General, recycling and food and green waste

• Broken drinking or window glass
• Broken pyrex and ceramics
• Cigarette butts
• Dog and cat droppings and kitty litter
• Glossy, waxed or coated paper
• Icy pole sticks
• Nappies
• Face masks
• Plastic bags and other soft plastics 
• Plastic, biodegradable or compostable cutlery and plates
• Polystyrene
• Sticky labels off fruit and vegetables
• Takeaway coffee cups and lids (including biodegradable or compostable)
• Tetra Pak cartons
• Vacuum dust

• Anything that you can put in your recycling bin
• Anything that you can put in your food and garden waste bin
• Paint
• Chemicals, solvents, syringes
• Gas bottles
• Hot ashes, pressurised liquids (cans)
• Light globes, printer cartridges
• Hazardous materials
• Electrical waste, including mobile phones and anything with a power cord or battery
• Batteries

Recyclable items should fit into the following three categories:

• Clean paper and cardboard
• Glass bottles and jars
• Aluminium packaging like food tins, drink cans, scrunched foil, empty deodorant cans and loose metal lids from jars or bottles.
• Rigid household plastics and their lids e.g. milk bottles, soft drink bottles, washing liquid bottles, yoghurt tubs, etc.

• Medical waste, including insulin needles, masks and gloves
• Car parts of any kind
• Highly flammable materials: chemicals, paint tins or gas bottles
• Bagged domestic waste or recycling in a plastic bag
• Clothing, shoes and fabric
• Soft plastics — items that can be scrunched into a ball:
• Food packaging, e.g. chip or lolly wrappers, zip lock bags
• Cling wrap
• Plastic bags
• Milk/juice cartons liquid paperboard or Tetra Pak
• Takeaway coffee cups, straws and cutlery (including biodegradable or compostable)
• Any black plastic, e.g. plastic meat trays or plant pots
• Electrical waste, including mobile phones and anything with a power cord or battery
• Rubber and latex
• Timber
• Foam or polystyrene
• Ceramics
• Shredded paper
• Plastics with recycling symbols 6 and 7

Other items

• E-waste is NOT accepted in your kerbside collection and can be taken to an e-waste collection point, such as the Bayside Waste and Recycling Centre or returned to the store it was purchased from. 
• Car batteries can be disposed of at the Bayside Waste and Recycling Centre
• Paint can be disposed of at the Bayside Waste and Recycling Centre
• Dirt, rubble or soil can be disposed of at the Bayside Waste and Recycling Centre
• Chemicals can be disposed of via Sustainability Victoria's Detox Your Home program.

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• All food leftovers (including meat, bones, coffee grounds, paper towels, etc.)
• Garden organics (including grass and small prunings)
• Fruits and vegetables (including citrus and hard-to-compost items)
• Meat and bones (both cooked and raw)
• Fish and seafood (excluding hard shells such as oyster shells)
• Eggs and eggshells
• All bakery items, including bread and cakes
• Rice, pasta, cereal and noodles
• Loose tea leaves and coffee grounds (excluding tea bags and coffee pods)
• Cooking oil (small amounts only. Pour it in, no containers)
• Fast food leftovers (no plastic containers)
• Plate scrapings
• Spoiled food
• Used paper towels, napkins and tissues
• Weeds and flowers
• Grass and leaves
• Garden prunings (including weeds and rose trimmings)

Other organic material

• Compostable liners with the certified compostable logo (AS 4736)

  
• Paper towel, tissues, serviettes
• Shredded paper
• Paper (smaller than postcard size)
• Human hair, animal hair, animal feathers
• Newspaper (1 or 2 sheets only, used to line the caddy)
• Cardboard (single sheet only, used to line the bottom of the bin; remove any staples or sticky tape)

• general household waste
• plastic bags or liners (including compostable or degradable items). They do not break down in the composting process. To avoid bin smells, line your food waste container with a used paper towel or newspaper, as these are accepted in your food and garden waste bin.
• soil or stones
• timber
• building or renovation materials
• Plastic or biodegradable bags (these do not break down in the composting process)
• Food packaging, including aluminium foil, cling wrap, fruit stickers and containers.
• Nappies and wipes (including compostable and biodegradable)
• Medical waste
• Coffee pods and tea bags
• Coffee cups (including compostable)
• Pet poo and kitty litter (including biodegradable waste). Australia has strict standards on animal products used for composting. Please dispose of pet poo in your regular rubbish bin.
• Ash and tree stumps
• Treated and painted timber
• Concrete, bricks and rocks
• Glass
• Metal
• Dishcloths or textiles
• Cigarette butts
• Drier lint and vacuum cleaner dust
• Compostable packaging (e.g. coffee cups, delivery satchels, takeaway containers)

Any item marked degradable or biodegradable cannot go in your food and garden waste bin. Please put these in your landfill (red lid) bin.

By putting your food scraps into the food and green waste bin instead of the general waste bin, you will help reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. But where will it go instead?

The food and green waste will be sent to an organics facility and turned into a high-quality compost which will be used by Victorian farmers. This aids the growth of fresh food and reduces the amount of damaging methane gases created by food rotting in landfill.

However, a lot happens from when our trucks collect your waste from the kerbside to when Victorian farmers receive the compost.

Food and green waste bins are taken to Valoriza organics facility, located in Dandenong South. The Valoriza facility is fully enclosed and has three separate areas for pre-processing, in vessel treatment and maturation.

Starting the cycle 

The composting process has several stages, the first of which is conducted at the pre-treatment area of the facility. During this stage, the organic material is organised by size, and shredded.

After the material is shredded, it is processed through a magnet which extracts any small metal contaminants which are then fed into a container and sent to a metals recycling facility.

The organic material is then transferred to the composting area of the facility for the next stage, which will take approximately 14 days.

Creating quality compost

Valoriza use an in-vessel treatment where the organic material is processed in tunnels that enable the team to monitor the temperature, moisture, and oxygen levels, ensuring that everything is within an optimal range. This stage is particularly important for the quality of the compost.

The fermented organic material is then taken to another area of the facility where it will sit for 28 days to mature into compost. The whole process will take approximately 42 days in total and follows the EPA’s guidelines and directions.

When the maturation process is completed, the organic material is refined and again screened for any contaminants such as glass, plastic and textiles.

It is now officially compost and is then sold on to farmers, wholesalers and retailers.

Playing your part

By using our food and green waste collection service correctly, you will ensure this process goes smoothly (less contaminants to screen for a quicker process); reduce the amount of food and garden waste that is sent to landfill and help nourish farms and gardens.

The food waste is now being transformed into compost for Victorian farmers rather than creating harmful greenhouse gases in landfill.

We have compostable bags available for purchase at the Bayside City Council Corporate Centre (76 Royal Avenue, Sandringham) and at all Council libraries. 

Please remember that the bags used in your kitchen caddy or to wrap food must be compostable, labelled with the AS 4736 logo. Biodegradable and plastic bags cannot go in the food and green waste bin as they will not break down during the composting process.

Food items can be thrown into your food and green waste bin loosely without the use of the bags or newspaper. 

Just like in your general waste bin, food waste odours will naturally increase during the warmer weather. However, there are various ways to reduce the smell.

Tips to reduce odours:

• Put food waste in a compostable bag or wrapped in newspaper. Try alternating layers of food waste and garden waste like lawn clippings or dry leaves.
• Wrap up food waste like prawn shells, seafood and uncooked meat scraps and store them in the freezer until closer to collection day.
• Store your bins in a shady, flat and well-ventilated area.
• Rinse your bins from time-to-time, and always keep the lid closed.
• Sprinkle some bicarb soda in the bin to neutralize smells.