The City of Gosnells is preparing to begin a pilot program that will provide an alternative way for households in the area to manage their food waste. 

In an effort to improve sustainability in their local government area, the council will be offering 140-litre burgundy bins for food scraps at a cost of $80 per household, per financial year. 

The new initiative is named GOsFO, “GOs” for Gosnells, and “FO” for food waste.  

It seeks to provide a second use for food waste, by using an organic process to create soil improver and animal feed. 

The council said this type of recycling was important because it also stops these valuable resources from ending up elsewhere, unused. 

“Recycling food waste is important as it diverts a valuable resource from landfill, which in turn helps to reach the Australian national target of reducing the amount of organic material sent to landfill,” they said on an online questionnaire which answered residents’ questions.

Residents in the area are optimistic about its effectiveness. For Brooke Baker, the program offers an extra chance for her family to become more sustainable. 

“We’ve previously tried a compost tumbler and two different types of worm farms; however, our previous attempts have been unsuccessful as our food scrap volume overwhelmed the systems,” she said. 

“Sustainability is incredibly important to me. I was inspired by the zero-waste movement many years ago, and since reading about it, have tried valiantly to reduce our household waste.”

Across the state, similar programs have already been implemented to follow recommendations set by the Waste Authority of Western Australia.

The authority is supporting initiatives for better disposal of organic waste through their own system, titled “Food Organics, Garden Organics”, or “FOGO”. It enabled residents in participating areas to dispose of garden organics in addition to their food waste.

The City of Gosnells’ program only allows food organics to be collected.

President of the Western Australian Local Government Association Karen Chappel said while the City of Gosnells was the only local government running a GOsFO-style program, there were fifteen metropolitan and eight non-metropolitan councils using a FOGO system for organic waste.

She said this alternative system was effective at directing food waste from landfill, achieving better results than councils who have opted for their own bin systems.

“State government data shows that by diverting food waste from landfill, local governments with a three-bin FOGO system are achieving a higher recovery rate of 56 per cent.”

She said the association’s priorities were focused on funding towards FOGO initiatives leading up to next year’s state election.

“WALGA’s 2025 state election priorities call for all revenue from the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Levy to be directed towards initiatives such as FOGO that enhance waste management practices, ensuring funds are used for their intended purpose to tackle our state’s waste challenges.”

The state government’s FOGO system has not been received well everywhere. In the City of Swan, there has been significant criticism from the suburb of Ballajura.

Councillor Rashelle Predovnik said this was due to the small sizes of the new FOGO bins, which residents said are too small to fit their needs.

“They’re saying they’ve got small bins, so you can’t put anything in them, and they get collected every two weeks,” she said.

“So, they’re asking for bigger bins and more frequent collection.”

She said the City of Gosnells’ decision to create their own variant of the food disposal program was encouraging as it showed that local authorities have the space to adjust programs to their resident’s needs.

“I’m very encouraged because Gosnells have done their own thing, and that shows that there’s some scope to move here.”

Western Australian households waste more than 4kg of food each week on average, a number that has been equated to around $37 per person.