable packaging
• coffee pods and tea bags
• cooking oil
• dirt, stones, soil, sand, bricks or rubble
• food packaging (plastic, cardboard or compostable)
• hoses
• household garbage
• garden pots
• kitty litter
• liners that aren't lime green and do not have a AS 4736 logo
• liquids (cooking oils, sauces)
• nappies (including compostable)
• packaging (compostable)
• pet poo
• plastic bags and wraps
• shellfish shells (hard such as oyster shells)
• stickers and labels.

Stonnington residents can access up to 60 per cent off compost bins, bokashi systems and worm farms through our partner Compost Revolution. 

If you live in an apartment building, you can apply to join our Apartment Composting Program. The program provides apartment buildings with up to three compost systems or worm farms for free. This is a great option if your building has a shared outdoor space. 

Learn more about composting at home or use our A-Z waste and recycling guide to find out what items you can compost.

A caddy is a small bin that can sit on your kitchen bench, making it easy to collect food scraps to put into your bin later. If you have a Council food and green waste bin, you can get a free caddy from our Customer Service Centres.

To line your kitchen caddy or container, use:

• newspaper
• paper towel or napkins
• certified compostable lime green caddy liners (displaying the code AS 4736 on liner)
  

If you use a caddy liner, it must:

• be labelled as ‘certified compostable’
• be lime green in colour
• display AS 4736 codes                                     
  

If you have a Council food and green waste bin, or use a drop-off point, you can collect a free caddy liner pack from our Customer Service Centres. Drop-off users are eligible for one pack per year.

If you are concerned about your food and green waste bin or kitchen caddy becoming smelly or attracting pests, there are a number of things that you can do:

• line your caddy with a certified compostable lime green liner (look for code AS4736), a small amount of paper towel or newspaper
• rinse your caddy out regularly and wash out your bin to remove any residual food scraps from time to time
• freeze particularly smelly food waste items before placing them in the bin (such as bones, dairy and meat products)
• sprinkle bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) in your caddy or bin to absorb smells
• keep the lid of your bin or caddy securely closed
• layer food waste in between lawn clippings or garden prunings in your bin
• keep your food and green waste bin in the shade.