New South Wales · Sydney · Need it gone?
Green waste removal in Sydney
In Sydney, garden waste goes in the green-lid organics bin where your council provides one: the NSW EPA's 2024-25 survey counted 55 councils offering FOGO and 41 offering garden organics only. Where there is no organics bin, ask your waste facility what it charges for a clean green load. Paid removal is chipped and gone.
Sources NSW EPA: Local Government Waste Data Survey 2024-25Find CRCs or Chemical CleanOuts (NSW EPA)
What is free?
Free- The green-lid organics bin, for small amounts, where your council provides one.
- A neighbour with chickens will often take clean garden scraps.
What is cheap?
Low cost- A waste facility green waste drop-off, which sets its own fees for clean loads.
What does paying get you?
Paid- Cut, chipped, loaded and gone in an afternoon.
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Do I have a FOGO bin in NSW?
Only if your council has rolled one out. At the 2024-25 NSW EPA survey, 30 per cent of NSW households had a FOGO bin, 41 per cent had a garden organics bin only, and 27 per cent had no organics bin at all. Councils must provide FOGO to every household with a red-bin service by 1 July 2030.
What can go in the green bin in NSW?
That depends on which bin your council gives you. A garden organics bin takes lawn clippings, leaves and prunings that fit, and nothing from the kitchen. A FOGO bin takes food scraps as well. Check your council's list before you add anything, because putting food in a garden-organics-only bin contaminates the load.
What do I do with a whole hedge or a tree?
Not the organics bin. Branches over the bin's limits, stumps and soil go to a waste facility or to a paid removal. Whether your council's bulky clean-up takes a garden load is a question for the council, so ask before you stack anything on the kerb. For a big job a crew cuts, chips and loads in an afternoon what would take a weekend of trailer runs.
Is the FOGO change happening to my bin?
Eventually, yes. Every NSW council must provide a FOGO service to households with a red-bin collection by 1 July 2030, so a garden-organics bin will become a food and garden bin at some point. A separate mandate for the largest business waste generators, including supermarkets, hospitality, hospitals and schools, started 1 July 2026 and staggers to 2030.
Do you do this job in Sydney?
Removalists, recyclers, skip operators, clearance teams and organisers can apply for a labelled sponsored listing.