Yass Valley Council receives EPA Grant funding for FOGO rollout
Published on 07 May 2026
Yass Valley Council receives EPA Grant funding for FOGO rollout
Yass Valley Council has been successful in securing a Go FOGO grant from the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA). The Council was awarded $288,700 in the fifth round of grants, to prepare for the implementation of a kerbside food organics and garden organics (FOGO) collection service in the Yass Valley by 2030. The future provision of this service will allow residents to recycle food and garden organics in a separate bin to their general household waste.
Yass Valley Mayor, Jasmin Jones, praised the grant announcement and the benefits it will bring residents and the local environment:
“In response to significant community demand for a kerbside organic waste collection, we are delighted that we have been able to secure funding of $288,700 to deliver this additional waste service – both in response to community demands and in order to fulfill the NSW legislation which mandated kerbside FOGO collection services for households by 2030.
With the introduction of FOGO, we’re not only reducing waste and cutting emissions, but also supporting our community's commitment to a cleaner, greener environment."
Chief Executive Officer, Gayleen Burley, said:
“This is an exciting step forward for Yass Valley. Our ability to provide FOGO collections will greatly reduce the amount of waste that residents send to landfill and will help us mitigate the environmental impact of landfilling and reduce our waste disposal costs”.
“Securing the funding is the first stage in delivering a kerbside FOGO service and we will now be working strategy to determine how and when this will be delivered”.
The introduction of FOGO will be a big step forward for Yass Valley Council to deliver a priority area for action outlined in the Council’s Sustainability Policy. The implementation of FOGO involves a 3-year rollout timeline, with next steps including operational planning, procuring bins and services, and community engagement. Further information will be released as the project progresses.
Find out more about Council’s waste management services and sustainability policy.
Why FOGO?
NSW Government tells us that currently around 1.7 million tonnes of organic material across NSW are sent to landfill every year, equating to approximately 113kg per person. Food waste accounts for 30 – 50% of the content of the average household bin across Australia. This not only takes up valuable landfill space but also emit methane gas, a major cause of climate change.
By recycling organic waste, the strain on landfill space is reduced, methane emissions are lowered, and the organics diverted through this service can be turned into valuable compost. The compost produced by FOGO can be used in landscaping, gardening and farming.
More information regarding FOGO across NSW can be found in the following links:
- NSW Environment Protection Authority website: EPA website